White Island Diving

Arriving at 7 AM to Camiguin. One of the volcanos of the island pierces through the clouds.

From the overnight ferry we arrived at Camiguin at 7 AM. It was refreshing to see land so we can just get off the ferry. Once we got of the ferry, we were driven straight to our resort—Para’s Resort—which was the nicest one on the island. Mike didn’t want to stay in the same room as the Cebuanos had to book another room. For some reason it worked out that Shaun and I stayed in the family room which had two separate bedrooms and a couple beds in the living area. It was by far the best room having the most space, best location, and a patio.

Our resort with a beautiful pool and view of the ocean and White Island.

The resort was very nice. The view of the water was close where we could even see the famous White Island. Camiguin is a volcanic island so it’s mostly black sand beaches so White Island really sticks out. After a short swim in the swimming pool I decided to try out the local diving and booked two dives in the early afternoon Johnny’s Dive ‘N’ Fun dive shop. Before that though, we all took a short speed boat ride to White Island.

The beach at White Island contrasts with the colors of the sea.

Mike and the girls hang out in the water on White Island.

A fisherman and his son paddle by the island for a look.

Half of White Island connected by a thin strip of sand that submerges itself in high tide.

White Island is small but impressive. The sand is slightly coarse but very clean. The white sand contrasted with the volcanos in the distance was different from most other places I’ve visited in Philippines. The water was a nice picturesque turquoise color too. White Island is basically two larger pieces of land connected by a thin strip of sand that disappears in high tide. Snorkeling isn’t good but I did find a baby scorpionfish in only a few inches of water. It’s kinda dangerous because they’re poisonous and anyone could have easily stepped on it.

Our seriously fast and fun speed boat ride back. It might have taken only a minute to get back.

Girls rinse off after White Island.

After a seriously fun speed boat ride back to the resort, I made my way back to the Johnny’s dive shop where I signed up for two dives. I didn’t bring any of my personal gear except my mask and snorkel so I had to be fitted with everything else. For the dives, it was just me and my dive guide. We dived first at “Old Volcano” dive site and then at “White Island”. “Old Volcano“ was a nice dive site with nice underwater rock formations, good schools of fish, and lots of nudibranchs I haven’t seen before. It was also nice in that the sand was black which made the overall look of everything different from other places I dived in the Philippines. ”White Island“ dive was good but there wasn’t anything too out of the ordinary. There was a nice turtle that swam by though.

My shadow and I hang out on White Island between dives.

Whtie Island and the mainland of Camiguin.

For dinner, Shaun’s aunt (Shaun grew up in Camiguin) offered to cook everyone dinner. So, Shaun, Mike, Shaun’s cousin and I went into downtown to the local market to get some food. We ended up buying some tuna and another fish, and some other things. After Shaun’s aunt cooked everything up, Shaun had to sneak the food into our room because the resort wanted to charge us extra for bringing food into the resort.

Downtown market for some groceries.

Late in the evening everyone just hung out at the bar at the resort. People sang karaoke and had some drinks.



- jason