Camiguin, the Island Born of Fire 0
From my home town of Iligan, it takes about 3-4 hours of a land trip to Camiguin Island. The travel will pass by the beautiful beaches of Opol, then to the prosperous city of Cagayan de Oro. From there, the trip will take another 88 kilometers of travel to Balingoan where a ferry transports vehicles to the Island of Camiguin and vice versa.
The sea trip was a bit bumpy. The ocean waves influenced by the pacific air tend to hit our sea vessel strongly, but this is all part of the travel. Challenges make trips more worthwhile. The ferry is bound to the Benoni Wharf of Mahinog, 17 kilometers away from the capital town of Camiguin, Mambajao.
The first thing that I noticed about the beautiful island is a mountain that protrudes above all others at the center. It piqued my attention so what I did was to seek out a nearby information center and ask about the mountain. To my amusement, it was actually a volcano! Mount Hibok Hibok is the main contributor to the formation of the Island having a height of 1,332 meters and a base diameter of 1,000 meters.
It is an active volcano belonging to the pacific ring of fire it erupted thrice in three consecutive years. The three crater lakes; Kanangkaan, Itum, and Ilihan erupted in 1948, 1949, and 1950 respectively. Today, the volcano exhibits seismic activities as a sign of its activeness. However, from what I see, it never hindered the tourism of Camiguin. It just looked like a tall vegetated mountain.
The volcanic activities of Mount Hibok Hibok offered a lot of attractions to Camiguin. My home town of Iligan offers cold refreshing springs, but Camiguin offers hot invigorating springs. I never had a second thought of going to the hot springs. I found out that there are actually six hot springs namely; Ardent Spring, Tangob, Bugong, Tagdo, Naasag and Kiyab.
They offer waters that were believed to relieve all the stresses from working too much in big cities. The most popular among the springs is the Ardent Hot Spring. Coming from the bowels of Mount Hibok Hibok, it possesses waters that have a consistent temperature of 40°c. The place is still under constant improvement and renovation but as of now. The unwinding capability of the spring is already in the top notch. The pool itself is wide and spacious, perfect for a chit chat while enjoying the energizing waters.
Related posts: