A Full-Day Habal-Habal Tour Around Camiguin

First Stop: Ardent Hibok-Hibok Springs Resort

For an island that covers 23,800 hectares of coastal and mountainous terrain, and 64 kilometers of paved National Highway, Camiguin Island can actually be toured around in one day.

My four-year old daughter and I did so on a habal-habal, the local term for a motorcycle.

We set off one early morning on a bright and sunny day to enjoy many of Camiguin’s tourist attractions.

With our helmets on, we sat relaxed at the back of our nice habal-habal driver along smooth roads and charming farm lands where humble farmers sustain their own crops, native chicken and carabaos.

After 10 minutes of this lovely scenery, we arrived at Ardent Hibok-Hibok Springs Resort, one of the six hot springs of Mount Hibok-Hibok.

At the main entrance of the spring resort, we paid 30php environmental/entrance fee for myself, and free for my young daughter.

Inside is a wonderful landscape of lush tropical plants and a panoramic labyrinth leading to the resort’ hot springs.

Flowing from the rich rainforest water abound the active Mount Hibok-Hibok Volcano, this heavenly springs emit fresh and hot sulfuric water that is both relaxing and therapeutic.

The heat of the four stone-built pools cascading against the volcano’s verdant ridges varies from 33 °C  to 40 °C, depending on the proximity of the water from its source. The pool receiving the freshest outflow of water, which is also the highest, is the hottest, while the one farthest from the source and is the lowest has the least warm water.

There were already a handful of people taking a dip in the pools on this Friday morning, and more were arriving, bringing with them casseroles, charcoals, soft drinks and coolers, most likely with ice-filled meat and fish to grill on the spot.

So we chose the one with the least number of people and the one that was more kid-friendly, which was the third pool.

It was wonderful to immerse in natural springs and to feel the tepid water soaking up potent elements into the skin pores, the same for my daughter who enjoyed wading in the shallow part of the pool.

We stayed there until we began feeling cold, and just at the right time when more people, especially kids were coming into the pool.

Afterward we rose up from the water and went to the shower room. We did not go to the shower area nearest to the springs, but we walked up to the bathroom beside the restaurant and the room cottages.

When we were both dressed, we paused at a lounge area to eat our packed food of boiled eggs and bananas. Though the restaurant served food, we opted to eat light so we could enjoy the rest of our tour.

Our next stop was the Ardent Botanical and Zoological Park.

Other useful information:

• Ardent Hot Spring opens daily from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm
• Entrance fee is 30 php per adult, 15 php per child above 7 years old
• Overnight camping fee is 125 php per head
• Barbecue Grill rental is 20 php
• Shed Cottage Rental for the first 3 hours is 70 php for the Regular Size, 150 php for the Family Size, and 10 php for an excess of every hour.

Cebu Pacific Air offers direct flights from Cebu to Camiguin. For bookings and inquiries, guests can visit www.cebupacificair.com or call (+632)7020-888 or (+6332)230-8888. The latest seat sales can be found on CEB’s official Facebook and Twitter pages. Guests may also download the Cebu Pacific official mobile app on the App Store and Google Play.