Take Me Back to Camotes

One of the things that I was looking forward to this summer was our Cebu team’s summer getaway. The last time I was in Cebu, we went to Sumilon Bluewater Resort and had an extremely fun day. This time we decided on an overnight stay in Camotes Island. We were a large group this time consisting of about 24 team members and 10 guests including our kids. The group left Cebu Port 4 through a fastcraft that traveled 3 hours to Camotes Island. We were fetched by the resort crew and drove 45 minutes to Santiago Bay Garden and Resort where we will be staying for the weekend. Despite the long and tiring journey, our fatigue were immediately lifted by the picturesque view.

Santiago Beach in Camotes Island
Photo credit: Suzzane Arreglo

View from the resort veranda

After a quick lunch, we went for an Island Tour and our first stop was the Mangodlong Rock Resort. Since this is a sister resort of Santiago, we didn’t have to pay for the entrance fee. The resort has a nice beachfront with fine white sand and tropical huts that serve as diving spots. The team had a great time diving from those huts and rocks and the little ones spent theirs creating sand castles and sand “mountains” in the shade.

Enjoying the white sands at Mangodlong
Photo credit: Edmar Banquil

Little girls playing in the sand

One of the many huts surrounding the resort. Good spot for diving.
Photo credit: Suzzane Arreglo

Perfect form 🙂

Our next stop was the Lake Danao Park. It’s sort of a resting pit stop for us since there was no swimming activity done here. We had a snack of Salvoro, a native delicacy that tasted really great! The team just spent some time taking photos and recharging our energy for the next stop.

Salvaro for merienda

Group pic at Lake Danao Park
Photo credit: Shobe Jine

One of the peaceful spots at Lake Danao Park
Photo credit: Suzzane Arreglo

Our last spot of the tour is the Timobo Cave. There is a P15 entrance fee to the cave and you have to wait for the previous group to come out before you can go in, as the space is limited inside. Going down the cave can be tricky as you have to walk a rocky stairway lit sparingly by seemingly 5W bulbs along the way. Yui got scared a few steps going down so we had to go back up and wait for the guys outside. 😦 The group though had a blast swimming in the clear, cold waters of the cave. 🙂

Taking a dip in the cool waters of Timobo cave
Photo credit: Shobe Jine

After the cave escapade, we had to go back to the resort and skipped the baywalk tour since it was getting late. Santiago Bay Resort is designed with nature, its rooms are situated along the side of the mountain and you have to walk down stairs to get to the dining area and the beach. Early that Sunday morning, it was low tide and the guys had a lot of fun playing in the beach. There’s also an infinity pool where the kids stayed and had a blast. Unlike other pools, half of it is only about 2ft deep so the little girls can “swim” from end to end and were not stuck on one corner only.

Santiago Bay and Garden Resort from the beach
Photo credit: Shobe Jine

Standard rooms

Santiago Bay’s Infinity pool

Santiago Beach in the morning

Super enjoy at the beach
Photo credit: Shobe Jine

It was a lot of fun and the whole team had a great time bonding and exploring. Hopefully one day, I can go back to Camotes with the whole family and enjoy the other great things that the island has to offer. 🙂