I still remember my first arrival here in January 2010. It was a joint birthday trip with Kristina, since we share the exact same birth date, when our friend Lot invited us to celebrate in her hometown of Cagayan de Oro. We spent an entire day ferrying to Camiguin and road-tripping around aboard a rented jeepney. Sixteen years later, I've come again to Camiguin—a bit older, a little wiser, a few pounds heavier, but still wide-eyed and endlessly curious about this enchanting volcanic island.
Come Again to Camiguin: Where Volcanoes and Solar Power Shape the Island
Where Volcanoes, White Sandy Shores, Hot Springs, Wellness, and Solar Power Shape the Island.
This time, the journey carries more profound meaning. With renewable energy advocacy in mind, traveling alongside the passionate people from the Mindanao Goes Solar movement, I move through the island fully aware of global tensions—how conflicts in the Middle East can ripple into local fuel prices and heavily affect fragile tourism livelihoods here. Yet Camiguin still offers an unparalleled space for reflection: soft white sands, scenic coastal roads, and the imposing presence of Mount Hibok-Hibok, reminding me why this island has always stayed with me.
Going Around the Island
The most liberating way to map Camiguin is on two wheels. I rented a scooter for a mere four hundred pesos a day and spent my first few hours cafe hopping, eventually settling in for a couple of hours of remote work at the roadside Saga Café. In the afternoon, I rode through the winding mountain passes to another coffee shop with an altitude: Utopia Café, which offers an expansive, breathtaking view of the sea below.
The next day brought another loop around the island’s steep volcanic slopes. Heading higher up the mountain, I passed picturesque roads, pulled over for a cool dip in the refreshing waters of Sa-ay Cold Spring, and stopped by more mountainside cafes. Before turning back, I parked along the shoulder to follow a quiet trail into a forest thick with towering pine trees. Riding back down the steep slope, I found myself putting a significant amount of faith in my scooter’s brakes.
Another morning, we rented a boat for five hundred pesos—good for five to six people—near Paras Beach Resort to catch the sunrise at the White Island sandbar, perhaps the most photographed spot on the island, featured in countless magazine pages and social media reels. Other places I proudly revisited on the island include Katibawasan Falls and the beautiful ruins of the Old Spanish Church of Bonbon.
Eerie Wonders and Marine Sanctuaries
No trip to Camiguin is fully complete without tracing its violent volcanic past, perfectly preserved in the most peculiar marine sites. The Sunken Cemetery is a haunting reminder of the island’s geology, submerged entirely during the catastrophic 1871 eruption of Mount Vulcan Daan. What once was a traditional burial ground is now marked by a giant white cross erected in 1982, standing silently above a thriving underwater ecosystem. Beneath the surface, vibrant coral reefs and marine life have reclaimed the site, transforming a dark tragedy into a living reef and an unforgettable snorkeling experience.
Nearby, Mantigue Island, a four-hectare marine sanctuary just offshore, reflects Camiguin’s serious commitment to conservation. Managed by local families who serve as eco-guides, it fiercely protects both the forest and the reef from overdevelopment. Snorkeling here reveals crystal-clear waters, vibrant coral gardens, and occasional sightings of endangered hawksbill sea turtles, making it one of the island’s most balanced examples of eco-tourism.
Staying in an Eco-Friendly Accommodation
My home for several days on the island was Haruhay Eco-Beach Tavern. "Haruhay," a Cebuano word for peace and ease, perfectly captures the atmosphere here—grounded, breezy, and effortlessly relaxed.
Unlike many places that use "eco" strictly as a marketing label, Haruhay genuinely practices low-impact living. Instead of plastic coffee sachets, fresh coffee beans are provided directly in the room. Toiletries are securely stored in reusable glass bottles sourced exclusively from eco-stores. There is no air-conditioning; only low-energy fans and the natural ocean breeze circulate the air, making sleep feel natural and restorative in a beachfront setting. Bright sunlight fills the wooden lofts by day, while a lush garden of herbs and vegetables flows beautifully toward the shore.
Meals are entirely plant-based, prepared completely from scratch just steps away at Daos Plant-Based Kitchen, whose dynamic vegan menu quickly became a culinary highlight of my stay.
I’ve always preferred small-scale accommodations, and Haruhay, featuring just three loft villas, is the absolute perfect choice. It is also a profound labor of love for its owner, Potpot Pinili, a fellow travel writer who finally settled on the island, building an eco-community and one of Camiguin’s most unique, sustainable stays.
The Island’s Capitol Taps Into the Sun
While experiencing eco-conscious island living at Haruhay, we discovered highly positive shifts happening across the province. Our visit was directly in connection with the Mindanao Goes Solar initiative—a powerful energy movement actively promoting rooftop solar power across Mindanao to effectively combat erratic grid supplies and skyrocketing diesel fuel costs.
For many residents, solar is no longer optional but deeply practical. Graham, a local IT professional working from home, invested three hundred fifty thousand pesos in a 6-kilowatt solar PV system to boldly offset frequent brownouts and high electricity rates. His monthly bill dropped massively from thirty thousand to twenty thousand pesos. For him, solar is not an expense but a critical long-term savings tool that stabilizes daily living and work.
This transition is highly visible at the provincial level as well. The Camiguin Provincial Capitol has actively installed solar systems and battery storage across key facilities, directly addressing electricity bills that once reached nearly nine hundred thousand pesos a month. Governor Xavier Jesus Romualdo described the shift as an absolute necessity. The solar rollout has significantly reduced administrative expenses, with confirmed plans to expand to local hospitals and remote schools, drastically easing dependence on the Camiguin Electric Cooperative, Inc. (CAMELCO) and dirty diesel-based generators.
As sustainability awareness aggressively grows, Camiguin’s modern direction is becoming clearer: align tourism and governance with renewable energy. The next major step, advocates say, is wider adoption among SMEs, robustly supported by net metering. According to Philline Donggay of Mindanao Goes Solar, net metering effectively allows households and businesses to sell excess solar power back to the grid, drastically reducing costs and strengthening resilience while accelerating the clean energy transition across the island.
As my latest experience has shown, Camiguin constantly offers both first-time and returning visitors remarkable experiences at every turn; at its hot and cold springs, along its vibrant beaches, and even across its imposing seven volcanoes. At the exact same time, the island is beginning to move in a more intentional, progressive direction, fully embracing eco-friendly practices and expanding its use of solar energy at both household and government levels. In this perfect balance between nature and modernity, Camiguin remains a magnificent place worth coming back to, again and again.
