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.

The first thing that strikes visitors about Daos Plant-Based Kitchen is not the food. It is the setting. A short walk across a grassy lawn leads toward the sea, where a trio of bamboo-and-nipa cottages, Haruray Eco-Beach Tavern, the sister property of Daos, face the waters of Camiguin.

An underwater version of a bustling metropolitan city can be found in the waters of Mantigue Island. Measuring four hectares in diameter and located three kilometers off Camiguin Island, the island has now been groomed as an eco-tourism destination. Today, the Mantigue Natural Park's lush forest houses different species of trees and plants. A localized tourism management program set up by the local government makes this island a model for nature preservation.

Mantigue is manned by a few families belonging to the island's original settlers, who were trained to oversee the island, the forest, and serve as tour guides. It's a simple case of people-empowerment, while at the same time safeguarding the island from falling into the hands of misguided and greedy, questionable island "developers".

The sky was raging, in the process of a quick transition from intense blue to fiery red. At the edge of the sea, the sun was sliding down like a curtain dropping after a circus show. Our boatman told us to hurry so we'd catch a glimpse of the last remaining cross marking the buried gravestones. Though most of the cemetery has long been covered by coral reefs—the bones of the buried having since been transferred to another cemetery inland—the site of what is now known as the "Sunken Cemetery" used to be entirely above the sea. That is, until a catastrophic series of eruptions from Mt. Vulcan Daan in the 1870s eroded parts of Bonbon in Catarman town, thereby swallowing the cemetery and tucking it completely underwater.

In my case, could I just drink tea here for a few mornings while I sit by the pool and stare out at the sea? Such was the cozy environment of Bahay Bakasyunan sa Camiguin (BBC), and it's a great thing Cebu Pacific had us accommodated here during the Blogger's Tour of Camiguin. The last time I visited Camiguin was in 2010, and we just rode a jeepney across the island for the entire day.

During my birthday trip to Camiguin with Tina in 2010, we were not able to visit Katibawasan Falls because we spent the entire afternoon lounging under the red-hot sun at White Island. We drank Red Horse and feasted on the swaki (sea urchin) that crawled over our friend Lot's tattooed back. It took three years for me to get another chance to visit the island province, courtesy of an invite from Cebu Pacific and the Tourism Office of Camiguin.

Camiguin is known as the "island of volcanoes" because of the seven volcanoes dotting this tropical paradise. The most popular is Mt. Hibok-Hibok, believed to be the only active volcano on the island today, with the rest being classified as inactive. In 1871, Mt. Vulcan Daan erupted and sank nearby areas, including the now-famous "Sunken Cemetery". Camiguin is an island that almost, if not entirely, matches one's expectation of what an ideal island setting should be.