Flying to Camiguin

In anticipation of poor internet at my next destinations, which is kinda rural, I opted to stay in my room to do some work on the internet after breakfast.

The hotel’s complimentary shuttle took me to Cebu’s Mactan Airport around 1130, getting there more than 2h before my 1405 departure for Camiguin.

I had time to kill and needed a little food.  I checked the options landside and it was rather pricey for a developing country and I needed to conserve cash for Camiguin in case I run short.

Jollibee beckoned but it didn’t work out.  They had run out of even the most basic items.  Fortunately, their branch airside was better stocked.  Actually, there were many eateries airside too.

Boarding by bus, my kiosk-reprinted boarding pass didn’t have a barcode.  I had reprinted it to avoid hassles with having the phone through security etc.  Obviously, Cebu Pacific’s IT department hadn’t considered all their touchpoints when designing their systems.

The 1h flight to Camiguin was operated by an Cebgo ATR72 that had very thin seats, as if they were padded canvas stretched over a frame!  We landed about 5 mins ahead of our scheduled arrival time.

Disembarking, we were offered umbrellas as sun protection for the short walk to the small arrival terminal.  Then we had to scan our Camiguin Covid-19 barcode before allowed out of the airport.

Looking for transport to my accommodation at Yumbing on the northern side of the island, I was quoted a ridiculous officially-signposted PHP200 for the 8 min ride. That’s like a decent ride around town in Davao.  And they didn’t allow sharing with other passengers either.

Pity I hadn’t anticipated this and asked around the plane as quite a number of people from the same flight arrived at my accommodation, Paguia Cottages, after me.

I kick myself for not doing one of my other tricks, which is walk out from the airport compound, which was right by the main road, and flagging down passing transport.  Prices ex-airport are controlled but not from the road.  Even better, I noticed later that there were shared transport of various forms in terms of motorised tricycles, motorellas and jeepneys.

There was a short wait at the accommodation when I arrived 15 mins after my scheduled flight arrival.  They didn’t seem to be able to find my prepaid booking.  I got a little worried as I had limited cash to pay for alternative accommodation.

Fortunately, everything was OK.  My room was simple and pleasant.  The aircon worked well and the lack of hot water in the shower wasn’t a problem.

Walking around the area, there were a few restaurants at tourist prices and one with decent food at local prices.  The area was pretty dead in terms of tourist information, daytrips etc.

Hopefully the 4 night, 3 full days will not be a drag.  I had a fixed date for flying out to Taiwan and it’s cheaper and nicer to spend it here rather than in a big city that I’ve been to before.