White Island

White Island is a sandbank that lies off Yumbing.  I looked for it when I first arrived and couldn’t spot it.  But yesterday I saw that it in the morning.  I guess it’s pretty covered up during high tide.

We had noticed that people going there early in the morning yesterday.  My guidebook suggests that it’s the avoid the strong sun but I’m guessing it’s also got to do with the tides.

I decided to go around 0730, which is later than most people.  Abe, in the cottage opposite joined me.  He had some time constraints so the idea of waiting to fill a boat of four people didn’t last too long.

We paid double the price for having half a load on the small motorised outrigger to take us out to White Island.  We had to specify a time for our return, so probably it wouldn’t have worked out too well sharing with people who had different ideas as to how long to stay.

We agreed with a 45 min stay which allowed me to walk to the far end of the somewhat C or L-shaped sandbank, then take a short 20 min swim.  It was very beautiful but having just come from Maldives, I took the beauty in my stride.

Being on White Island allowed me to appreciate Camiguin from afar.  It has the reputation of having the most volcanoes per square metre on earth.  This island of 230 sq km (a third the size of Singapore, 1.5x the size of Tioman, 3.5x the size of Rarotonga) has 7 volcanoes!  Mt Hibok Hibok which we looked towards, is one of the most active in the country.

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This would probably be my last swim in the sea on Camiguin.  The other beaches aren’t too picturesque with black sand and rocks.

I was back in my room around 0845 for a wash.  I made the most of the decent internet and aircon for the rest of the day.  Previous plans to go to the hot springs were postponed to tomorrow as it fits in with a motorcycle tour which I’ll do with other sights.

Top of mind was sorting some insurance matters relating to the loss of land in a landslide at home in Auckland from late January.  I’ve been procrastinating watching reviews of new mobile phones to replace my four year old Huawei, with which I’ve documented my travels in the last four years (doing without a compact camera).