If there’s something that
could be considered as the crowning glory of my recent trip to Camiguin, that
would be White Island, an immaculate sandbar off the coast of Mambajao. White
Island enthralled me the moment my beach-hungry feet touched its powdery sands.
It was absolutely chada, or beautiful in the vernacular!
From what I've heard,
Camiguin’s renowned tourist attraction transforms itself into various shapes
and sizes depending on the tides. Disappearing at high tide and then
reappearing at low tide, the treeless, uninhabited sandbar can be reached via a
10-minute pump boat ride coming from either the shores of Yumbing or Agohay. 
Together with some
coworkers, I went to the sandbar before the break of dawn. Why so early? The
best time to go there is actually between 5 to 8 o’ clock in the morning since
the current isn’t too strong, the sun isn’t so hot and the place isn’t very
crowded.
Arriving at the spot after a
quick trip, I was surprised to see quite a number of tourists roaming around
White Island at that hour. And believe it or not, business was also brisk in
that teeny-weeny piece of land at that hour. There were several itinerant
vendors peddling foodstuff as well as beads, trinkets and other souvenirs made
of shells. We hadn't eaten anything before leaving the mainland so we readily helped
ourselves with hefty servings of coffee, boiled eggs, rice cakes, bread and
sweet potato during our breakfast by the beach.
For a few hours, we had
great fun swimming, taking pictures,
laughing and talking in White Island. Then, our guide reminded us to get ready
for we’d be leaving in a few minutes. Much as we wanted linger, we had to leave
before the sun got too hot for us to handle. Besides, we forgot to bring
sunblock so we couldn’t stay much longer lest we’d got home with sunburn.
I spent our remaining time
strolling along White Island’s immaculate expanse. For a moment, I wondered why
it took me so long to go to that slice of heaven on earth. Not wanting to lose
to oblivion my memories of our moments there, I snapped all over the place to
capture the best angles I could take of the spectacular shoal, which, on that
day, took the shape of the letter C, as in Camiguin! :D
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