Mantigue with friends

Mantigue is the little sister of Camiguin Island. Camiguin is known to be the friendliest island in the Philippines. This is why you always go to Mantigue with friends. And when you come back from Mantigue, you surely have more friends and a deep feeling of peace in your belly.

Let’s go to Mantigue!

With our friends from the Camiguin Action Geckos we drove in a jeepney to San Roque where already 3 bangkas waited for us and for our equipment. It is a short and stunning ride from San Roque to Mantigue Island.

Mantigue is built of 100% pure white coral sand. The white beaches run around the whole island. In the center of Mantigue is a lush renatured forest with cool shadows.

Under water with Romeo, one of the dive-masters of the Camiguin Action Geckos. Together we explored the southern edge of the island. Mantigue is a paradise for snorkelers and divers.

Romeo led me to a place where sea turtles often rest in about 6 to 8 meters under the surface. Down there the light is already very bluish and so corrected the picture’s colors with Photoshop. It’s been such a pleasure – salamat po Romeo.

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Lunch-time in the sand under the bushes and trees. Mantigue is magic. It is still the “Dream Island”.

But Mantigue were not perfect if it weren’t also a beauty from the sky. Dino and Sean produced a nice movie of Camiguin and the two little sister islands, Mantigue and White Island. The movie is available in HD on YouTube. You may wonder why they wear parachutes on the photo above. They didn’t fly only in a straight line, they also did some aerobatics – e.g. Sean’s perfect Cuban Eight.

Mantigue – the beauty! The central forest and the circular white sand beach are well visible. In the lower part of the island, actually the eastern shore, is the village of the local fisher-folks. The dark green zones around the island are sea-weed prairies with a depth of 3 meters maximum. The turquoise band shows the coral reef around Mantigue. This is the preferred playground of snorkelers and divers.

Mantigue Island is only accessible from Camiguin, although sometimes fishermen are coming over from nearby Mindanao.

I’d like to say thank you to Michèle and Wing, to Romeo and Laarni, to Butch and Sean. I’d like to say thank you to my real friends here in Camiguin.

Next step: PADI Openwater in June. Of course with the Camiguin Action Geckos.

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