Words by: Len Caccam
Have you been to Camiguin, the island born of fire? A small paradise perfect for adventure seekers who want to skip the flock of tourists and enjoy the quiet island life! A few kilometers away from Cebu and Cagayan De Oro, you will find a volcanic island with seven volcanoes and over 20 marine protected areas making it one of the top diving sites in the Philippines.
White Island, one of the islands in Camiguin
On top of its captivating natural resources, you will meet friendly locals and expats who can show you around and get the best island experience. If this is the kind of vacation you are looking for, then definitely go to Camiguin and stay at Kurma!
1. Feel at home at Kurma Guesthouse after a whole day of tours and diving.
They have a fan and air-conditioned rooms for solo and group travelers at affordable rates!
2. Enjoy a delicious meal in Kurma Kitchen
A vegetarian-friendly restaurant serving local fusion cuisine. With the goal of being an eco-friendly restaurant, Kurma Kitchen focuses on homemade, fresh, and local produce showcasing Camiguin’s harvest and infusing various techniques from around the world.
Here are our favorites:
Sweet & Salty – Choose between smoked ham/bacon and sunny side up eggs/scrambled eggs all encased in our homemade German pancakes. Served with fresh fruits and pure Camiguin honey.
Kurmadobo – Our own version of the national dish of the Philippines, adobo, where we cook it in 3 ways: steamed classic chicken adobo, chicken liver adobo, and adobo in fresh coconut cream.
Vegetarian steak – Kurma’s signature dish where we showcase being vegetarian-friendly by replacing the typical steak with a “pumpkin steak” topped with homemade basil pesto and crushed peanuts. It is also served with beansotto; monggo beans and baguio beans cooked like a risotto. And served alongside atchara; Filipino pickled local vegetables.
Garden crackers – focuses on “trash cooking” (cooking with ingredients that are normally thrown out). This is made out of extra bread pieces, eggplant and bellpepper garnished with edible weeds and flowers available in the resort and a final touch of calamansi for additional flavor!
Tropical Chill – The tropical chill is a semifreddo (an Italian semi-frozen dessert, basically unchurned ice cream), with ingredients that focuses on Mindanao’s bounty produce: coconut and suha (a sour and fragrant local lime only found in Mindanao). Topped with toasted grated matured coconut and latik (cooked coconut milk curds when making coconut oil).
3. Tick out freediving in your bucketlist with Kurma!
You can avail of the basic or WSF license freedive course that comes with yoga classes and one-on-one mentoring with the coolest freedive instructors in the island! This is one of the most fulfilling ways to explore the beautiful underwater scenes of Camiguin.
4. Trek in the mountains
Play in the waterfalls, and explore the island with Kurma’s adventure tours.
Mantigue Island
Sandbar in White Island
5. Yoga classes
Kurma offers daily yoga classes so you can prepare for your dive, or cool down after a long day.
Finally, get the best sunset view while chilling with your friends by the beach.
Kurma, located in Mambajao just a few minutes away from the Camiguin airport, is an all-in-one guesthouse. The next time you are planning your trip you can find Kurma in Booking.com, Agoda or visit www.kurmafreedive.com and like their Facebook page www.facebook.com/kurmafreedivecamiguin for updates!
Len Caccam is a full time traveler, part time writer and airline marketer. Catch her random travels and writings in www.travel-anyway.com and Instagram: @travelanyway.
