A Camiguin Day Tour, Part Two: Cold Springs, Old Church Ruins, and the Sunken Cemetery

Parts one and three of my Camiguin Day Tour can be found here: Part One | Part Three

In the town of Catarman is the Sto. Niño Cold Spring Resort, which was packed with people on that Saturday morning.

Sto. Nino Cold Springs — Sto. Niño Cold Springs, Catarman, Camiguin

I almost didn’t want to join so many people, but the water looked so inviting on that hot afternoon. And yes, when it says cold springs, it means cold. So this is like cooling off in the island born of fire. (hehe.)

Be warned, though, that the larger pool is deep, hence the many floating tubes you’d see on the picture. It’s already refreshing to sit by the sides and just cool off, though. (Right now, I’m sweltering in Manila heat and I’m really missing this place.)

Next stop was the Old Church Ruins, which faces the sea in Barangay Bonbon in Catarman. According to the commemorative marker here, the town was used to be called Cotta Bato, the old capital of Camiguin. It was wiped out in all of 20 minutes when a fissure opened on the northwestern flank of Mt. Hibok-Hibok. For four years the volcano continued to eject lava.

Old Spanish Churches are made of coral stone.

The old bell tower, or what's left of it. — The old bell tower, or what’s left of it.

Quite an old tree. I wonder how old this is?

The explosion and continuous volcanic activity created a new volcano, now called Mt. Vulcan. From White Island, you could see Mt. Vulcan to the west of the much larger Hibok-Hibok.

Mt. Vulcan also caused a cemetery to sink to the sea. The commemorative marker to the Sunken Cemetery was where our next stop was.