Camotes Island

Since young, I really like things that float on the water. I made a lot of model boats and brought it on the beach and I’m satisfied seeing my model boat dancing on the waves.

When I worked in a Goethermal Power Plant in Tongonan Leyte in 1999, I designed and built a 20 footer speedboat using hardwood, marine plywood and epoxy. During long weekends, we used the boat in going to Camotes Island and it was so exciting.

In 2003, I built a bigger and more stable boat. I bought a boat plan from Glen-L, the 19 footer Wanderlust and constructed it myself using hardwood, marine plywood and this time, encapsulated with fiberglass. I bought 120HP Johnsons outboard from a German friend in Duero, Bohol. We are expecting the speedboat to run at 35knots but before it was completed, I was promoted and transferred to our headoffice in Makati so I sold the boat to friend in Moabog, Camotes, a prominent businessman in Cebu City, Mr. Roel Mascariola.

With our scheduled visit to Camotes Island twice a year when we were still living in Makati, Manila, I bought a stable outrigger boat and put in 65HP Mazda R2 as the inboard engine. The boat runs at 18knots and can accomodate 10persons. Not bad - at least we have private boat that will ferry us to Camotes Island anytime we want and we can go Island Hopping anywhere we go.

When I was hired by another multi-national company near Camotes Island and our vacation house was almost complete, we expect frequent visit to Camotes so I bought a 20 footer original speedboat (Mariah) from American friend. The speedboat is so fast and stable that it will only take us 30 minutes from our staffhouse in LIDE to our vacation house in Cawit, Camotes. So, so exciting and the kids really enjoyed it especially if the Dolphins in Camotes sea will start jumping and playing with us.

I agree, there’s no place like home. So, when I was still working in Makati, my family has a schedule vacation in Camotes Island twice a year, during summer and christmas time.

In 2006, we decided to build a vacation house in Cawit, Pilar, Camotes. We built our vacation house in a beach on top of a cliff overlooking the beautiful beach of Cawit. The place is quiet and so relaxing.

I designed the house myself getting some of the ideas from tropical vacation houses in Hawaii. It has a huge terrace overlooking the sea and a good area for watching the sunset. It has three bedrooms, with the two bedrooms air-conditioned and has its own bathroom. Water is not a problem anymore in Cawit unlike before, and thanks to the project of the German NGO who extracted water in “Gabi-Gabihan” in Barangay Imelda with the use of Solar Power technology.

Electricity though is still a problem in the whole island of Pilar. It will power on at around 9:00AM and will turn-off at 1:00AM when we’re at the middle of our sleep. There were times when I’m awaken and no more electricity, then I had to figure out for a while where am I and where the CR is. Having a background in Electronics, I developed a lighting system that will automatically switch-on when electricity is off and another circuit that will automatically switch-on the lights at 6:00PM and switch-off at 6:00AM. It is useful when we are away but the automation really scared our neighbors. Haha!!!

We had also a nipa hut on top of the cliff with a boardwalk overlooking the water. Most of the time, we gather and relax in the nipa hut. It has a bamboo stairs going to the water and very useful when we go down for a swim or go boating.