THE PULSE OF CAMBAYA
Experience a Different Philippines
We try to make your experience at Cambaya as authentic and natural at possible at all times. Our resort is a living and working part of the community we serve, whilst you stay with us, you will get to meet the amazing people who make up our local community, from our wonderful team, to local fisherman, farmers and tradesmen who arrive at Cambaya to conduct business with our team, haggling over the price of vegetables or fish, or just simply dropping by to say 'hello'.
We have thought long and hard about the experiences we offer our guests, and we hope that the selection below appeals to you. We have also tried to keep as many of the local authentic experiences free of charge (or we ask that you make a contribution to your host).If there is anything that you have read about or would like to experience that is not in this list please let us know ahead of time and we will do our best to make it happen for you.To reserve an experience, please click below.
WHERE SILENCE AND SALT WATER MEET
Sea
Reef Snorkeling with Aqua-Jets
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| Move with the sea, not against it. Using silent electric aqua-jets, you glide effortlessly above coral gardens alive with colour and light. Parrot fish graze, rays ripple across the sand, and the reef hums below you. There are no crowds, no shouting guides, only the sound of your own breath and the soft current guiding you forward. A guide accompanies quietly, ensuring safety and space, nothing more. | 2 hours | PHP 3000 |
Freediving
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| Freediving at Cambaya is an act of stillness, not sport. You’ll learn to control breath, equalise pressure, and descend into the calm beneath the surface. Each dive is about presence — one breath, one motion, one return. Our guide teaches patience, awareness, and respect for depth. Down there, the world narrows to sound and heartbeat. | 4 hours | PHP 3000 |
Scuba Diving
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| Busuanga’s reefs and wrecks hold quiet history. Certified instructors will take you below, where coral-covered ships rest from the war and life has returned in full colour. Every movement is deliberate. Every detail, equipment, safety, communication, handled with calm precision. Dives are unhurried, small in number, and guided by the principle that the ocean deserves our respect, not our conquest. | Various | Call for prices |
Paddleboarding the Bay
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| Take a board out at sunrise when the water lies still and the mangroves hold their breath. You’ll trace the edge of the reef, glide past fishing boats, and feel your balance find its rhythm. There’s no competition, no goal — just the quiet work of movement and water meeting. For those who prefer, a guide will accompany silently, keeping a watchful distance. | 1 hour | Free |
Sunset Sail
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| As evening settles, we hoist the small Hobie sail and let the wind do the work. The sea softens, the light turns to gold, and the island drifts by at the pace of the tide. You might speak, or not. Most guests don’t. The silence of open water needs no conversation. | 2 hours | 3000 |
Low Tide Harvest
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| When the sea pulls away, it leaves its gifts. Join our team at dawn or dusk to gather what the tide reveals urchins, clams, crabs, and seaweed. You’ll learn to read the reef: what to take, what to leave, and how to do it with care. The catch becomes lunch, cooked over coals, eaten by hand. Simple, earned, complete. | 90 min | 1000 |
Spearfishing at Dawn
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| Before sunrise, the fishermen head out, quiet, barefoot, focused. You’ll learn their way: how to move through water, hold your breath, aim with precision, and show respect for what feeds you. This isn’t sport or spectacle. It’s craft and humility. The meal that follows tastes better because it’s yours. | 2 hours | 2000 |
Mangrove Drift
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| A small wooden boat takes you deep into the mangrove channels. Once inside, the engine cuts and the world falls quiet. You drift through roots that rise like sculpture, birds crossing between light and shadow. The guide speaks softly, only to point out what belongs to this place, egrets, mudfish, mangrove flowers. You emerge changed, not entertained. | 3 hours | 2500 |
Secluded Swim
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| Beyond the main beach lies a small cove known only to the staff. Reached by trail or short boat ride, it’s a place without footprints or sound. We’ll bring towels and fruit water, then leave you alone. The sea is yours, the moment entirely private. | 2 hours | 500 |
Island Circle
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| A full day by sea, circling nearby islands, reefs, wrecks, beaches, each with a character of its own. We pack only what’s needed: shade, fresh water, lunch cooked onshore. The route changes with wind and tide; the goal is quiet discovery. It’s not a tour. It’s a day lived by instinct and light. | 6 hours | 7000 |
Sea Salt Making
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| Salt is the sea’s memory left behind. You’ll collect seawater, pour it into shallow pans, and watch the sun do its slow work. When crystals appear, you’ll scrape and gather them by hand, the purest kind of harvest. A small jar is yours to take home, marked by patience and heat. | 3 hours | 3000 |
RHYTHM, TEXTURE, AND THE TRUTH OF PLACE
Land
Hillside Trek & Viewpoint
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| A quiet walk through forest and wild coconut groves. The air cools as you climb, birds move between trees, and the sound of the sea fades. At the ridge, the island opens before you, horizon, reef, and the full sweep of sky. Water and silence are provided. | 3 hours | Free |
Coconut Workshop
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| Spend an hour with our local team learning the uses of the island’s tree of life. You’ll open a coconut, drink from it, cook with it, and see how each part, leaf, husk, shell, water, serves a purpose. No classroom, no recipe. Just living knowledge shared from hand to hand. | 1 hour | Free |
Boatmaker’s Morning
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| At the edge of the bay, craftsmen maintain the boats by hand. They plane, patch, and paint using tools passed down generations. You can join, or simply sit and watch the rhythm of their work, steady, wordless, and exact. It’s the kind of skill that asks for attention, not applause. | 3 hours | 1000 |
Cooking Over Wood
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| Our open-air kitchen sits beneath palms, built of stone and smoke. Together with our cook, you’ll prepare what the island provides that day, maybe fish from the reef, vegetables from the garden, coconut for rice. No blenders, no timers, no recipes. Just patience, heat, and time shared. | 2 hours | Free |
Tide Pool Observation
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| At low tide, tiny worlds appear — starfish, crabs, coral polyps, shrimp flickering in shallow light. A guide will walk you to the reef edge and show you how to see what most people miss. This is nature at its smallest scale, demanding stillness to be understood. | 90 min | 1000 |
Calauit Reserve Excursion
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| Across the island lies a wildlife reserve where giraffes, zebras, and Calamian deer wander freely among palms. We leave early to avoid the heat, cross quiet roads, and stop for lunch at a freshwater pond. On the return, we visit a small weaving centre, baskets made the same way for decades. | 4 hours | 4000 |
Fire
GATHERING, COOKING AND WARMTH
Fireside Barbecue
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| As the sun lowers, we light the coals. Fish, meat, and vegetables cook slowly over flame while the tide moves in and out. Guests gather around the table, conversation, laughter, the smell of wood smoke. The night stretches naturally; there’s no set finish. | 4 hours | Free |
Whole Hog Spit Roast
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| A day-long preparation for those who appreciate patience. The fire burns steady, the air rich with wood and salt. The result: tender, smoky, simple. It’s a communal meal, best shared among friends. Served with local sides, fresh fruit, and good humour. | 4 hours | POA |
Field Table Dinner
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| A single table set at the far end of the beach or hillside depending on the wind. Dinner is cooked nearby over open flame. No decoration, no background music, just the sound of the fire and the sea in conversation. | 4 hours | Free |
Rain Bath
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| When the first warm rain arrives, we don’t run for cover. We hand you a towel and let you step into it. The forest exhales, the sand cools, and every sense sharpens. It’s not a planned experience, it’s one to surrender to when the weather decides. | 1 hour | Free |
Sky
LIGHT, WIND, SILENCE
Kite Flying
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| We make the kites by hand — bamboo, paper, string. In the afternoon wind, the sky becomes a canvas of motion. No competition, no instruction. Just freedom and laughter in open air. | 1 hour | Free |
Morning Yoga
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| A slow, mindful session at sunrise, held on the beach. The focus is breath and balance, not performance. You hear the tide, not a playlist. | 1 hour | Free |
Star Mapping
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| After dinner, the lights go out. Our guide traces constellations once used by island navigators. You’ll learn how they read the sky, stars as compass, stories as direction. The experience ends quietly, eyes still lifted upward. | 1 hour | Free |
Coconut Moon Bath
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| Once a month, under the full moon, we set shallow basins by the beach filled with cool coconut milk and sea salt. It’s a local tradition for cleansing skin and spirit. No music, no mysticism, just moonlight, scent of salt, and calm. | 2 hours | 2000 |
PEOPLE, CRAFT AND SHARED TIME
Community
Local Rum & Story Hour
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| An evening by the fire pit with island rum, roasted cashews, and stories told by our team. No scripts, no staging — just truth, humour, and memory shared under stars. | 4 hours | Tips for team only |
Island Cinema
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| A screen hung between palms, the surf as background sound. We show films that mean something, quiet, honest stories that hold attention without shouting. Guests sit on cushions, barefoot, drink in hand. The night feels whole. | 2 hours | Free |
Massage in the Open Air
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| Massage here is not theatre. It’s quiet, precise care delivered with focus and respect. Done under palms or in your cabana with natural air and light, it’s an hour of release without intrusion. | 1 hour | 2000 |
Morning Line
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| Join fishermen as they set the morning line. Watch the rhythm — baiting hooks, reading water, pulling in catch. It’s slow, measured work that reveals why patience is the island’s greatest strength. | 2 hours | 2000 |
Shell Workshop
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| Walk the beach at dawn collecting what the sea leaves behind. You’ll learn which shells can be kept, which must be returned, and how locals turn them into tools or small jewellery. A reminder that beauty, here, comes from continuity, not design. | 3 hours | 1000 |
Night Walk
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| After dark, take a quiet guided walk through the forest path and along the shoreline. See fireflies in the trees, crabs crossing the sand, constellations mirrored in tide pools. The island at night is alive, but gentle. | 2 hours | 2000 |
Evening by the Firepit
| Description | Duration | Cost (PHP) |
|---|---|---|
| When the day ends, gather by the fire. Some nights are filled with talk, others with silence. There’s no closing hour. The bar shuts when the last story fades.gentle. | 4 hours | Free |
THE CAMBAYA MEMBERS CIRCLE
Club 887
A private members’ circle connecting guests, hosts, and collaborators.Access is by invitation. Its purpose: to maintain the culture of Cambaya beyond the stay.
© Cambaya Holdings 2025