Filipino, is the de facto standard version of Tagalog, spoken mainly in Metro Manila, and other urban regions. Tagalog and English are used in government, education, print and broadcast media, and business.

Cebuano, and Bisaya, are widely used in Central parts of the Philippines, like Cebu and Bohol.

Porohanon is a native language in Camotes Islands in the province of Cebu in the Philippines. Its closest relatives are Hiligaynon and Masbateño and is barely intelligible with Cebuano though it shares 87% of its vocabulary with it.

More at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cebuano_language

The dry season is from March to June. This season is when you experience no rainfall and full sun. The warmest month is May. Humidity levels reach the maximum in April and May.

The rainy season is from July to February, where rain falls heavily especially on November to December. The coolest month is January.

Winds

“Amihan” or the north easterly wind blows from September to March.

From June to August, the southwesterly wind, called “Habagat” starts. It’s windy and in these times, the calming sea leashes its big waves. The “Habagat” wind normally goes through an eight days cycle, which means, eight days of storm, low depressions, and rain. After 8 wet days, the weather abruptly changes to sunny and dry. During this season, Camotes Island is visited by typhoons and low depression.

The Monsoons
These powerful winds carrying water from the ocean are returning every year, it’s a reason why they are often associated with the concept of season (monsoon comes from the Arabic word mausin).

From the southeast (Pacific Ocean), from May to October, storms and Typhoons carry heavy rains, especially to the eastern part of the country. From the northwest from the month of November to April is not rain intensive.

The monsoons are actually drawing very distinct seasonal schemes in the Philippines. Hence, three seasons are observed throughout the year, more distinctively in the northwestern parts of the country:

December to February is cool and dry
March to May is hot and dry
June to November is rainy season.

The peso is usually denoted by the symbol ““. This symbol was added to the Unicode standard in version 3.2 and is assigned U+20B1 (₱). Due to the lack of font support, the symbol is often substituted with a simple “P”, a P with one horizontal line instead of two (available as the peseta sign, U+20A7 (₧), in some fonts), as “PHP”, or “PhP”.

Philippine banknotes are currently issued in the following denominations:

• 5 piso*
• 10 piso*
• 20 piso
• 50 piso
• 100 piso
• 200 piso
• 500 piso
• 1000 piso

Source and more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_peso

Map of Camotes

Coordinates: 10° 40′ 0″ N, 124° 24′ 0″ E

More here: http://stable.toolserver.org/geohack/geohack.php?pagename=Camotes_Islands&params=10_40_N_124_24_E_region:PH_type:isle_source:GNS-enwiki#Help

Clothes. What to wear.. pants, shorts, shirts and light clothing are okay. Bring comfortable casual clothes. People living in Camotes are simple and some are still traditional. You can’t wear fancy clothing. Wear descent clothes when you go to church or a party. Wear the right clothes for the right occassions.

Shoes. Use rubber shoes/sneakers, simple shoes, slippers, and sandals.

Medicines. Bring medicines for emergency. Only few are available in sari-sari stores and you can rarely find a drugstore. Small clinics are available but opens 9am until 4pm. For women, stock up some pads and tampons, just in case. Be prepared. Mini stores are closed as early as 6 o’ clock in the evening. There are no malls in the place or a 24/7 store in a simple province, a quite and serene rural area. Have some repellents/calamine lotion ready. In a tropical island, there are always mosquitoes present especially during rainy season.

If some emergencies occur, contact the barangay tanod (chief official) or health worker at the place.

Equipments/Appliances. Be aware that most of the voltage system for electronic equipments is 220V in the Philippines . Equipments from US and other countries are usually 110 V. If you are not sure about your equipment, check the adapter. You’ll find a label says 110V or a 220V. Some equipments usually portable devices, like cellphones and other portable stuffs, are 110/220V, which means it can be plugged either 110V or 220V. You can bring an adapter/transformer for 220V. Always consult and ask assistance before you plug your equipment.

RainJackets/LightJackets/Umbrellas. For rainy seasons, which starts from September ’til February, bring some lightjackets or sweaters for your protection against the rain, and cold weather. On the summer time, from March to August, you can bring hats and wear light clothing.

Money. Bring Peso, the official currency of the Philippines. Peso bills come in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000. One peso is equivalent to 100 centavos and coins come in 5, 10 and 25 centavo variants in addition to the 1, 5 and 10 peso coins. No money changer office in the island. Have your money change at Cebu City malls including ATM’s in Cebu, an urbanized island near Camotes. You can also do it in the airport in Mactan, Cebu. Credit Cards can not be accepted in hotels and beach resorts in Camotes. There are no ATM’s in Camotes.

Food. Fresh meat, fruits, and vegetables are available in the Camotes island. You can bring canned goods, which are also available at mini stores. Filipinos usually eat three (3) times a day: breakfast, lunch, and supper. A light snack usually at 3pm and native foods are served, hot, sweet, delicious and yummy. It’s safer to buy bottled water in stores. Water may not be much available especially during hot summer, or in times of El niño.

Communications. Mobile phone cards are available almost at every store. Pay phones are rare. There are three major telecommunications company: PLDT, Globe, and Sun Cellular. Smart Communications are partly owned by PLDT. Note that phone cards of one company can not be used with the other company’s card. Country code (of Philippines) is +63. Area code in Cebu is 32.

Internet cafes are available at central towns of Poro and San Francisco.

Cameras. Have your photos printed at Cebu City, Cebu. There are no printing shops in the island.

Outing. Bring sun tan lotions or sun block lotions if you go swimming to protect yourself from the heat and rays of the sun. You can wear sun glasses and hats, too. Always bring the right gear for the right occasion.

Travelling. If you happen to ride on a pumpboat, always check if the boat is overboarding. Always check for the latest weather updates before going to Camotes.

Language. Native dialect is Cebuano, Porohanon, and Bisaya but the locals can speak and understand English and Filipino.

Time. Philippine standard time is GMT +8.

Tipping. They will be delighted if you give a tip for waiters, drivers, and porters. Most establishments and restaurants add 10% service charge as government tax. Tipping 5-15% of the bill is appropriate if no service charge was included.

Manners and Social Communications. Do invite people at least three times. Local residents are taught that it is proper to refuse for the first time or two. To them, insistence is a clear sign that the offer or invitation is genuine.

Never embarrass a locale. Honor and integrity is a way to respect a Filipino. Verbal signs like Ok (thumbsup sign), and nodding are ways to communicate with them that you are agreeing.

Greetings. Take a time to smile and say “Hello”, or “Hi”. They will appreciate it if you talk in dialect.

Some examples of Cebuano greetings:

“Mabuhay” means Long live for you and your family.
“Maayong Buntag” means Good Morning. “Maayo” means good. “Buntag” is morning.
“Maayong Hapon” means Good Afternoon. Hapon means afternoon.
“Kamusta?” means How are you?
A wave or “Adto nako” means you are leaving.

Hotels and Accomodation. Always schedule dates ahead of time. You may end up nowhere to sleep. Camotes beach resorts are almost always fully booked. It’s one hot tourist destination in the Philippines at this time. Just make some reservations to be safe. Almost all beach resorts do not accept credit cards in Camotes.

Camotes consists of four islands, Pacijan Island or San Francisco town, Poro Island that includes Poro and Tudela town, Ponson Island, where you can find the town of Pilar, and a tiny Tulang Island.

The islands of Pacijan and Poro are connected by a paved road.

The Camotes are low-lying islands. There is only one hill on Pacijan and another hill on Poro. These hills are used by a telecommunications company for relay stations. Pacijan has a fresh-water lake around two kilometers in length.

Palm trees are the dominant plant on the islands. There are also numerous native varieties of fruit trees and other plants.

In these islands, you can find variety of white sand beaches and tourist attractions that you will enjoy.

Altavista Quarry is a magnificient scenery during sunset. This mountain top is located in AltaVista, Poro. Very nice scenic beauty through a view from the top.

Bukilat Cavern, Tudela

Camotes Islands have 8 natural caves and Bukilat cave is one of them. This cave was used as a shelter from the Japanese during World War II. It was named after the founder Bukilat.