Mabinay
Understand
In 1989-1990, a Belgian-Dutch-Philippine Caving Expedition undertook a survey and identified 45 separate caves. Two copies of their research and documentation were given to the town and very quickly disappeared.
Get in
This is not a good road for driving after dusk. There are several road slips in the hills on the road and, as is usual in the Philippines, these are neither adequately signed nor lit at night. Also, broken down vehicles often drive off leaving the large rocks that they had used as wheel chocks behind them in the middle of the road.
Get around
See
Bad Smell CaveDue to bat guano and urine.
Baliw Cave
Cayaso Cave2,222m long.
Crystal CavesNice gardens with plenty of shade trees have three pavilions where you can leave your bags and gear and use clean toilets. The cave is about 150m walk over rough karst and through sheltering trees. Since the cave atmosphere has pretty well 100% humidity you might want to pause for a few moments to cool off before you enter. There is an iron walkway at relatively high level of about 140m from the cave entrance and artificial lighting. The formations are interesting and extremely varied, but of a uniform whiteness except where they have been contaminated. Many will be interested to see the rhinoceros bats hanging from the ceiling, but watch where you place your hands because of guano deposits. The air is not foetid or unpleasant despite the lack of any air currents. For many the highlight may well be the opportunity to get very close to tiny Balinsasayaw swifts nesting in the ceiling about 1m above your head. (The caves have to be kept locked to prevent the theft of their valuable nests that are prized for making birds' nest soup. The nests built, with the birds saliva, have high levels of calcium, iron, potassium, and magnesium and can fetch about per gram. According to traditional Chinese science, these soups are believed to help maintain skin tone, balance qi , help digestion, alleviate asthma, boost the libido and reinforce the immune system.)
Kabugan CaveLarge colonies of three different species of bat and an opening that allows a shaft of sunlight to penetrate.
OdlomanAt a length of some 8,870m, this cave system is the second longest in the Philippines after St Paul's Underground River in Palawan's National Park. It's not a cave for casual visitors since it can only be accessed by swimming 20m across an underground torrent of by rappelling down from a squeeze in the roof. Seasoned spelunkers will be rewarded with large galleries, narrow corridors, and some pretty extreme water challenges.
Pandalihan CaveContains the "Berlin Wall".
Panligawan CaveThe most accessible of them all.
Do
River kayaking & rafting in the Ilog river, one of the longest rivers in the province. Water levels are usually low in July, August and September.
Buy
Honey's Grocery Store
Eat
Andrew's DinerCafeteria style with outside tables set in a tranquil garden with artificial waterfall.
Sleep
EconotelUnfortunately this roadhouse suffers from the common cycle of tourism decline in the rural Philippines: infrequent guests mean that maintenance and modernisation is reduced which, in turn, reduces patronage. In Jan 2015 the restaurant was not open and there was no running water or refrigerated drinks. 3 Motel style units surprisingly well furnished but with tiny shower rooms where anybody seated on the WC has an intimate encounter with the pedestal of the wash hand basin. Bizarrely for an establishment with no running water in the rooms, one corner of the bedroom - where normally you might expect to encounter a writing desk - is very fully occupied by an ivory-coloured two person spa bath! Grounds are pleasant and sufficiently removed from the cloying dust of the (perpetual?) roadworks on the highway (which have been "in progress" for more than 6 years now).
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Mabinay Springs poolside cottages. ₱
1000-1500 per brand-new cottage.
Go next
- Bais City is equally peaceful and has dolphin watching and floodlit tennis courts