One of the must-visit places in Siquijor is the Cantabon Cave. Location is in Barangay Cantabon, it is a 20-30 minute continuous ascend up the mountains of Siquijor. Adventure awaits you as you do spelunking at the 800 meter long cave. Also prepare to get wet and dirty as this cave is 100% alive. Too many things to see inside and lots of beautiful natural creations are in showcase for you.
Caving fee is Php 500 for a group of three persons inclusive of guide (mandatory), headlamps and helmets. Helmets are really required because the height of the cave is short, most of the time you have to vow down walking along the muddy, watery floors. So many stalactite formations inside that some of them may hit your head if you don’t wear helmets. Slippers are okay yet sandals or aqua shoes can be better. Waterproofing of your gadgets is a must. If you bring with you your phones and cameras, be wary that water drippings are abundant inside the cave so waterproofing is necessary.
Initially, we plan to do our caving activity upon our arrival in Siquijor. As we have read an article saying that they do the caving in the evening. We figure it out that doing it at night will save a lot of our time. When we arrive at the port, we try to ask one of the tricycle drivers to get us to Cantabon cave immediately. We still have time since we arrive at 5pm. They told us that it is already closed so we go directly to our accommodation.
When we ask our guides whether they are having night caving activities, they tell us that the last schedule will only be at 6pm. See, if we proceed to have our caving upon arrival at the island, we would have spent our afternoon beach bumming in Siquijor.
When we arrive at the Cantabon Barangay Hall, we go directly to their tourism office. They require no permits; we just register and pay the respective caving fee. Cave guides are on queue for every tourists coming in. We mount our helmets and headlamps and we are off to our caving adventure.
We ride back to our tricycle which takes us to the access of the cave entrance. From the entrance arch, a short walk passing through a farm will lead you to the main entrance of the Cave. They put a fence at the entrance of the cave and lock it every time there will be no visitors. It is close when we arrive, meaning there are no cavers/guests ahead of ours.
We have two guides with us. The entrance of the cave is so small. You need to flex your body in order to go down the hole. Inside, you cannot stand. Literally, we are walking either on bent knees or body. There are lots of newly forming stalactites in the area. Most of the portions of the cave are full of water dripping so I am very conscious on my moves in order to protect my camera. The beauty inside the cave will really want you to take out your cameras and shoot pictures.
There are portions that you can stand, there are also portions that you need to submerge thigh high waters. Other portions of the cave requires you to climb through rocks, others require you to slide down. There is one portion that you need to stretch your legs wide enough to reach the other end. The very good thing with our guides, they make our walk as easy as possible. We just have to follow their way.
I keep on taking photos along the way that’s why I opt to be the last person. One guide is with me, oh well; I stay close to my companions as well. It is an 800 meter long cave and they say that the caving activity will take 2 hours round trip. It takes us more than an hour walking for 80% of the half-way of the cave. We are now pressured to walk faster since we need to catch the last ferry going back to Dumaguete. I am closely monitoring the time because we agree that if we cannot reach the end of the cave by 4pm, we will go back to our way out. Maybe because of my yelling every five minutes, we manage to get to the end portion on time.
While busy exploring the cave, we notice one group approaching so we move quickly. We reach the dead end of the cave at 4pm just in time for the second group to catch us. Quite a traffic inside because we don’t want to lose the opportunity of taking pictures at the formation they call “King’s Bed”. It is so beautiful; a white mineral formation with crystal clear overflowing waters really shines when light reflects on it.
We go ahead with the other group yet they still catches us along the way back to the entrance. We just let them pass through us so we will not be in a hurry. Our goal is to get out of the cave by 5pm so we can catch the ferry back to Dumaguete which leaves at 6pm.
Along the way, near the “King’s Bed” is a stalactite forming like a bell. They call it “Shower Bell”. Locals say that the water flowing inside the bell is potable. The guide drinks to it, so do I. And they also say, it is healing water.
You will really feast your eyes on how lovely the cave is. The white minerals forming the stalactites are very abundant in the cave’s ceiling. Some stalagmites also are forming to where those drippings land on stones or over the top of some minerals. One column forms like a picture frame since it has a square hole inside which fits our head. Other formations are like that of the Rice Terraces. They also have mini swimming pool and a portion that shape like an angel’s wings.
I encourage every Siquijor visitors not to miss this Cantabon Cave adventure. You will really appreciate the natural beauty of the cave. I have been to Sagada and Puerto Princesa Underground River yet I am really impressed with Cantabon Cave.
Every flexes, twists, bows and stretches we do inside the cave are all worth it. The adventure of braving the dark and spelunking the narrow cave is spectacular. The experience we have is magnificent. If I am to comeback to this cave, I will do it again.
Been here: November 19, 2015
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