Rock Climbing in Cantabaco, Cebu Itinerary: 1 day

Vertical crawl
Rock Climbing | Cantabaco, Cebu Rock Climbing Itinerary
Sitio Silangan, Cantabaco, Cebu
Hours from Cebu City: around 1 hour
Specs: Rock climbing on bolted limestone wall, 5.6 to 5.14 difficulty walls, rappelling, freshwater river, possibility of caving

Notes:
. Cantabaco is accessible by V-hire. The fare is P70 from Citilink terminal in Cebu City. Take a V-hire going to Lutopan township and ask the driver to drop you off at Silangan (Lutopan is the town after this).
. Going to Cantabaco, you will pass by the old highway which winds around mountain sides. Back in the day (colonial period), it only allows one way passage – going to Cebu City in the mornings, and back to Toledo in the evenings – hence it is narrow, but the view is awesome. Waterfalls along the roadside are not rare, but so as landslides during rainy season.
. Silangan is a small town, so locals know each other very well. Don’t be shy to ask around if you need a local guide to bring you to the wall.
. There is only a handful of local climbers from Silangan. Having minimal climbing equipment, it is advisable that you bring your own stuff if you plan to stay for days.
. First time climbers are welcome, your guide should be able to lend you necessary equipment such as a rope, rock shoes, harness, carabiners and others. You may have to take turns if there are other climbers that day.
. Cantabaco’s limestone wall is known in the international climbing scene, so there’s a regular stream of foreign visitors in the place.
. Local guides do not charge a fixed fee for their services. It’s up to you to give them a generous tip for their services.
. The trek to the wall face takes about 10 minutes, passing by water streams where you’d have to cross on bamboo bridges.
. A brief stopover to a small house is required for you to register your names and pay a fee of P10.
. Rock climbing is an exhausting sport, be sure not to over-exert yourself or else you’d have to endure sore muscles the next day.
. Bring your own food so you can have lunch on site. You may also have lunch at the small carinderias (eatery) or ihaw-ihaw (grilled street food) places.
. Put on insect repellant because ants and mosquitoes live abundantly in the area. You can also light up some Katol (anti-mosquito incense).
. After lunch, you may proceed to the top of the wall to fix the lines for rappelling. Otherwise, you may just check it out for sightseeing.
. On a normal day, Cebu-bound V-hires will be fully occupied when they pass Silangan. It’s best to take a habal-habal to Lutopan terminal to catch a ride back to the city, particularly if you’re traveling as a group.
. The last V-hire trip back to Cebu City is around 7:00PM

Options:
. Taking a private car to Cantabaco may be more comfortable, especially if you’re bringing plenty of climbing gear.
. There are rooms in the Spring Park Mountain Resort (P100/night per person) if you plan to stay overnight. It’s right along the road, so you can’t miss it. Home stay accommodations are better, though. Check out Manang Virgie’s place (P100/night per person) or the Priest’s place for cozy fan rooms.
. You don’t have to worry about food when you choose the homestay option, because the house cook can whip up your favorite ulam for a minimal fee.
. If you decide to pass on rappelling, you can pack up early and head down the river to freshen up. There’s also an option of dipping in the Spring Resort pool (P75 entrance fee).
. If you’re up for more adventure, you can try canyoning in Kawasan Falls in the town of Badian, Cebu.
. Caving is also something to explore as locals talk about cave entrances around the area.

Budget: around P435 per pax (excluding guide fees)
Budget estimate for 4 people:
280 V-hire to Silangan, Cantabaco
280 V-hire back to Cebu City
400 room
  80 habal habal
500 food share
 --- guide fee
200 misc (registration, etc.)

*V-hire – van for hire (commuter)
*Katol – spiral anti-mosuito incense
*ulam – food viand
*carinderia – eatery
*ihaw-ihaw - grilled street food


The wall was reportedly bolted by Power Up boys

Tim Rieder and Larry Honoridez

Carrie(?) rockin' the crag!

Our day camp. Those munchkins were attacked by ants in minutes.

Multiple anchors

First time on natural wall.

That's a katol!
 
Reached the top! 'Kiss the wall' moment right there.

15 comments:

  1. This informations are good for the adventurous people. I have one question to ask about rapelling how safety those harness they are using?

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    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi D. Ordonez,

    We brought our own harness and other gears on this trip. The locals use quality harnesses, too. I saw a Black Diamond and a Petzl worn by some of them.

    Thanks for visiting!
    Indie

    ReplyDelete
  3. I miss outdoor activities like this :(

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  4. Let's do this when you get back! :)

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  5. nice. Pasabit naman pag me rock climbing ulit kayo dito sa cebu. btw, i already added you in my blogroll.

    ReplyDelete
  6. @My Nomadic Habits

    Yes, sure! See you in Cebu soon :D
    Thanks for adding me!

    ReplyDelete
  7. hello! thanks for the post ang ganda! we're planning to do actual rock climbing this october. may contact po ba kau nung guide? first-timers po kami at walang gamit. thanks po!

    ReplyDelete
  8. @gegemsan

    Thanks for the compliment!
    Leave your email so can send the contact number of the guide/s :) May gamit na din sila.

    ReplyDelete
  9. hi! can i also ask for the guide's contact number? coz i am interested to try this at the last week of Nov..berna_jen@yahoo.com is my email add :)

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  10. hi! WOW i wanna try this. Is it safe for first timers? Can I also have the guide's contact numbers? or if we go there directly, will there be guide/s available? and do they have gears and harness etc that we can use? thanks..

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  11. Hi,

    Thanks for information.
    I'm planning to visit Cebu and to climb there.
    Could you tell me the guide's contact on the reply? (e-mail or phone)

    ReplyDelete
  12. @bernadette albarico - I sent your contact details to the guide

    @elzquin and JT - please send your email addresses, I will message u privately. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi,

    Thank you so much for this information, I am visiting Cebu at the end of next week and would love to go climbing there!

    Can you send me the guide's contact info? my email is ribard.s@hotmal.fr.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hey all, I'm a climber from California and super interested in getting in contact with the locals. My email is jprimero@gmail.com. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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