Capisaan Cave in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya is full of magnificent stone formations which enchants tourists and locals alike. This is a heaven for spelunkers.
Contents
Location
- Barangay Capisaan, Kasibu, Nueva, Vizcaya, Philippines
How to get to Capisaan Cave
- Get to Solano, Nueva Vizcaya:
- From Manila: Any bus going to Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela, or Cagayan. Drop at Solano, Nueva Vizcaya. Approximately 6-8 hours (depending on Metro Manila traffic). Bus fare ranges from Php280-400*.
- From Baguio City: There are buses going to Isabela or Cagayan like GL, Dalin, Pine Bus, etc. However, most of them uses the Marcos Highway-La Union-Pangasinan route which takes longer transit time. I did not research further as to their fares. Fortunately, there are vans which will go directly to Solano. Their terminal is at Slaughter House. Travel time will take 4-5 hours. Fare is Php310* for regular and Php248* for student passengers. The first trip starts loading at 6:00AM.
- Private vehicles: Directions can be easily asked from the friendly Nueva Vizcaya locals.
- From Solano, Nueva Vizcaya, the following are your options:
- Upon alighting from the bus or van in Solano, hail a tricycle.
- If you are there at 12:00NN to 1:00PM, tell the tricycle driver to take you to the Capisaan-bound jeepney terminal. Most of them are not aware of its whereabouts, like my experience wherein the driver asked 5 or more trike drivers to no avail. Thus, tell him that it is located at the F1 Gas Station near the Nueva Vizcaya Cooperative Bank. Tricycle fare is at Php12*. Travel time from Solano to Capisaan thru jeepney will take 2-3 hours, depending on the number of stops to drop passengers and/or merchandises. Jeepney fare is at Php100*. Further, the Capisaan-bound jeep will only travel at 12:00NN to 1:00PM.
- In case that you missed the jeepney and still want to go to Capisaan on that day, inform the tricycle driver to take you to the Didipio Van Terminal. Fare is at Php12*. There are four trips going to Didipio in the afternoon starting at 1:00PM at about an hourly interval. Tell the van driver that you need to be dropped at the Capisaan Information Center (otherwise known as AVR). Travel time from Solano to Capisaan usually takes a shorter time as most of the passengers will drop at Didipio. Van fare is Php200*.
Any fees, scheduled trips, routes, or facilities mentioned here are subject to change according to existing and current government, private, or association rules.
Drop-off Point
- Capisaan Information Center/AVR (near Lion entrance). In here, you need to register and pay the registration fee. Take note that they have an established system for guide and homestay queuing. Please do not insist as to who your cave guide and where to stay. Further, you will undergo briefing as well as watch a video about the cave. After the briefing, you need to change into your spelunking gear if not yet done. You will also be given a hard hat (helmet) and a head lamp. The hard hat and lamp are included in the payment.
Routes
- Halfway routes
- Sang-at Salug to Alayan (or vice versa)
- Lion to Sang-at Salug (or vice versa)
- Through and through routes
- Lion to Alayan
- Alayan to Lion
Contact Person/Group
- Capisaan Caves and Tour Guides Association: +63926-966-3710
- Kasibu Tourism Officer: +63916-774-6723
- Website: Nueva Vizcaya Capisaan Cave page
Fees/Rental/Facilities
- Registration Fee (individual fee for a group of 5) [Inclusive of environmental fee, guide fee, and rental of the hard hat and head lamp]:
- Halfway route: Php150 per person
- Through and through route: Php270 per person
- Accommodation: There are DOT-accredited homestays in Capisaan. They are charging Php200 per person per night. Additional of Php70-90 for a meal, depending on your preference or what is available.
- Knee & elbow pads rental: None.
- Shower facility: Included in the homestays.
Any fees, scheduled trips, routes, or facilities mentioned here are subject to change according to existing and current government, private, or association rules.
Cave Characteristics
- Mineral deposit formations: Highly abundant (one of the best that I have seen).
- Underground river: Yes (most part of the path).
- Bat population: Few to numerous, depending on the chamber involved.
- Multichamber: Yes.
- Human artefacts: None discovered yet.
- Cave floor fill (aside from stone formations): If not underwater, it is commonly stone. Other than that, there are bat droppings, soil, mud, and pebbles.
- DENR Cave Classification: Class I (2 segments) and Class II (1 segment) (DENR Memorandum Circular No. 2012-03). Class I are caves with delicate and fragile geological formations, threatened species, archeological and paleontological values, and extremely hazardous conditions. Allowable activities are limited to mapping, photography, educational and scientific purposes. On the other hand, Class II are caves with areas or portions which have hazardous conditions and contain sensitive geological, archeological, cultural, historical, and biological values or high quality ecosystem. It may be necessary to close sections of these caves seasonally or permanently. It is open to experienced cavers or guided educational tours/visits.
Description
The Capisaan Cave is situated in the mountainous and limestone-rich Barangay Capisaan in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya. Its total length is almost full of magnificent stone formations which enchants tourists and locals alike. This spelunking destination is slowly and surely attracting not just Nueva Vizcaya locals but even to spelunkers coming from Northern and Central Luzon.
The cave is located in Barangay Capisaan, one of the 30 barangays of the municipality of Kasibu in Nueva Vizcaya, hence the name Capisaan Cave. It is a 1.5-3 hour ride from Solano, Nueva Vizcaya. If you have your car, do not depend on web mapping services such as Google Map as some areas along the way have no mobile phone signal. Further, majority of the locals in Capisaan are of Ifugao ethnicity and can speak Ifugao, Ilocano, Filipino and English.
The area where Capisaan is now formally known has been populated at around 1960s. The settlers had initially benefitted from the cave by hunting bats and later on to gathering bird’s nests along its crooks near the entrances. According to the locals, as a tourist spot, it was initiated in early 1990s with flash lights and kerosene lamps to guide them. The use of kerosene lamps have long been banned in the cave as it have altered the color of the stone walls and formations. In 2001, Capisaan Cave garnered environmentalists’, geologists’, and cave enthusiasts’ attention as the province introduced it as it hosted the First National Caving Congress in Nueva Vizcaya (Caparas, 2018). Up to date, Capisaan Cave has already amassed a horde of spelunkers and this will continue as the community is highly strict in the preservation of its entire length. Moreover, the Capisaan Cave System has already been officially declared and approved as an ecotourism zone (The Manila Times, 2015).
The cave’s total length is 4.2 km which qualifies it as the fifth longest cave system in the country (Caparas, 2018). It is a cave system as it boasts multiple entrances and exits and the ecosystem it protects. The main entrances and exits are Lion and Alayan points, thus, a through and through route is commonly known as Lion to Alayan or Alayan to Lion route. Accordingly, there are other entrance or exit points such as the Alayan 2, Sang-at Salug (an Ilocano term which means “ascend, descend”), Gaia, Malukbo 1, Malukbo 2, and Malukbo 3. The Sang-at Salug point is considered as halfway through its entire length; thus, this is one of the entrance or exit for halfway route.
Along majority of the Capisaan Cave length is covered with multitude of rock formations. Like other caves in Luzon such as Libtec Crystal Cave, Sibud-Sibud Cave, Aran Cave, Sagada Cave, etc., it also boasts a multitude of beautifully-formed mineral deposits in the form of stalagmites, stalactites, straws, drapery, and flowstones. There are a lot of stone formations like banana blossom, curtains, snake, dog, dragon, and many more. The cave guide will show you a lot; some of them easily recognized, some undiscernible.
Spelunking in Capisaan Cave is not an easy walk all throughout the adventure. At some point you need to wade through cold water [some above waistline], crawl through crevices, rappel, and half swim while holding on to a rope. However, the physical exertion is not as rigorous as in Aran Cave in Tuba, Benguet but not as easy as Ambongdolan Caves in Tublay or Sibud-Sibud Cave and Libtec Crystal Cave in Abra. Give it a 4/10 difficulty level. All these times, your guide will assist you. Also, the mandatory hard hat will protect you from bumping your head.
Once outside the cave, you may opt to request to ride a motorcycle or walk back to the Information Center if your exit point is away from Lion point. Further, do not forget the reminders given during the briefing and those discussed in the video upon registration.
Gallery
The Lion entrance/exit point. Often, spelunkers will take this as their exit. I took it as my entry point so that I will walk downhill when going back to the Information Center. This will give me leisure time to see more of the place outside of the cave.
This serves as a reminder to all spelunkers at the Alayan entrance/exit. Commonly, tourists opt Alayan as their starting point.
Unlike Aran Cave that needs a lot of exertion such as swimming, rappelling, and scaling walls, and squeezing into spaces, Capisaan cave is a little bit easier save for the entrance in the Lion entrance.
You will see a lot of different formation sizes, shapes and colors. Each wall or formation has its own personality. Unlike in some caves, the stone formations in Capisaan Cave have been well-preserved.
Some of the stone formations have interesting resemblance. A large heart shaped stalactite , statues, wings, and uncircumcised penis are bot some of them.
Dripstones, over time, will reach the floor of the cave. These columns are great example of hundreds of years of precipitation of calcite deposits.
Stalactites of different shapes, sizes and colors are immense throughout the length of the cave. By far, Capisaan Cave offers the most stone formations among the caves that I’ve been to.
In the chamber where the ceiling is matted with straw formations, you cannot help voicing your amazement. I stayed the longest in this chamber just sitting in a rock mesmerized by nature’s beauty. IT IS REALLY a sight to behold!
The locals are very adamant in preserving the cave. Thus, please do not touch the formations especially at the tips. Such insensitive act compromises the growth of these stone formations.
If you notice, there is already a chip in this formation. Some tourists are taking stones in each cave that they go to. Unfortunately, this shows disrespect to the community and to nature.
Column stone formations are also abundant. You can see varying sizes and of different stages. Some of the big ones reminds me of Roman or Greek architecture, that is, for the building posts.
These formations are of immense sizes. You have that feeling of getting dwarfed by nature’s beauty, that you are just a speck of nature.
Towards the Alayan exit, the color of the ceiling, walls, and formations are darker.
I usually engage with the folks of the places where I am going. That is the reason why I opted to walk from my decided exit point. I did enjoy my walk from Alayan exit point back to the AVR. I was able to understand more about their socio-economic status with what I saw and what my guide narrated. And its a quite good place with good people.
Reminders
- Always practice leave-no-trace principle. I have to highlight to please not leave anything inside, do not vandalize, and do not take any physical memento from the cave. Always treat nature with respect.
- Wear a comfortable rubber footwear.
- Since there is a subterranean river inside, bring zip bags for your gadgets. Also, consider re-scheduling your activity if there had been a continuous heavy rain in the area.
- Capisaan has a cold weather due to its elevation.
- There is a daily jeep trip at 4:00AM.
References
Caparas, Y. (2018). The Capisaan Cave: A geological and spelunking paradise in Nueva Vizcaya. Accessed on 17 October 2018 at https://www.denr.gov.ph/news-and-features/features/369-he-capisaan-cave-a-geological-and-spelunking-paradise-in-nueva-vizcaya.html.
DENR Memorandum Circular No. 2012-03. List of classified caves [pdf file]. Retrieved on 17 October 2018 from https://server2.denr.gov.ph/uploads/rmdd/dmc-2012-03.pdf
The Manila Times. (23 August 2015). Capisaan Cave System eyed as ecotourism zone. Accessed on 17 October 2018 at https://www.manilatimes.net/capisaan-cave-system-eyed-as-ecotourism-zone/212155/.
Disclaimer: As much as we want to give the most accurate information for the readers, change will always occur (e.g., contact number, transportation, fees, etc.). With this, please do comment below any updates as well as corrections on the content, anything amiss, or any information that you think is crucial to the readers. Iyaman!
