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Elevation: 954 ft
GPS: 10.3064, 123.7339
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Shared By: Eric Coffman on Jul 8, 2012 · Updates
Admins: Frances Fierst

Description Suggest change

A lot of the info for many of the area pages comes from Climb Philippines. Climb Philippines Their information is shared on Mountain Project with their permission.

Welcome to the Jungle!! If you are looking to maximize your fun for the $$$ this is the place for it!! The rock is literally 5 min from the road. Look for a small road off the main highway through town. It is across the street from a double gate that leads to a small cluster of houses.
Turn off to the crag.

As soon as you start walking down the trail veer right, and you will cross over a bamboo bridge. You can see the cement steps on the far bank of the river.
Trail to the river crossing.

After crossing the bridge, immediately turn left and keep following the river. As the jungle thickens you will pass a small house on the right where you sign in and leave 5 pesos (guidebook is here). Cross another small bamboo bridge and follow the trail. Turn right before a small gazebo and you will run into the most amazing limestone cliff. You will arrive at the left end of the crag. The crag is divided into five areas. As you move right along the crag, the routes tend to increase in difficulty.

When climbing and belaying you will be in the shade!! The limestone is fantastic!! There is fun for everyone no matter if they are a beginner or a hardcore master of stone. The area is mostly sport climbing but there are cracks and pockets that will take protection. Crimping, Cranking, Smearing, Tuffas, wide cracks, finger pockets of all sizes whatever your fetish it's here. If you are looking for first ascents you are in luck!! There are about 60 routes on the walls and plenty of space for more! Ratings range from 5.8 to 5.14.

In addition there are several caves nearby to Explore (local climber Willard Elmino can guide you). Deep Water Soloing is just a drive to the coast which also gives you the opportunity to SCUBA dive! Add it all up and this is one of the most affordable adventure destinations in the world!! You can find local guides Raymond Daculan and Enie Yonson on Facebook.

Getting There Suggest change

Manila to Cebu: Take a plane to the province of Cebu from NAIA Terminal 3 or 4 (depending upon your airline), Manila. Direct flights to Cebu are also available from Hong Kong.

Cebu to Cantabaco: There are still vhires, but they now leave from the vhire south terminal. There are also buses and they leave from Cebu South Bus Terminal. Either way, it's P100 and while the vhires are a bit faster they are really packed (4 people per row in a minibus). You can pay for an extra seat to get more space. This additional charge isn't optional if you need the room for your bag. These locations do tend to change (just last year the buses left from Cebu North bus terminal). Best practice would be to ask the taxi driver where they are currently leaving from for "Toledo City". Neither option goes directly through Cantabaco anymore so you can remove the reference for the capella. Just tell the driver you are going to Cantabaco and he'll let you out at the right intersection where you'll transfer to a motorcycle taxi (P20). He'll take you to the capella (about 10 mins).

UPDATE 

Transportation fares: V-hire: P150, Bus: P50

If you don't mind the extra P100 to ride the V-hire, they commonly drive in Manipis rd (you can ask the driver if that's the road he will take, if it's raining heavily recently, this might not be his route because they close it off due to landslides so you'd have to ride the motorcycle taxi that's locally called habal-habal) so they can drop you off at the small road to where the crag is at.  

Permits / Fees / Registration

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Introduce yourself to local climbers Raymund Daculan, Jeane Boy Yonson, or Gian Yagonia. They'll be glad to show you around. There's a logbook for climbers at Nang Mameng's house on the way to the crag after you cross the river (there is a rickety bamboo bridge, don't worry). Sign up and pay PHP 5 to climb for the day.

Staying at Ate Yolly's house or paying a visit there will be a good chance to meet other climbers as Raymund, Jeane and Gian might not be around. The fee is now P20.

Food and Accomodation

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Breakfast at your local “carinderia” (equivalent to a house porch or frontage converted into a canteen by setting up a serving counter, portable tables and chairs) is probably the best and most convenient. Just walk down the main road, point to your preferred viand, and sit where there is space. If your preferred dish is not part of the daily fare, you can prearrange a menu by giving instructions the night before. Whichever way, meals range from PHP 40– 70.

If you prefer a simple cup of coffee and pastry, catch the delivery van of bread that passes early in the morning, or try the “puto” (local rice cake) sold down the highway heading to the crag. Julie's Bake Shop is also just a short walk down the main road from the trail to the crag.

Later in the day, other food options are available on the main road. Food stands are set up, serving grilled hotdog, pork barbecue, “isaw” (barbecued chicken intestines) and other barbecued chicken innards. These are all recommended and worth a try.

For accommodation, Ate Yolly's house is the climbers’ top pick. It has its own shower, dining area with kitchen sink and refrigerator, a very nice porch to hang out on, and can accommodate a group as large as 10 to 12. Alternatively, there are 4–5 smaller rooms to the side of Ate Yolly's house. Each room has an electric fan and is good for 3–4 persons, with a common outhouse across the chicken pen area. This house is located very close to the chapel. Just walk down the alley to the left of the chapel and Father Russell's house behind the house that fronts on the main road. The rooms start at 300P (shared shower) or 400P for an ensuite.

Sometimes, even local residents take in visitors. This usually happens when there is a big number of climbers coming in for rock trips (late October to early November). A nightÂ’s stay in any one of the places costs PHP 150.

The last alternative is Springpark Mountain Resort, just a 2 minute walk down the road. Spring Park down the street is more run down than ever. I would only stay there if there was no other choice in town. Rooms can range from PHP 100 and up depending on the room. I would recommend asking to see the room before you agree on a price to make sure you are getting what you are paying for. Springpark could be a great place, but it appears that the resort suffers from a general lack of maintenance. Our room had a shower but the shower head did not work so we washed with a bucket. But for the price it was a pretty good deal. They also serve a few snacks and decently priced food. Their big bonus is they have a pool. You can call the resident manager, Sam Mapeso on his cell at 0929 571 1358 if needed.

Price list for Springpark

Other tips...

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Bring in at least a rack of 16 draws for the long routes plus your usual sport climbing gear. A 60 meter rope is needed for the longer routes.

A mosquito repellent can also be quite handy. Watch out for ants before you set your stuff down at the base of the cliff. There are water pipes at the base of the crag. They supply water to the people in town. Don't walk on the pipes!

Exchange for Philippine pesos while in the city. Banks open 9:00 a.m. Mondays to Fridays. Money changers can also be found in malls, but banks usually offer better rates.

English is spoken almost anywhere.

A trip to the Philippines is cheap. If you plan, you can probably go to all areas in a month or a month and half. But that doesn't mean youÂ’ll get enough of the climbing.

360.io/2K4Eqd

Guides

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The only guide that's left in town is Enie Yonson ( facebook.com/enie.yonson). He charges P500/day including any gear you may need (even had some shoes for my friend). He is super friendly and can show you other things around the area (caves, etc...). Just ask around the village. This is a small place and everybody knows everybody. That said, aside from climbing, there isn't much else to do.

Climbing

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Enie and his friends developed another crag close by in the village of Poog with some great climbs. I will post some topos. On the weekend you may be able to hookup with some local climbers coming to the main crag from Cebu. Another great way of meeting local climbers is visit the climbing gym in Cebu or through their Facebook page: facebook.com/ceburockclimbi… Hope you find these updates useful.

25 Total Climbs

Route Finder - Best Climbs for YOU!

Location: Cantabaco, Toledo City, Cebu Change
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Classic Climbing Routes at Cantabaco, Toledo City, Cebu

Mountain Project's determination of the classic, most popular, highest rated climbing routes in this area.
5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a
 5
Vulva
Sport
5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a
 5
Haight
Sport
5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a
 4
Pork Barrel
Sport
5.10b 6a+ 19 VII- 19 E2 5b
 6
Bohemian
Sport
5.10b/c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b
 5
Oh Baby!
Sport
5.11a 6c 22 VII+ 22 E3 5c
 15
Vina Kulafu
Sport
5.11b 6c 23 VIII- 23 E3 5c
 9
Sadako
Sport
5.11b 6c 23 VIII- 23 E3 5c
 5
Itchy Flutterby
Trad
5.11c/d 7a 24 VIII 25 E4 6a
 4
Cinnamon Pwet
Sport
Route Name Location Star Rating Difficulty Date
Vulva
 5
5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a Sport
Haight
 5
5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a Sport
Pork Barrel
 4
5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a Sport
Bohemian
 6
5.10b 6a+ 19 VII- 19 E2 5b Sport
Oh Baby!
 5
5.10b/c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b Sport
Vina Kulafu
 15
5.11a 6c 22 VII+ 22 E3 5c Sport
Sadako
 9
5.11b 6c 23 VIII- 23 E3 5c Sport
Itchy Flutterby
 5
5.11b 6c 23 VIII- 23 E3 5c Trad
Cinnamon Pwet
 4
5.11c/d 7a 24 VIII 25 E4 6a Sport
More Classic Climbs in Cantabaco, Toledo City, Cebu »

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