Kabigan Falls

Kabigan is the gentle one. Unlike the Cordillera's stair-climbs, the walk in from the highway at Balaoi runs mostly flat for about a kilometre and a half - through rice fields, along a stream, under bamboo and forest canopy with butterflies working the light gaps - and takes half an hour at an easy pace. At the end the valley closes and the fall appears: a broad sheet of water dropping some twenty metres over a dark rock face into a wide shallow pool, cool enough to be a shock after the humid walk and shallow enough at the edges for children. Guides from the barangay accompany every group, partly for safety and partly because the guiding rota is the village's share of the tourism. The pool sits in permanent shade under the cliff, so the water stays cold; the rocks around it are slick with algae and the current directly under the fall is stronger than it looks.

What you actually see

• The curtain fall - a wide sheet over dark rock.
• The jungle walk - a half-hour through fields and canopy.
• The shallow pool - cold swimming under the cliff.
• The barangay guides - the village's rota system.

When to go

November to May for a dry trail; the fall is fullest just after the rains in October and November. Mornings are coolest and least busy.

Honest expectations

The trail floods and turns to mud after heavy rain. Rocks at the pool are slippery. Facilities are a hut and a changing shed; bring water and cash.

Nearby

Saud Beach, the Blue Lagoon and Bantay Abot Cave are all within fifteen minutes along the coast.