Malumpati Cold Spring

Malumpati is where the Bugang River comes out of the ground - a spring pool of startlingly clear, cold blue water at the head of a river that has repeatedly been rated among the cleanest in the Philippines, a designation the municipality of Pandan takes seriously and enforces. The headspring is about thirty metres deep and the pool is deep enough to swim and jump into, ringed by trees and rock, with cottages and a small resort area at the edge. The other half of the visit is the river below: operators run tubing and kayak trips down the Bugang, a river of about six kilometres, from the spring toward the sea, a gentle drift of an hour or so through bamboo and forest with a few livelier sections. The whole thing is community-run, cheap, and busiest at weekends when families from Pandan and Libertad come out. Antique's western coast is one of the least-visited stretches in the Visayas, so weekdays here are very quiet.

Highlights

• The spring pool - cold blue water at the river's source.
• The Bugang River - the clear run down toward the sea.
• The tubing drift - the float through bamboo and forest.
• The cottage area - the community-run resort at the pool.

When to go

December to May for clear water and easy roads. Weekdays are quiet; weekends and holidays bring local crowds. Heavy rain clouds the river and stops tubing.

Practical notes

The water is genuinely cold - shallow-water swimmers find it a shock. Facilities are simple cottages and toilets. Tubing and raft fees are separate from entry, and life jackets are required.

Nearby

Pandan town and its beaches are fifteen minutes away; Tibiao's kawa baths and the Bugtong Bato falls are down the coast.

Key facts