Tamaraw Falls

Tamaraw Falls is the easiest waterfall in Mindoro to visit and makes no apology for it: the road from Puerto Galera to Calapan runs directly past the base, so the fall - a tall drop of around thirty metres in tiers down a mossy rock face - is visible from the vehicle before you have parked. Concrete pools have been built at the foot to catch the water, and the swimming is in those rather than a natural basin, cold and clear and popular with families; a path climbs alongside the fall to the upper tiers and a smaller cascade where the water is quieter. Stalls sell grilled food and drinks, cottages are rented by the day, and the whole stop takes an hour unless you settle in. The name comes from the tamaraw, the dwarf buffalo endemic to Mindoro and critically endangered, which survives in the island's interior mountains rather than anywhere near this road.

What you actually see

• The tiered drop - thirty metres beside the highway.
• The built pools - concrete basins catching the water.
• The upper path - stairs to the quieter cascade above.
• The roadside stalls - grills, drinks and rented cottages.

When to go

November to May for the driest travel; the fall runs hardest right after rain. Mornings before the tour vans from Puerto Galera arrive.

Honest expectations

This is a developed roadside stop, not a wilderness fall - concrete pools, stalls and railings. The water is cold and the pools can be crowded. Twenty minutes of driving on a winding road each way.

Nearby

Puerto Galera's dive coves are twenty minutes back; Calapan and the road south into Mindoro continue the other way.