Tanay, Rizal's Calinawan Cave

I have never been to any caves at all since I started blogging about my travel experience and what made me to become interested about the caves because I have read a blog about Calinawan Cave.  This cave is situated at Tanay, Rizal, a nearby town from where I live -  Cainta.  Tanay is just one hour and a half jeepney ride from our place.  The province of Rizal was the easiest way to jaunt as it didn't require me to take a long trip because it's just a nearby town.

The Grotto just before heading up to Calinawan Cave

This 200-step stair gives you 180 degree view

Entrance of Calinawan Cave

The trip to Calinawan Cave had not required me to make plans for my itinerary ahead of time, unlike from my previous travel,  because Rizal was ideal for me as it doesn't involve spending too much budget nor it calls me to stay overnight.

The pathway to the cave appears a formation of an optical illusion of the face on the left

me as I look up on the hole of the cave where the light streaks down the cave

going up, another passage in the cave

The jump-off starts from Tanay market where jeepneys and tricycle terminal is located and it begins after we took our late lunch to the market by asking the carinderia owner where we could take a ride going to Calinawan.  But beforehand I had an idea already based from what I have read from the blog as this could avoid us from overcharging the fare by some the drivers.  For a reasonable fee of 300 pesos the trike driver explained that the fee is good for two-way trip, and he had to wait for the entire journey because there’s no available trip going back to the town proper of Tanay.

my company during the exploration

look up..lol

First we stopped to the nearby Grotto before the journey to Calinawan cave went on to the uphills and rough road until we reached Baranggay Katyo where the cave is located.  Daranak falls belongs to the same barangay and is not far away from Calinawan cave.

our guide giving us direction

According to the tour guide Senz, Calinawan cave is a hub for some movies like Third Eye, Dyesebel which stars Alice Dixson, Jackie Chan which I forgot the movies he mentioned to me.

The cave has 7 layers as our tour guide explained; the first and the second layer is easy to explore which is approximately 150 meters walk between the entrance and exit point.  The third to fifth layer is hard as it involves crawling; the sixth and the seventh layer connects to Montalban, Rizal and it takes approximately 9 days to explore.  This was an interesting story from our guide as someone made it to have reached the Montalban exit.  Calinawan cave once served as stronghold for the revolutionaries during the Spanish, American and Japanese occupation.

Exit of the Cave

It will take around 30-45 minutes to explore the cold cave.  Steps have to be watched carefully and it has a low ceiling through the passages.

My experiencing for exploring Calinawan cave gave me an opportunity to educate myself that some of the caves that have historical relevance aside from being part of the tourist attraction.  It was good to know that this openned my eyes to get to know more about some of the caves in the Philippines.