Words will fall short and won’t give justice to the divine beauty of Kabutongan Falls. The deep and perfectly turquoise large pool enclosed in a high stone wall adorned with foliage, the small cascade that covers a secret cave, the cave that hides an unexplored new dimension. Aaah! This place will certainly blow your mind away!
Kabutongan Falls is tucked in the forest area of Barangay Looc of Malabuyoc which others mistaken to be located in the same barangay name of the neighboring town of Ginatilan. It features an aquamarine deep pool enclosed by a stone wall. A small cavern hides behind the main cascade which locals claim as passage to an underground waterfalls which only few people have seen.
The main cascade of Kabutongan Falls can be reached in about 45 minutes to an hour of upstream river trekking from its trailhead where you will pass by smaller cascades and natural pools. Entrance fee is P10 per person. Guide is required and is readily available at the entrance, rate is on tip basis. You may also rent a life vest for only P30.
Kabutongan Falls is generally offbeat and raw but definitely one of, if not the most beautiful waterfalls, in all of Cebu. It’s as if a different dimension. Definitely surreal, otherworldly and magical!
How to Get to Kabutongan Falls
From Cebu City
Catch a bus to Bato – Santander via Barili and get off at Malabuyoc Poblacion. Travel time is approximately three to four hours, fare is about P115 by bus.
From Malabuyoc Poblacion, ride a tricycle to take you to the trailhead of Kabutongan at San Isidro Chapel in. Barangay Looc, fare is P60 per trike, good for four.
Dumaguete City to Kabutongan Falls
From downtown Dumaguete, catch a minibus or multicab to Sibulan Port for P7 per person. From Sibulan Port, take a pumpboat to Bato (Santander) for P50 per person, terminal fee included. Upon reaching the Port of Bato, transfer to a bus to Cebu via Barili and get off at Malabuyoc Poblacion, travel time from Bato to Malabuyoc is around an hour and fare is approximately P45.
From Malabuyoc Poblacion, ride a tricycle to take you to the trailhead of Kabutongan at San Isidro Chapel in Barangay Looc, fare is P60 per trike, good for four.
