11:10 AM – Alex, Lisa Marie and I met at Jollibee Aguinaldo in Iligan City. Our plan that day was to do some waterfalling (waterfalls hopping) to Pampam Falls and Kalubihon Falls in Brgy. Dalipuga. If we still have time we could also visit Dalipuga Falls.
We then walked to Gaisano Mall and rode a jeepney bound for Dalipuga, but we had to make a slow stop at Jacko’s Kan-anan to get a taste of their Seafood Platter.
Jacko’s Kan-anan Seafood Platter. 480 Pesos/order.
After the lunch we rode a gain a jeep bound for Dalipuga.
12:45 PM – The jeep was now moving to Dalipuga and we told the driver to drop us off at the intersection to Kalubihon Falls. Fare was 15 Pesos/person.
Jeepney bound for Brgy. Dalipuga
12:59 PM – We arrived at intersection to Kalubihon Falls in Brgy. Dalipuga. Jeepney Travel Time was 14 minutes. There were habal-habals waiting to get passengers there.
Habal-habals (public transportation motorcycles) waiting in the Kalubihon Falls intersection.
We told one of the habal-habal drivers that we were headed to Pampam Falls and Kalubihon Falls. Lisa Marie said that we should be dropped off in front of the school but the habal-habal suggested that we could head straight to the place they call Phase 3, and get a shorter trek to Pampam Falls and Kalubihon Falls. We all agreed to his suggestion but it turns out that this lessened our experience of the waterfalls in the area. (I’ll explain more on the Notes section of this post.)
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We agreed on the price of 30 Pesos/person (one-way) and off we went to Phase 3 with a single motorcycle.
The roads to Phase 3 are not cemented.
When we were nearing Phase 3, there were children on the road that signaled towards us. The driver told us that the children were offering to be our guides and they quickly ran to the jumpoff point (Phase 3).
1:12 PM – About 13 minutes when we arrived at the intersection of Kalubihon Falls, we arrived at Phase 3, one of the jump-off points to Pampam Falls and Kalubihon Falls.
The 2 children that signaled to us on the road also arrived running at the jump-off point. We were reluctant to hire them as it was a Thursday and we passed by the school in the area with lots of students in uniform telling us that school was on going that day. We did not want to hire them because they should be at school and studying. But since no one older was offering us guideship to the place and we do not want to get lost in the lots of fork in the trail we decided to hire the children and I promised myself to write it here in the hopes that someone would let the area know that older men should offer guideship to the falls especially on a weekday.
After agreeing to the 2 children to guide us to the waterfalls and telling our habal-habal drivers to fetch us around 4:00 PM, we started our trek to Pampam Falls.
The start of our walk to Pampam Falls and Kalubihon Falls
Most of the terrain that we hiked into are coconut tree plantations.
When we passed by the place on the above photo, Alex and Lisa said that since we started at Phase 3 we did cut our hiking time by about 20-30 minutes.
One of the steep parts of the trail.
1:32 PM – After 20 minutes of hiking through the trail we finally arrived our first waterfalls of the day, Pampam Falls.
This was how Pampam Falls looked like when we approached it.
A closer look at Pampam Falls from somewhere high.
The basin of Pampam Falls is actually made from riprappings of rocks to form a pool.
Unfortunately, since Pampam Falls was gaining popularity there were a lot of trash around the area. Plastic bottles. Potato chip wrappers and plastic sando bags.
Trash
2:12 PM – After 40 minutes of enjoying Pampam Falls, we started walking to our second waterfalls of the day, Kalubihon Falls.
Going back up the steep trail.
After walking for a while we were near small streams and there was even a time that I heard a small waterfall and when I looked at it there was also a small pool with riprappings to form a pool. But we continued walking.
We had to climb this series of pools while getting our feet wet.
Rocky trail going up.
A slippery steep trail going up.
2:28 PM – We arrived at this small cave on top of the cascades of small waterfalls where the water comes from.
We need to go in the cave to get to Kalubihon Falls.
Since it was my first time there I had to make sure first that I could bring my non-waterproof camera inside. Unfortunately, due to the depth of the pool inside the cave and the amount of water going down the wall that we needed to climb at the other end of the cave I could not bring it inside. Double unfortunately, it was the only camera that I got. Alex and Lisa Marie did not have a camera also that could enter and take pictures of Kalubihon Falls.
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Me standing inside the cave to measure the depth of the pool.
I’m 5 feet and 11 inches and the photo above was me standing on a rock inside the pool inside the cave. In fact there are still some deeper areas of the pool.
We had to climb this to get to Kalubihon Falls.
Photo of Kalubihon Falls by PinayTravelisa.com (Lisa) on one of her travels there.
For a better photo of Kalubihon Falls you can visit IronWulf.net.
During our time at Kalubihon Waterfalls we sat down and talked. Once in a while we would stand underneath the waterfalls to get a waterfalls massage.
I think the highlight of Kalubihon Waterfalls is not the waterfalls itself but the pool inside the cave.
Unfortunately, this one was also feeling the effect of irresponsible tourists.
Plastic bottle and plastics.
Panoramic view of the entrance to the cave of Kalubihon Falls.
3:10 PM – We started walking back to our jump-off point (Phase 3). Slowly but surely walking down the slippery stream going down the small cascading waterfalls.
Slowly but surely.
Shoes getting wet.
Short break to test the small pools.
Hiking back thru the coconut plantation.
3:41 PM – We finally reached the place where we started, Phase 3. The habal-habal was already there waiting for us. Total hiking time was 2 hours and 29 minutes.
Back at Phase 3.
Guide fee 100 Pesos/person for the 2.5 hours of hiking that we did. Though I do encourage everyone to give more since there was no standard pricing in guiding visitors.
Just when we thought the hiking was over, our habal-habal driver noticed that his front tire was flat. He asked if we could wait while he goes out and pump air to his tires and go back to us. We all agreed. When the habal-habal driver left us, we decided to walk on the road since we were not going to do anything while waiting.
3:56 PM – We finally met our habal-habal driver again on the road and rode his motorcycle back to the highway.
He asked if we still wanted to head to Dalipuga Falls, we declined his offer since the clouds were giving signs of rain.
4:04 PM – We were back at the highway (Intersection to Kalubihon Falls). We paid our habal-habal driver another 30 Pesos/person (one-way). Travel Time of 8 minutes.
There was a jeepney waiting for passengers at the highway to head the City Proper of Iligan City, but we decided to have a little pancake snack first.
Pancakes for 5 Pesos/piece
4:07 PM – The jeepney left for the City Proper of Iligan City. We paid 15 Pesos/person (one-way) to the driver.
4:35 PM – We arrived back at the City Proper. Travel Time of 28 minutes.
How much did I spend on my trip to Pampam Falls and Kalubihon Falls?
We’ll start the accounting after we ate at Jacko’s Kan-anan with the assumption that we started at Iligan City Proper. This is not the actual expenses that we did but roughly almost the same.
| 15.00 Pesos | Jeepney Fare from Iligan City Proper to Brgy. Dalipuga (Kalubihon Intersection) | 15 Pesos/person |
| 30.00 Pesos | Habal-habal Fare from Kalubihon Intersection to Phase 3 | 30 Pesos/person |
| 66.67 Pesos | Guide Fee (2 guides) | 100 Pesos/guide |
| 30.00 Pesos | Habal-habal Fare from Phase 3 to Kalubihon Intersection | 30 Pesos/person |
| 5.00 Pesos | Pancakes | 5 Pesos/piece |
| 15.00 Pesos | Jeepney Fare from Brgy. Dalipuga (Kalubihon Intersection) | 15 Pesos/person |
| 161.67 Pesos | TOTAL |
Our drinking water and most of the snacks that we bought came from our house.
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During our visit to Pampam Falls and Kalubihon Falls I saw a lot of trash around. There were even trash inside the basin/pool of the waterfalls. There were vandals too. We as a visitor should always do our responsibility to not destroy the place by not vandalizing it and leaving our trash behind. Let’s help the locals maintain the place that we visit.
I do encourage the local community to organize themselves and establish a standard entrance fee and guide fee so that they could hire people of the community to clean the waterfalls. Much better if visitors get briefed first about the short history of the place and the established rules and regulations before starting the hike.
I hope they would also limit the development of the place as waterfalls are better enjoyed naturally. Not with some man-made structure.
Also falls are better enjoyed with a little bit of effort, so hiking is a must for waterfalls.
Since there are no standard guide fees established in the area I would suggest following guide fee table.
| 2 hours | 100 Pesos/guide |
| 4 hours | 175 Pesos/guide |
| 6 hours | 275 Pesos/guide |
| 8 hours | 350 Pesos/guide |
The above table is based on the number of hours of guideship (N), minimum number of hours per work day (8 hours, H) and minimum wage (W).
As of writing the minimum wage is 350 Pesos/person…. I think. Correct me if I am wrong.
Guide Fee = N/H * W, rounded up to the nearest 25 Pesos.
First you need to be in Iligan City Proper. You can do that by checking my post here.
From Iligan City Proper walk to Gaisano Mall and ride a jeepney bound for Dalipuga. Tell the driver to drop you off at Kalubihon Falls intersection. 15 Pesos/person (one-way). Travel Time is around 25 minutes. This would depend on how much stops your jeepney driver makes.
From Kalubihon Falls intersection talk to the habal-habal drivers to take you to Phase 3. Fare was 30 Pesos/person with a minimum number of passengers is 3 persons. If you’re only 1 person then you would need to pay for 3 persons. Travel time is around 13 minutes.
Once in Phase 3 talk to your habal-habal driver to meet you back on your desired time. Roughly around 2-4 hours should do, if you want to enjoy the falls more, suggest a longer time.
Hire guides to take you to Pampam Falls and Kalubihon Falls. See guide fee table above.
Start hiking.
Go back the same way you went there. Just don’t forget to tell your habal-habal driver to fetch you.
Also when you reach the highway (Kalubihon Falls Intersection) you can ride a jeepney moving away from the City Proper to Centennial Park so you can view the sunset. Fare is 7.50 Pesos/person (one-way) from here.
Remember when I said above that I regret for our group to be brought directly to Phase 3? If we went down at the school we would have visited the No Name Waterfall as IronWulf.net would call it. See his post here.
Stores can be found in the Iligan City Proper, Kalubihon Falls Intersection in Brgy. Dalipuga and on Phase 3. During the trek there are no stores anymore.
Disclosure: My travel to Iligan City was not sponsored. I went there on my own decision and with my own money. Though I did have help on planning my visit there with Lisa Marie of PinayTravelista.com.
* Details may change without prior notice.
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Hi.. anyone can help me to search what is the history of Pampam Falls ?
I’m not really sure what the history of the place it. But basing it from the meaning of the name… hmm…
Nice Kyyooo Dera ILOVE Kalubihon FALLS <3
Love ko rin siya!
Thanks for your travel blog! We were able to explore the place and had a great time.
You’re welcome Jennifer! I’m glad that my blog helped you have a great time. Keep on traveling!
Why is it that they named it pampam falls ?
please answer me 🙁 huhuhuhu
I’m not really sure. Though I do know that Pampam has a negative connotation but that’s a part of the charm of it, getting curious why it was named that way.