Tumalog Falls in Oslob, Cebu, Philippines

Initially, Tumalog Falls was not part of our itinerary. It was only added when we were researching about the Whale Shark Watching of Oslob that we encountered the really amazing waterfalls. When we researched, it turns out to be Tumalog Falls. The first time I saw the pictures of Tumalog Falls I knew that I had to go there and we did.

Upon arrival at MB’s Sunrise View Resort from our earlier adventure up Osmeña Peak, we decided to have lunch first and take a nap. It was set that we were visiting Tumalog Falls start 3 PM.

We told the resort’s reception that we were heading out to look for habal-habals to Tumalog Falls, when she said that they also offer that for 140 Pesos/person which includes transportation and entrance fees. Since it was not a bad deal we decided to take the offer. So they got us 2 habal-habals and then we were ready to go.

Going to Tumalog Falls

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3:20 PM The habal-habal’s arrive and we were on our way to Tumalog Falls.

After turning left from the National Highway, it was all uphill until we reached the registration area.

The Hike Down

3:29 PM (Travel Time 9 minutes) We arrived at the registration area of Tumalog Falls. There were a lot of habal-habals in the area. There were even stores where we can buy food, but since we only slept after lunch we were not really hungry.

We registered our names and our habal-habal driver paid the entrance fee. We were given a ticket and were told that we could now proceed walking down.

Before the steep part of the road, there was a Tourist Map that shows where visitors could also go to enjoy the beauty of Oslob.

Then the steep part started.

 

The crazy thing about this hike down to Tumalog Falls is that the steepest part of the road is on a blind curve so take heed to the instruction. There are habal-habals who goes up and down these roads.

Finally, we were at the bottom of the road.

A little more walk and we will be at our destination.

Enjoying Tumalog Falls

3:43 PM (Hike Time 12 minutes) We finally arrived at Tumalog Falls.

What was so nice about Tumalog Falls that it was a really tall falls with lots of trickling waters on different sides. I have seen a lot of this types of waterfalls like Batlag Falls and Pampam Falls, but this is so far the best of this type. Tumalog Falls is taller and grander.

What was not nice about Tumalog Falls was that it was so hard to take a picture! Even if I was using my GoPro’s Wide Angle mode the waterfalls barely fit. You cannot just go back to take a picture of the whole waterfall from far away, the photos were usually covered with trees.

Even I am complaining about how hard it is to take a photo of Tumalog Falls, I am not really complaining about the trees there. It actually adds to the charm of the place. The air was cool too due to them.

If you were wondering how deep is the basin of Tumalog Falls is, it’s actually not that deep. Only up to the chest if you are a full grown adult.

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The reason for this low pool of water might be because they built a dam for the water to become a pool where people could swim. Most likely at first it was deep, after years of water pushing small amounts of soil and other things on the basin the water became shallow. This was what happened with New Rizal Falls in Palawan.

The beauty of the pool of Tumalog Falls compared to New Rizal Falls is that the water has a high concentration of lime, which gives it its beautiful turquoise color. Unlike in New Rizal where the water’s color is brown.

The Hike Up

4:31 PM (48 minutes of taking photos and swimming) We did not want to go out of the waters of Tumalog Falls but time forces us to make our move. Visiting hours in Tumalog Falls is only up to 5PM so we got out of the water, collected our stuff and started walking up the steep road.

I was curious what the habal-habals doing at the bottom of the road. It turns out that they were waiting for visitors to hire them going up the steep road. The rate for them to take passengers up the road is 30 Pesos/person (one-way).

They also offer trips from the top to the bottom of the road for 20 Pesos/person (one-way). If you want to do a roundtrip with them that would amount to 50 Pesos/person.

4:46 PM (15 minutes hike up) Back at the registration area and we waited for one of our habal-habal drivers to arrive.

Going back to the Resort

4:55 PM The habal-habal driver arrived and we started going down back to MB’s Sunrise View Resort.

5:04 PM (Travel Time 9 minutes) We got back at MB’s Sunrise View Resort and since we had to cut our swim at Tumalog Falls short, we continued it at the resort.

It was a long, tiring day for us as we first went to Osmeña Peak then we went to Tumalog Falls, but I’m glad we pushed thru with the latter. It was one of the most beautiful waterfall I have seen in the country and I look forward to visit it again.

But before you go there, here are some things you need to know.

Rules and Regulations

Notes

Tumalog Falls Entrance Fee was 20 Pesos/person during our visit.

I asked one of the habal-habal drivers on how much the habal-habal really was and he told me the rate was 60 Pesos/person (one-way). That would mean for a roundtrip 120 Pesos/person.

If you sum the transportation and the entrance fee 140 Pesos/person. The same rate the resort gave us. 🙂

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