The Cave-like formations in Enkanto Falls. Libmanan, Camarines Sur

If you’re a clastrophopic person but you still want to experience spelunking less the walls and the roof of a cave, then exploring the Enkanto Falls is the nearest experience to spelunking. Enkanto Falls is a multi-tiered waterfalls located in Barangay Bikal, Libmanan town.

enkanto falls

A few weeks ago, my friend and I explored the beauty of Enkanto Falls. I’ve heard about this waterfalls from one of my friends and the name itself have intrigued me. Kakaiba kasi ang pangalan ng waterfalls, parang weird at may something extraordinary. The word “enkanto” means enchanted or pwedeng ang ibig sabihin nito ay may mga kakaibang kakabalaghan.

Our trip to Enkanto Falls started in Naga City. I woke up early in the morning to go to Naga City. Upon arriving at the Naga City Bus Terminal, my friend and I proceeded to the Van Terminal, however, there is still no van bound for Sipocot or Ragay town. We then proceeded to the jeep terminal near the LCC Mall to catch a jeep bound for Ragay. Even though the waterfalls is located in the town of Libmanan, specifically in Barangay Bikal, we need to ride a jeepney bound for Ragay town or Sipocot town because if we ride the jeepney bound for Libmanan, it will not pass Barangay Bikal.

So after 1 hour of jeepney ride, we finally arrived at Barangay Bikal. We paid 35 pesos for the 1 hour trip. We were dropped off at the barangay chapel of Bikal, however, when we asked a local where the Enkanto Falls is, we were informed that we were a bit far from the jump off point going to the waterfalls. We walked for about 15 minutes to the jump off point going to the waterfalls. If you’re coming from Naga City, the jump off point to the waterfalls is right after the bridge, which is after you pass the barangay chapel. There is no signboard going to the waterfalls and all you need to do is asked the locals. The waterfalls is just about a 15 to 20 minutes walk from the highway. You’ll be passing some farmland and some houses.

a fresh water crab

We reached the waterfalls after a 15 to 20 minutes walk. I was somewhat disappointed upon seeing the waterfalls. Sobrang konti kasi yung tubig na dumadaloy sa falls and I was expecting na medjo malakas ang agos ng tubig because it rained so hard the night before we went to the waterfalls. Medjo maputik nga din yung dinaanan namin. However, medjo swerte din pala kami na hindi masyadong maagos ang tubig sa falls because we were able to explore the several waterfalls in Enkanto. The Enkanto Falls is a multi-tiered falls. From the main falls, you can hike at the side of falls and you can go to the several tiers. I think we were able to visit 4 tiers of the falls. The hike going to the other waterfalls is like spelunking a cave without a roof and a wall. The waterfalls has a cave-like formations and I guess this is due to the fact that the waterfalls is near the Kulapnitan Cave. Hindi ko lang sure kung may connection nga talaga ang pagiging malapit ng waterfalls sa cave kaya nagkaroon din ng parang mga cave formations ang waterfalls.hehehe!

Anyway, after exploring the waterfalls for more than an hour, my friend and I decided to go to the 3 islands in Libmanan, which is called as Tres Marias. We rode a jeepney to Sipocot town, which is just a 15 minutes ride and we paid 10 pesos for that. And then from Sipocot we rented a motorcycle to Barangay Caima in Libmanan and this is the jump off point to Tres Marias. There is a jeepney plying the route Sipocot to Caima but we chose to rent a motorcycle para mas mabilis kami makarating sa Caima. It was about an hour ride going to Caima. We reached the farthest passable road in Caima at kailangan pa namin maglakad going to the beach to rent a boat. Yung binabaan namin ay 15 minutes walk pa ang layo sa dagat kasi masyado ng maputik yung kalsada at hindi na pwedeng madaanan ng motorsiklo.

a wood mushroom, i think.

We were greeted by some locals in Barangay Caima and we were even invited to eat kasi may birthday party nung araw na yun dun sa bahay na malapit sa binabaan namin. We were somewhat disappointed when the barangay officials at the birthday party informed us that hindi daw kami makakapunta ng isla kasi maalon. We still informed them that we want to go but they discouraged us since it would be so risky travelling the sea with huge waves. And we also found out na may bagyo din pala nun somewhere in the northeastern part of the Philippines. Ang pagkakamali namin is we didn’t bother to check the weather report before going to Libmanan. So dahil hindi na kami makakapunta sa isla, kumain na lang kami dun sa birthday party. Even though we were just strangers in the area, we were welcomed as a friend and as a part of the community. So parang pumunta lang kami ng Caima at bumyahe ng 1 hour para lang makikain sa birthday party.hahaha! We met some of the other former barangay officials in Caima at nakipagkwentuhan na din. They informed us na bumalik na lang kami kung wala ng bagyo para hindi maalon and we should go there early in the morning para daw calm ang dagat. We then gave thanks sa mga nakausap namin na mga barangay officials and we then travelled back to Sipocot. From Sipocot, we then rode a train back to Naga City.

Our trip to Libmanan was an exciting adventure. I am sure that I’m going back to Caima and visit the Tres Marias islands. Libmanan may not be a known tourist destination in Camarines Sur province but the town has a lot of things to offer.  The town has a beautiful river, waterfalls, caves, islands and hot spring. Going to Libmanan town’s beautiful destinations maybe a little bit of a challenge but if you’re that kind of a traveller who loves adventure and off the beaten track destinations, then I would suggest that you visit Libmanan town in Camarines Sur. That’s it pusit! ‘til the next story!!