Sunday, March 10, 2013

Karangahan Falls: A not-so-familiar waterfalls in Legazpi City.


There are a lot of beautiful places to visit in Legazpi City, however, there is one waterfalls that is often not included in the list of tourist destination in the city. The waterfalls is called as Karangahan Falls and it is located in Barangay Banquerohan, Legazpi City. It is about 30 to 45 minutes jeepney ride from the city center, plus a 15 minute trek going to the waterfalls. From my estimate, Karangahan Falls is about 25 to 30 feet in  height.

Whenever tourists go to Legazpi City, most of them just visit the famous Ligñon Hill Nature Park or Embarcadero or the famous Cagsawa Ruins in nearby Daraga City. Few tourists know Karangahan Falls, and in fact it is not even included in the tourism website of Legazpi City. Konti lang talaga ang pumupunta ng Karangahan Falls, but for adventure-seekers, maganda din puntahan ang lugar na to lalo na kapag madaming tubig na umaagos sa waterfalls.

Karangahan Falls, Brgy. Banquerohan, Legazpi City

Now, how do you go to Karangahan Falls? Medjo mahirap hanapin ang waterfalls na to, there are no road signs going to that waterfalls and if you’re going to ask the Legazpi City locals, most of them doesn’t even know that this waterfalls exist in their city.

Here’s the direction on how to reach Karangahan Falls:

First, if you’re coming from Manila, ride a bus bound for Legazpi City. It is about a 10 to 12 hours bus ride. If you don’t want to ride a bus, then you can ride a plane bound for Legazpi City. It is about an hour plane ride from Manila to Legazpi City. If you’re travelling by bus, get off at Bañag in Daraga City and ride a jeepney bound for Legazpi City via Daraga City. Dadaan sa city proper ng Daraga City ang jeepney via Rizal Street and then get off at Saint Gregory the Great Cathedral. It is about 10 to 15 minutes travel from Bañag and the fare is 10 pesos. And then from the cathedral, just walk to the jeepney stop near the church. It is just a 5 minutes walk. The jeepney stop is where the jeepneys bound for San Francisco, Manito and Banquerohan waits for more passengers. And then you can either ride the jeepney bound for San Francisco or Banquerohan or Manito because all of them will be passing the same road going to Karangahan Falls.

From the jeepney stop near the St. Gregory the Great Cathedral, it is about 30 to 45 minutes ride to the jump-off point to Karangahan Falls. The jeepney fare is 25 pesos. There are no signages or landmarks going to Karangahan Falls from the main road so you really need to tell the driver or conductor that you’re going to Karangahan Falls. The nearest landmark that you should remember in order for you to know that you’re already near Karangahan Falls is Banquerohan National High School, and then after another 5 minutes jeepney travel, you’ll be passing by Don Bosco Agro-Mechanical School. Kapag nakita mo na ang Don Bosco Agro-Mechanical School, mga 5 minutes travel na lang makikita mo na ang isang rough road sa left side ng main road. From that rough road or jump-off point, maglakad ka na going to Karangahan Falls.

Karangahan Falls, Brgy. Banquerohan, Legazpi City

Now, going there from the main road is a little bit tricky since there is no way you’re going to know that there is a waterfalls there. Wala man lang sign. You really need to ask the locals to guide you. Medjo malapit na din sya from the main road. From the main road, lakarin mo na ang rough road going to Karangahan Falls, after I guess 5 minutes walk, may makikita ka na small trail sa right side mo, follow that trail na dadaan sa isang coconut plantation, and then after that makikita mo na ang Karangahan Falls, but you still need to walk down the hill trail for about 5 minutes to reach Karangahan Falls.

Here’s the direction on how to reach Karangahan Falls if you’ll be travelling via plane from Manila:
From Legazpi Airport, ride a tricycle and tell the driver to bring you to Legazpi Grand Central Terminal. The travel time is 5 to 10 minutes. From Grand Central Terminal, look for the jeepney that is bound for Banquerohan, San Francisco or Manito.  From the Grand Central Terminal, it is about 30 to 45 minutes ride to the jump-off point to Karangahan Falls.

So there, now you know how to reach Karangahan Falls. Medjo mahirap nga lang syang hanapin but if you like the feeling of getting lost or you’re an adventure-seeker, then I think magienjoy kayo sa paghahanap sa waterfalls na to.hehehe! By the way, medjo magkakalayo ang mga bahay papunta sa Karangahan Falls so you need to ask the locals or magtanong kayo sa unang bahay na makikita nyo from the main road. I hope magenjoy din kayo sa paghanap ng waterfalls na ito kagaya ng pagenjoy kong hanapin ang Karangahan Falls.hehehe! Have an adventure-filled vacation in Legazpi City! Byes!

7 comments:

  1. I think I know this place though im not too sure.. malapit yata to sa mga hills.

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  2. Thank you so much for sharing this information. I used this blog post when I visited the waterfalls last June and it was awesome. Here is my post about it in my blog.

    http://www.freddaruth.com/dreaming-in-karanggahan-falls-brgy-bangquerohan-legazpi-city-albay/

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  3. Wow, I've been living in Legazpi pero di ko alam na meron pala nito dito. Ang alam ko lang ay yung sa Daraga. BTW, Daraga is not a city. Not yet anyway.

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  4. How far is it from when you ride in Albay?

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  5. How far is it from when you ride in Albay?

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  6. Tried getting there today - jeepneys on strike, so took taxi from pacific mall for 800 Pesos return with 2 hours to be spent there. Cabdriver unaware of falls but when he read the above description he agreed to go. Was curious himself. It was hard to find the dirt road consists of 2 tracks with stones turning off to the left just before San Francisco. Toyota could drive onto there and up to a big house, from where a path bordered by a fence on either side led to the right. The descent into the basis is very steep and it had rained plenty that day.the path proved too slippery for our slippers and we had to give up. Went to the "White Beach" in Cawayan instead for a picnic. Beach not really white, but still nice for a picnic and a swim.

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  7. doon po mismo yan sa Amin sa may katabi nag lupa namin yan karangahan falls . kilala sa tawag na busay

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