Cacupangan Cave

Balincaguing Caves


Useful Information

Location: Barrio Tagudin, Mabini town, Pangasinan province.
From Mabini follow road to Alaminos, at the cemetry turn right. Follow gravel road for 1.6 km, then turn left and follow this road for 1.4 km.
Open: All year daily.
[2008]
Fee: small fee.
[2008]
Classification: SpeleologyKarst cave
Light: bring torch
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address: Cacupangan Cave.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1983 first explored by Charles M. Nelson, his wife and some friends.
DEC-1999 cave altered during a 6.8 intensity earthquake.
2006 cave surveyed.
SEP-2008 cave cleaned by the Rotary Club of Hundred Islands.

Description

Cacupangan Cave is a river cave, its water flows into the Balincaguing River. This cave is almost natural, except for some improvements at the entrances. There is a wooden staircase up into the entrance of the first cave and stone steps at another entrance. The cave is a through cave and has an opening midway. The end is at barrio Villacorte. It is possible to skip the first part on the way back and leave the cave at the daylight shaft with stone steps. This place is called barrio Benmachia and there is an above ground trail to the cave entrce, through star apple, mango, papaya and banana plants.

The cave is not developed and includes crawling and stooping, and even walking through the cave river and swimming. Appropriate shoes, clothes, a helmet and lamps are definitely necessary. And actually the cave should only be visited during the dry season. Be carefull and watch for bad weather conditions, as an off season shower might cause a flood. The ground owner has developed the area around the cave, but this includes only a rest room and picnic tables, not cave tours.

There are other nearby caves which are connected to this cave system, but they are difficult to visit and only for cavers. Bentanilya Cave near Tagudin is a daylight shaft, a vertical entrance which requires abseiling. Makalangiking Cave is waterfilled and requires cave diving.

The cave contains numerous animals. Beneath the bats there are cave crickets, blind fish, blind eels, toads, shrimps, beetles, false scorpions and snakes.

The cave has nice formations throughout, including some fine rimstone pools and calcite crystals. Unfortunately it is also littered by the visitors, vandalized with graffitties, and even speleothems removed for resale as souvenirs. In 2008 the Rotary Club of Hundred Islands organized an event where the cave was cleaned and graffitties removed. The cave was surveyed in 2006.