Planning a trip? Those who love to travel know the essence of all travel is about you and your enjoyment. Travelers know that the destination is a major part of planning a trip, experiencing and delving deeper into unfamiliar places, people, and culture are paramount.

Expand your horizons and set your sight to the Philippines, an off the beaten path travel site! An undiscovered paradise made of thousands of islands and white sand beaches all around! A tiny dot in the map of the world, and yet a haven for travelers, backpackers, retirees and even passersby.

It offers awesome tourist attractions, magnificent beaches, hot spring resorts, colorful festivals, hundreds of scenic spots and world-class hotels and facilities. Not to mention the tropical climate, the affordable prices as well as the friendly and hospitable, English-speaking people! You will be glad you came, and we’re sure, you WILL come back for more FUN in the Philippines!

 

 

 ISABELA

 

By Eugene Alvin Villar (seav) – English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=626941

 

Isabela is the second largest province of the Philippines next to Palawan. It is located in the Cagayan Valley Region in Luzon. Its capital is Ilagan City and borders, clockwise from the south, Aurora, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Kalinga, and Cagayan. This primarily agricultural province is the rice and corn granary of Luzon due to its plain and rolling terrain.

 

Photo from:  texaninthephilippines.com

 

It is the Top 10 richest province in the Philippines last 2011, being the only province in Northern Luzon to be included in the list. The province has four trade centers in the cities of Ilagan, Cauayan, Santiago and the municipality of Roxas. – Read More:  wikipedia.org

 

 Photo from:  dpwh.gov.ph

 

The province is divided into three physiographic areas. The eastern area, straddled by the Sierra Madre mountain range, is rugged and thickly forested. A substantial portion is uncharted. These unexplored hinterlands are home to a rich variety of flora and fauna, while others are government reservations. The western area is a sprawling fertile valley hemmed by the Central Cordillera. It is criss-crossed by the mighty Cagayan River, Siffu river, and Magat River. Its mountains rise to a peak of about 8,000 feet, and are home to one of the world’s largest remaining low-altitude rainforests, with numerous unknown endemic species of flora and fauna and exceptional biological diversity. The area is popularly known as the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park. Isabela has 600,000 hectares of Cagayan Valley’s 900,000 hectares of forest cover.

 

Photo from:  mynegrosislandguide.com

 

Generally, the province has two types of climate.  The eastern and coastal areas experience moderate rainfall more or less distributed throughout the year while western Isabela has more pronounced wet and dry seasons.  The average temperature is recorded at 27.1 degrees Celsius.

 

Photo from:  philippinetravel.ws

 

It is also the hub of trade, commerce, and other economic activities due to its central location in the region. The wood industry used to be a top earner for the province but due to the logging ban imposed in the Cagayan Valley Region, activities in this industry have considerably declined. However, furniture making using narra and other indigenous forest materials continue.

 

Photo from:  gelnie.blogspot.com

 

Some potential investments are in fisheries and tourism. Isabela has a fertile fishing ground on the Pacific Coast. The reservoir of the Magat Dam is utilized for fish cage operations, such as tilapia production for domestic markets.

 

 Photo from:  cagayanvalley.com

 

Tourism is relatively a new industry being developed in the province. Support services and accommodation facilities are likewise being developed. Tourism focuses mainly in and around Santiago City and can be noted by the presence of the only McDonalds in the province. Tourism is also being developed in the areas of Palanan where white sand beaches can be found. The SM Megamall will soon rise in Cauayan City and is the first SM Mall in Cagayan Valley.

 

Photo from:  skyscrapercity.com

 

There are 2 airports in the province – Cauayan Airport which serves as the primary airport for the province with service to Manila and vice versa. The other one is in Palanan, which is inaccessible by land.

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

Isabela Province – Rice and Corn Granary of Luzon

The Powerful Magat Dam in Isabela

Colorful Festivals in Isabela

Special Interest Spots and Tours in Isabela

Tourist Attractions in Isabela

Having Fun in Isabela

 

 

 

 

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