San Carlos Cave – A Tough Cave to Conquer

SAN CARLOS CAVE

Known as the toughest cave to conquer, the San Carlos Cave has a chamber dubbed Ice Cream Parlor. The grotto has white stalagmite clusters like scooped ice cream. Sharp, rough stones, on the other hand, dot its John the Baptist chamber, half of which is enclosed by cold running subterranean water. Here, spelunkers can learn about the art of crawling the arduous way.

Photo from: http://www.soleofmissy.com/2011/04/challenging-san-carlos-cave.html

One of the most difficult to explore is the San Carlos River Cave, still in Peñablanca, Cagayan. It has narrow passages and you actually should swim some time to proceed. Best feature is the Ice Cream Parlor. Its stalagmites formed like scoops of ice cream. Read More: https://raymongdullana.wordpress.com/travel/

Photo from: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/3186532

Cagayan, certainly, has lots of exciting things to offer. It is definitely a haven for the adventurous souls. If our Callao Cave adventure did not satisfy you, then this surely will. The exploration of San Carlos Cave unquestionably topped our list of must-do’s in Cagayan.

Like the Callao Cave, it is also located in the town of Penablanca. Travel time is around 40-45 minutes from Tuguegarao Airport. San Carlos Cave is only one of the 300+ caves in Penablanca and is definitely the most challenging. To conquer it, one must walk barefooted in knee-deep mud, crawl in narrow, muddy, and spiked chambers, and do a one-meter dive in icy cold water just to get to the other side and reach the end of the cave!

We can agree that this is one of the most difficult caves to explore, but definitely not very technical. It isn’t necessary to learn lots of caving techniques here. Your guide will tell you what to do, so listen and just be cautious. We were able to finish it in 3 and half hours. Read More: http://www.pinoypracticalbackpackers.com/2016/02/san-carlos-cave.html

Photo from: https://raymongdullana.wordpress.com/travel/

San Carlos Cave is one of the limestone caves located in the Municipality of Penablanca, Cagayan province, in the Philippines. The seven-chamber show cave is one of 300 caves that dot the area and the best known natural tourist attractions of the province.

San Carlos Cave is one of the toughest cave in the country to conquer as spelunkers require a lot of cave crawling. A chamber called Ice Cream Parlor contains cluster of white stalagmites that resemble scooped ice cream. The John the Baptist chamber has a sump where one has to take a deep breath and swim to the other side of the chamber. Sharp and rough stones could scratch skin and tear clothing. San Carlos requires a lot of swimming because more than half the cave is covered by cold running subterranean river.

San Carlos Cave and the other caves are situated in the western foothills of the Northern Sierra Madre Mountains of the Philippines. They are situated within the Penablanca Protected Landscape and Seascape, which stretches from the caves to the eastern shores of Penablanca town in the Pacific Ocean. Read More: http://greedypeg.org/cagayan/San-Carlos-Cave.html

Truly, spelunking, hiking, mountain climbing, rappelling are just some of the most popular adventures within the region.