Saturday, February 21, 2009

Captivating Capiz- List of places to see

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spacer Baybay Beach (Roxas City)
Three kilometers from the city proper, this clean black sand beach has beach houses, motorboats for boating and fishing. Also a good place for water skiing.
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spacer Olutayan Island
30 minute pumpboat ride from Banica Terminal, Roxas City. The waters are crystal clear. Thirty feet below, multi-colored fishes cavort in flashes of blue, yellow, and red colors sliding through colorful seaweeds. The island’s beach is carpeted with tiny crushed shells called cascaho.
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spacer Quipot Cave (Bgy. Burias Mambusao)
30 minute ride over rough roads, it is about 3 km. from the Mambusao Agricultural and Technical College or around 9 km. from the town proper. Wild birds, deer, and wild ducks abound in the place. Near the cave is a stream. The cave consists of many chambers, each at a level different from other chambers. In certain sections, one has to crawl because the space between the roof and cave floor is just two or three feet. There are also sections that seem like a dead end, except for small openings through which only one person can crawl. These holes lead to a chamber as big as a hotel ballroom, which is why it is dubbed as the “Quipot Hilton”. There are plenty of stalactites and stalagmites. The cave is cool inside.
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spacer Napti Island (Pan-ay)
About three to four hectares big, located near Olutayan Island; has white sand, small cave, and abundant shells for necklaces. The beach is inviting. The water is cool and clear and free of troublesome jellyfish the whole year round. A small cave, about 100 meters long, winds several feet below the surface across the island. It commands a breathtaking view of Roxas City and Pan-ay. Fishing enthusiasts and gourmets have a wonderful time here because of the plentiful fish and lobster.
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spacer Buntod Beach (Pan-ay)
About a kilometer long and is located far from the inhabited section of Pan-ay; one of the cleanest beaches in Capiz; has fine black sand with a beach free of jellyfish all year round; and its water is cool and clear. It is approximately 10 minutes by jeepney, car, and tricycle from the town. It is also accessible by speedboat or pumpboat from any point of Capiz.
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spacer Pilar Cave (Pilar)
One and a half km. from the poblacion by jeepney, tricyle, and car over rough roads. About two years ago, townspeople discovered earthen pots with intricately incised designs. The caves must have been burial sites of pre-Spanish Filipinos. The Balisong Cave where the Capiz revolucionarios routed Spanish soldiers is also found hereabouts. The side of the mountain where the caves are is a spectacular sight. It is grayish-black rock rising 200 ft. to the sky. Plants, orchids among them, hang from the cliffs, blooming in the summer and filling the air with exotic frangrances.
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spacer Casanayan (Pilar)
A fishing village wherein patis and ginamos are made; vast fields of sugar cane, rice, and corn on the 3 km. road from the highway to this place. It has a beautiful 3 km. stretch of fine gray sand beach fringed with palm trees that neatly line the village as a haven for those who seek refuge from the city hassles. Casanayan is a barrio gifted with a bizarre phenomenon - a woman’s dead body that refuses to decay. Maria Basanes died at the age of 47 from a heart attack way back in 1829. When her body was exhumed ten years after her death, it was found intact and well-preserved, which was surprising because her embalming was supposedly good for only 3 days. Now, the dead body, brownish-black and light and hard as wood, stands inside a small hand-me-down. Her forehead has a portion where its skin was peeled off surreptitiously by men who believed it could be a lucky charm in fishing.
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spacer Tucad Reef (Pilar)
It is 10 km. from the Pilar shoreline; this is a submarine islet of seashells and corals topped with thin layers of sand. When the tide is low the whole island emerges, and with it, shells and corals of different colors - green, red, blue, pink, clear water. From this marine garden, the mountains of Masbate can be seen. Tucad Reef is accessible by a pumpboat or on foot during low tides.
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spacer Suhot Cave (Dumalag)
Situated in Dumalag, Capiz and only 300 meters away from the provincial road. It is actually a series of interconnected caverns of different sizes. At the cave’s arched entrance is a pool of clear, ice-cold water fed by a rock spring from within the cave. Further on, however, is a crack in the rocks where sulfurous water comes out. Suhot is believed to have a connecting tunnel to the Badiang Cave in Dumarao since both caves are found in the same mountain only 6 km. apart from each other, although Badiang is on a higher elevation. On the other hand, entrance to Badiang is hidden by dense jungle. In pre-war days, phosphate was said to have been extracted from the cave but it was a short-lived effort.
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spacer Igang Cave (Maayon)
A limestone cave found in Tapulang, Maayon, around 7 km. away from the poblacion or a 15 minute ride by car or jeepney. It has several entrances at different levels which lead to a central chamber and fan out again to different passages. Big star-like structures connect upper portions to the central chamber, which is well lighted and well ventilated. A gradually sloping passage, 7 feet wide and a foot high, takes one to the lower chamber, which unlike the upper and central chambers is dark. The floor here is covered with guano which townspeople use as fertilizer. The cave has stalactities and stalagmites.
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spacer The Coves of Ivisan (Brgy. Basiao & Brgy. Balaring)
10 km. or 30 minutes by jeepney, car or tricycle over rough roads from the town proper. These two barangays have cornered the white sand beach coves in the whole Capiz. In Basiao are the following coves: Marangcalan, Dinogmaan, Patyo, and Basiao.
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spacer Suhoton Caves
Located in Jamindan, it has several multi-layered chambers in its vast interior. Inside one chamber is an altar-like formation surrounded by stalagmites that seem like giant images in silent repose. Some chambers are as big as hotel ballrooms or cathedrals.
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spacer Mantalinga Island
Nearby Mantalinga Island, which is a kilometer away from the shoreline of Baybay beach, has been identified by the Department of Tourism as an ideal spot for scuba divers and a perfect rotunda for sailboat (dilayag) and kayaking contests. Recently named “Good Luck Island” by DOT consultants, the place is believed by the local fisherfolk as source of luck when names of their fishboats are written on the side of the island before it goes fishing for the first time.
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