Miked's Travel PH

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La Union is very known as the surfing capital of the north here in the Philippines. But aside from being known as the surfing capital of the north, it is also home to numerous waterfalls. One of it, which is becoming popular nowadays is the Tangadan Falls in the town of San Gabriel.

Tangadan Falls

How To Get There

San Gabriel is a municipality surrounded by other municipalities of La Union as well as Benguet. It is around 30 minutes away from San Juan or 45 minutes away from San Fernando La Union.

Tricycle waiting area in San Gabriel

Ride a bus from Cubao bound to Laoag/Vigan then alight in San Juan, La Union (6-7 hours travel time).

From San Juan La Union, take a jeep going north and ask the driver to drop you off at San Gabriel.

In the town proper, ride a tricycle and tell the driver you're going to Tangadan Falls. Fare is PhP 50.00.

At the jump-off point, hire a guide (price usually starts PhP 500.00 per group) for the hike.

Going to the jump-off point

*If you brought a car, you can hire a tricycle in San Gabriel to lead you to the jump-off area where pay parking is also available.
*Flotsam and Jetsam Hostel offers organized group tour in Tangadan Falls.

Organized tour by Flotsam

The Hike

Tour guides are required for the hike since it is around an hour long hike and there is no sign that can direct you to the falls. We immediately started the hike after we got our tour guide.Our tour guide told us that there are two routes going to the waterfalls. The easy and hard route. And of course, we took the easy route. The hike started downhill unpaved road going to the smaller trail and the rice fields.

Road going to the smaller trail

Rice fields along the way

Narrow trail

Water from the river

Baroro River

Started river crossing

Lush vegetation along the way

After 30 minutes of walking through narrow trails along the rice fields and river crossings, we reach the first part of the waterfall. This area serves as a resting area and where you can also do cliff dive. It is around 20 feet high.

More of river crossing

Don't mind us, just passing through

First part of the waterfall

Cliff diving

After another 15-20 minutes, we reached the main waterfalls. The waterfall stands around 50 feet and has 2 cascades. Our tour guide said that you can actually jump from the top of the main waterfalls, but would you dare? LOL. You can also ride a bamboo raft going into the catch basin of the waterfall to get a water massage. On the top of the main waterfall, there is also a smaller waterfall that is surrounded by rocks. The rocks surrounding it is around 10-15 feet high where you can also do a cliff diving.

Rocks and boulders along the way

Almost there

Tangadan Falls of San Gabriel

The big cascade

Small cascade with the bamboo raft

Hello Tangadan

Inside a small cave in the big cascade

At the top of the waterfall

It's higher than it looks

1, 2, 3, JUMP!

Our tour guide showing us to jump

We really enjoyed the waterfalls that we forgot that we haven't had any breakfast so on the way back, we were so hungry. Good thing a small store along the trail have some canned goods and cooked rice!

Waiting for our lunch

Quick Tips

Bring foods or packed lunch since there are no stores nearby the main waterfalls.

During wet seasons, river crossing may be challenging since water current is stronger.

You can rent life vests in the main waterfalls.

Reward yourself with a nice meal and halo-halo from Halo-Halo de Iloko

Cheers from San Gabriel!

Itinerary

12:00 AM - ETD Manila

06:00 AM - ETA San Juan, La Union

06:15 AM - Check in to accommodation/hostel in San Juan

06:30 AM - ETD San Juan to San Gabriel

07:00 AM - ETA San Gabriel

07:20 AM - ETA Jump-off area

07:30 AM - Start of hike

08:00 AM - ETA first waterfall

08:** AM - ETA main waterfall

10:** AM - Hike back

11:** AM - ETA San Gabriel

01:00 AM - ETA San Juan

After catching up some waves in San Juan, you can catch up some delicious food at Halo-Halo de Iloko. Located on Zandueta street, San Fernando, a 5-10 minute ride from San Juan Surf hostels. There are also some restaurants and food places can be found around the area.

"Magpasarap Ka Muna!"

La Union's Best

This restaurant is very popular in La Union in fact, it's always crowded when we try to go. We tried calling for a reservation, but they said they don't make reservations. But if you're persistent enough, they might give you. A lot of celebrities also tried this restaurant as displayed in the photos hanged all over the place.

Restaurant exterior

Ground floor dining area, crowded

Second floor, also crowded

The restaurant is a 2-story house that have a very nice interior. There are some old vintage stuff displayed around the place. I'm not sure what their store hours is, but it says on their Facebook Page that they are always open.

Their tables are named after the municipalities in La Union

Vintage and wood-work displays around the restaurant

They also sell some "walis tambo" and "sukang ilocos"

They serve delicious Filipino dishes. They make sure that all the food they are serving are freshly cooked upon order so there is a little waiting time, but It's worth the wait plus they serve free chichacorn while waiting.

Cheese flavored chichacorn

They have all day breakfast and pancit for solo serving and a group serving which is good for 2-3 person. They also have appetizers (fries, buffalo wings, calamares), kalye foods (isaw, chicken skin) and of course their Halo-halo. Solo plates cost around PhP 135.00 - PhP 150.00, while group meals are around PhP 160 and up.

Okoy Tikyoso (PhP 90.00)

Sinampalukang Buknok (buko at manok - PhP 395.00 good for 2-3)

Pakbet nga nasagpawan ti Bagnet (PhP 220.00 good for 2-3)

Surfer's mixed seafoods in sweet and spicy sauce (PhP 395.00 good for 2-3)

Buko Halo-halo (PhP 175.00 good for 2)

So if you are in La Union and haven't tried this place yet, make sure it try it. Certainly, one of the best places to eat in La Union. Thanks for reading!

Mangatayon!

Contact Details

12 Zandueta St., 2500 San Fernando, La Union
09178527919
Facebook

My friend invited us to go surfing in La Union and since I always wanted to try to surf, I absolutely said yes. San Juan, in La Union is the nearest surfing spot from Manila. We went in December which is the most crowded time in the peak season (October to April). The waves here are perfect for a beginner.

How to get there

Getting to La Union is easy coming from Manila. There are several buses that you can ride to get there. You can take any air-conditioned buses bound to San Fernando, Vigan, Abra, or Laoag. Most bus lines in Cubao and Pasay have these routes. Just make sure to tell the bus conductor to drop you off in San Juan. Bus tickets would cost you around PhP 400++ for a one-way ticket.

If you're going by a private vehicle from Manila, just continue driving on McArthur Highway until you reach San Juan. Surf resorts are just along the highway so you can find it easily. Travel time would be around 5 hours (via TPLEX) for private vehicle and 6-7 if you will take the bus.

Volkswagen Camper owned by lifestyle brand Coast Through Life

Where to Stay

A lot of resorts offer accommodation in San Juan. But take note, that the rooms are always fully booked upon peak seasons. So you need to make early reservations if you're planning to go on a peak season. Any resort would do, it actually just depends on your budget. Some resorts start their room rate PhP 1700.00 (for non peak, will probably go up for peak season) and the expensive ones start at PhP 5000.00 per night (good for 2). If you are on a budget, you can always go for the budget friendly hostels and transient houses. Some transient houses have dorm type rooms which start at PhP 300.00 per person, or a good for 2 fan room for PhP 1000.00 (a/c rooms are about PhP 1500.00) per night.

A lot of resorts along the main road

We stayed at my friend's aunt resort, Hacienda Peter's Surf Resort. There are no available rooms at the moment, since it was a very peak season. So we put up our tents and camp in the resort's Nipa hut veranda. It was near the beach so it's awesome how you hear the waves splashing. By the way, here's the room rate at Hacienda Peters per night:

Fan Room(good for 2): PhP 1000.00

A/C Room(good for 2): PhP 1500.00

A/C Room(good for 4): PhP 2000.00

A/C Room(good for 6): PhP 3000.00

Surfing 101

The first thing you need to do to learn to surf is to find a surfing instructor. Our friend arranged our lessons and instructors. You can inquire about lessons from the booths around Urbiztondo beach. Surfing lessons for beginners starts at PhP 400.00 including the instructor's fee and the board for an hour. If you got the basics, and feels that you don't need an instructor anymore, you can rent a board for PhP 200.00 per hour, PhP 500.00 half day and PhP 800.00 for the whole day.

Surf school booth

The instructors will begin with the basics, with the proper stance, and how to stand up in the board. When you got the basics, you will proceed to the waves, but don't worry cause the instructor will still assist and guide you. It's not quite easy to stand up, but if you got your timing and balance right, you'll get used to it.

Our instructor teaching us the proper position

Standing up in the board

Beginner's Area

As early as 7 AM you can already surf, and for me it's the best time to surf since the waves are smooth. When the waves are too high, they won't allow beginners to surf or you can go to other surfing spots:

Bacnotan: 10 - 15 minute ride from San Juan surf resorts near a cement plant. This surfing spot is less crowded than San Juan, since there are no resorts around the area but still a nice spot for surfing.
Carille: 5 minute ride from San Juan surf resorts, known for the right hand point break. This surfing spot is not recommended for beginners. The water here might get you itchy after since it's near a soft drink plant.
Darigayos (Taboc): 25 - 30 minute ride fron San Juan resorts. Also a good spot for beginners. The waves here are not that strong since there is a rock that is breaking the waves.