Mabinay Philippines Caves & Natural Springs

Mabinay Caves & Natural Springs in Mabinay Negros Oriental Philippines

Oriental Negros’ answer to those who want to spelunking is the town of Mabinay in the central portion of Negros Island. Mabinay, which is 87 kilometers from Dumaguete City, is bounded in the north by the municipality of Ayungon, the city of Bais in the south, the municipalities of Bindoy and Manjuyod in the east and the provinces of Negros Occidental in the west.

Mabinay boasts of 22 caves and is place where the second and ninth longest cave in the Philippines can be found, the Odloman and the Cayaso caves. Odloman  is 8,870 meters long while the Cayaso cave is 2,222 meters long.

Mabinay is also home to a natural spring where local and foreign tourists can take a dip for free. Tourists, who want to explore the caves in the town, can first drop by the spring, which is just a minute away from the town proper. Legend says that the spring was named after a young woman named Binay, who lived in the area. Binay was said to have grieved for a lost love and then suddenly disappeared. People believed that she was swallowed by the earth. In the place where she disappeared, came a spring, thus the people named it after her.

After a dip in the cool waters of the Mabinay spring, spelunking enthusiasts can then proceed to the different caves in the town.

The Philippines’ second longest cave, the Odloman cave, which is 8,870 meters long, has a vertical range of 82 meters. It has large galleries, many small corridors, active streams and interesting obstacles. The Casayo cave, meanwhile, the ninth longest cave in the country measuring 2,222 meters long has a subterranean river flowing beneath its main chamber. It also has stalagmites and stalactites in its different chambers and has stones that glitter.

The Panligawan cave has a big gaping hole upfront and requires a descent. It is a short one but has a skylight in the middle. The nearby Pandalian Cave is also short and cavernous like the Panligawan Cave. Another famous cave in the town is the Crystal Cave, called as such because of many stalactites and stalagmites that have formed into pillars or columns, which appear to shroud some sections. The Crystal Cave has a length of 209 meters and a depth of 5 meters.