Pagsanjan Falls & Hidden Valley Springs: A Spectacular Combo Tour
Recommended by 90% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Manila, Philippines
- 8 to 10 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
While Manila’s sensory banquet is exciting to behold, it can also mean you crave the kind of peace only nature can provide. This day trip to Pagsanjan Falls and the Hidden Valley grants you access to serene spots away from the tourist trail, so that you can unwind among lush gardens without having to spend hours planning logistics yourself.
- Skip the stress of public transportation with round-trip rides from Manila
- Connect with your guide for an insider's perspective
- See a side of Luzon usually reserved for locals
- Take more of a deep dive into local culture and heritage than you would alone
What's Included
- All Fees and Taxes
- tips
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Pickup details
*** free pick up/drop off from your hotel in Makati, Taguig, Ermita (Manila), Malate(Manila),, Muntinlupa and Pasay. additional charges will incur outside these areas
Start time.6:30 am
Itinerary
1
Pagsanjan Falls
3 hours • Admission Ticket Included
2
Hidden Valley Springs
4 hours • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not recommended for travelers with back problems
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Most travelers can participate
- Not wheelchair accessible
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Carlo was a perfect guide for this amazing day trip in particular Hidden Springs was an oasis and a delight.
Reviews
4.8
based on 29 reviews
The trip was absolutely amazing, and my guide Carlo was very considerate and friendly.
I was a solo female traveler on this tour, and I felt completely safe and comfortable at all times.
After around a 2-hour drive, you arrive at a station where you’re provided with a life vest and a helmet, and your 1-hour canoe trip up the Pagsanjan River begins. You can leave all your belongings in the car and wear clothes you’re happy to get completely soaking wet (I wore my swimsuit and sports shorts, which I didn’t mind getting wet). I only took my phone in a waterproof case, as there’s a high chance your phone will get very wet otherwise. I also kept some cash in the same case.
About halfway up the river, there’s a short stop for snacks, where they ask you to buy lunch for the two canoe men. Chicken and soda for both of them cost 400 pesos. If you’d like chicken and a drink for yourself too, bring another 200 pesos. If you’re happy to tip, I’d also recommend bringing around another 400 pesos for the two guys operating the final barge to the waterfall (they’re different from the canoe men).
After about 1 hour on the river—which is pretty strenuous for the canoe men—you arrive at a small landing, from where you take a barge underneath the waterfall. Up until then you might have stayed almost completely dry, but after going under the waterfall you’ll be absolutely soaking wet.
The way back is easy. I tipped the canoe men well at the end because the journey upstream is really hard work. By the way, I saw some kids around 7 years old in other canoes, so this trip might be suitable for children of that age—but only if they’re relatively brave and very comfortable with water splashing over their faces. :)
The hot springs were great and very relaxing, and lunch was good. I was told the walk to the Hidden Falls takes at least 10 minutes each way, so I decided not to go and instead preferred to soak in the warm pools. No towel is provided, so bring your own. There are also secure lockers in the hot spring complex.
Carlo was a perfect guide for this amazing day trip in particular Hidden Springs was an oasis and a delight.
What an amazing experience. You couldn't ask for a more beautiful place to be with great food and hospitality. Carlos our tour guide made sure our experience was everything and more.
We had such a great tour with Andrei!
The boat ride to the Falls was definitely the highlight of the day!
First you will drive ~2 hours to get to the jump point for the Falls. On the way, Andrei was kind enough to stop at a roadside bibingka stall in Pila to let us watch it being made and try this delicious Filipino treat!
Once you get to the jump point for the Falls, you are led to a long wooden boat that holds ~2 people. It’s about a 2 hour journey to the Falls, navigating multiple rapids, with a rest break half way (only going to) where you can purchase (with cash) snacks and drinks. We were asked if we also wanted to purchase food and drinks for our boatmen and we kindly obliged. It was a very reasonable price.
Once you get near the falls, you will transfer to a large bamboo raft that holds ~8-10 people and 2 different boatmen pull the raft along a rope to take your under and behind the Falls to a cave where you can swim briefly. These boatmen were a bit pushy about tips. However, our main 2 boatmen never asked. We did feel it appropriate to tip all of them because the work was so strenuous navigating the boat through rocks and narrow paths by hand/foot.
Overall it was exhilarating at the Falls, but also a peaceful and beautiful journey on the way to/from.
At Hidden Valley Springs, you get to eat a wonderful buffet of Filipino food and enjoy relaxing pools. This was a welcome respite after our Falls adventure. (It was about an hour between the two and then, due to traffic, another 2 hours back to Manila.)
Andrei was fantastic! He was very accommodating and shared many things on the way about the varying cities and Filipino cuisine and culture.
I recommend wearing a swim-suit, with clothes over it, and water shoes. You will get soaked. You can change into dry clothes after you finish at Hidden Valley Springs. I also recommend a waterproof phone pouch so you can take pictures/video along the way. The boatmen are also willing to take pictures for you! Andrei was also great about telling us what to bring and taking pictures as well.
10/10 think this trip was worth the price, especially because we were the only 2 on the tour and Andrei was so kind as to make it very tailored to us!
Overall, this was a really fun day and Seana and the driver were both lovely but I don't think this tour is worth the price point ($240pp) which is why I'm giving 3 stars. Seana was very communicative and picked us up promptly at our hotel and during the first part of the drive, we had a great conversation and Seana shared a lot of information about Filipino culture. The tour was myself, my partner, and one other solo traveler and the van was very comfortable for our group of 3 (plus Seana + the driver).
We had a couple issues on the canoe trip to Pagsanjan Falls. First, the three of us shared a canoe which was uncomfortable given that we were all tall. Given the price of this tour and the relative price of the canoe portion (online suggested it's $20pp), it would have been nice if my partner and I had our own canoe because it was extremely cramped and uncomfortable sharing such a tight space with someone we didn't know. Also, our boat started breaking apart about half way into the tour and rusty nails and screws were sticking out, along with shards of splintered wood. It felt extremely unsafe. We convinced another oarsman to trade boats with us, but they requested 500 pesos as a 'rental fee', which we paid because we didn't feel safe going down the rapids in our boat. Seana was going to follow up with the Ministry of Tourism to report this, but we didn't hear back about a resolution or possible refund.
The Hidden Valley Springs was beautiful and a really wonderful way to spend the rest of the afternoon. I especially liked the short (~30 min) hiking trail to the waterfall and exploring the grounds. The buffet lunch was also delicious and the amenities at the resort (locker room, showers, etc) were really nice.
We really enjoyed this tour, but we felt it was overpriced for the experience.
The upstream canoeing experience is exhirirating experience if you're a first time kayaker. The tour de force was "rafting" behind a large waterfall, nothing to compare with the little tug going behind the Niagara Falls in America off or a short track behind Huanggousu in China of course but nevertheless very enjoyable!
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$228.00
per personWas $240.00(-5%)
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Pagsanjan Falls & Hidden Valley Springs: A Spectacular Combo Tour
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