There are 4 caves in the Jailbong Cave system near Catbologan, Samar in
the Philippines. These are realatively untouched with 2 of them have
just been explored for the first time in 2006.
I have become friends with Joni Bonifacio, a local cave enthusiast that assisted the Italian spelunking teams that first came to Samar in 1987 to explore the karst formations in this part of the world.
If you have the desire to get off the beaten track in the Philippines, Samar has huge potential. I suspect in a few years this will become a part of the travelers circuit.
It will probably never make it on the backpackers trail because the volume of younger travelers is not high enough to sustain hostels and things like that. You have to be willing to go local and getting of the trail takes more money.
Sagada has some great caves that you can see in a few hours up in Luzon but these caves in Samar take more endurance and are majestic and virgin. Sagada will see more tourists in one hour than these will see in 10 years but both are fantastic.
If you pass through Samar in the Philippines be sure to stop in and see what is going on at Trexplore, Joni's guide service in Catbologan.
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