Cagayan Valley Tuguegarao Caves — Callao Cave

About 30 minutes from Tuguegarao in the town of Penablanca, Callao Cave is the celebrated icon of the Cagayan Valley and one of more than 300 caves in the Penablanca Protected Landscape and Seascape. This full-day trip explores the cave's seven chambers, each lit by shafts of sunlight that pour through natural openings in the ceiling and glow across formations locals have named the Column, the Elephant's Head, the Praying Angel, the Rocket, and the Lion's and Dog's Heads.

The first and most famous chamber houses a chapel, complete with rows of pews facing an altar, where a skylight bathes the hall in dramatic light, the very image seen on countless Cagayan postcards. A guided walk leads from chamber to chamber over stone steps, with your guide explaining the geology and the cave's role as a renowned archaeological site in the region.

The day continues down to the Pinacanauan River below the cave entrance, where a banca ride is best timed for late afternoon, when thousands of bats stream out of the riverside caves at dusk in a swirling, unforgettable spectacle. Between the chambers and the river, it is the definitive Cagayan Valley nature outing.