Mambukal Mountain Resort — Hot Spring & Falls

Tucked into a 23-hectare forest reserve at the foot of Mount Kanlaon, Mambukal Mountain Resort is Negros Occidental's classic mountain getaway, just outside Bacolod City in the town of Murcia. Sitting at around 1,200 feet, it is famous for its seven-tiered waterfalls and its therapeutic sulfur hot springs, a combination that has drawn visitors since the 1920s.

The headline experience is the guided hike to the seven falls, a well-tracked jungle trail crossing hanging bridges and shaded forest paths to a series of cascades and cool plunge pools. Back at the resort, you can soak in the hot sulfur pools, including the historic Japanese-built bath house dating to 1927, said to ease tired muscles and aching joints.

With a boating lagoon, butterfly garden, bat sanctuary, zipline and picnic grounds woven through the forest, Mambukal works equally well as an active day of trekking or a laid-back nature retreat. It is one of the most loved day trips from Bacolod, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors a year.