Mt. Daguldol | Naambon Falls and Laiya Beach

Mount Daguldol is within the vicinity of the town of San Juan, Batangas.  Hikers/trekkers describe as a whole package due to the given side trips of the falls and the beach.

Mt. Daguldol

How to get there

Take a bus bound to Lipa, then proceed to Lipa terminal and ride on a jeep heading to San Juan, after, take a jeepney ride going to Brgy. Hugom.

Itinerary
Dayhike
0300am Meet up at Mcdo near Vito Cruz LRT Station
0500am ETA at Lipa
0545am Arrive at San Juan
0630am Arrive at Brgy. Hugom; Register; Hire a guide
0700am Start hike
0900am Stop at Kuya Onad House; 
0915am Resume hike
1100am Arrive at the Summit; Exploration; Lunch
1230pm Start descent
0200pm Rest at Kuya Onad House
0230pm Sidetrip at Naambon Falls
0430pm Sidetrip at Laiya Beach
0500pm Socials; Dinner; Swimming
0900pm Tidy up; Back to Manila
1200am Arrive at Manila

Overnight

Day 1 

0600am Take Lipa bound bus from Pasay or Cubao

0800am ETA at Lipa

0815am Take a jeep ride heading to San Juan

0915am Arrive at San Juan (Bayan)

0930am Take a jeep ride going to Brgy. Hugom

1015am Arrive at Brgy Hugom; Register

1100am Lunch

1200nn Start hike

0130pm Stop at Kuya Onad House

0200pm Resume hike

0315pm Arrive at Niyugan Campsite, rest

0330pm Pitch Tent, Exploration, Photo and Video Ops

0500pm Dinner

0600pm Socials

1000pm Lights out

Day 2 

0600am Wakeup call

0700am Breakfast

0800am Visit the Campsite (Anahawan, Gulugod-Baboy, Camp 4)

0830am Hike to the summit

0845am Arrive at the summit; Exploration, Photo and Video Ops

0915am Back to the campsite

0930am Arrive at the campsite

0945am Break Camp

1015am Back to trailhead

1100am Arrive at Kuya Onnad House

1115am Resume hike; Sidetrip to the Waterfalls

1200am Arrive at Naambon Waterfalls, Lunch, Exploration

0200pm Sidetrip at Laiya Beach (Kimberly Resorts)

0400pm Back to Manila

Encouraged by my hard-headed buddy Maan to hike any mountain despite the weather condition, the tropical storm named Egay that time was alarming around Manila area, so we were convince that the status of the weather will be tantamount to other province. There were ominous dark clouds gathering overhead and strong pours of rain which make us hopeless to continue our planned hike.  In spite of the unfavourable weather and discouragement, we still pursue to hike the Mountain of Daguldol.

Me and Maan

The mountain was often compared to Mt. Gulugod Baboy due to close proximity of sea, the abundance of the grassland campsite which gives you the view of the vast sea and the Different Mountains and its ranges, and the nature scenery viewed from the summit. You’ll be able to side trip to Naambon falls and sojourn the Laiya beach after or before the hike to the mountain. It was discovered by the University of the Philippines Mountaineers in the 1990’s.

 Overlooking the forested mountain from the campsite

 A distant view of the summit extent by a number of trees below

The summit

The campsite is grassy and open; also serve as a pasture land to some locals, abundant trees and coconut plantation is evident surrounding the said campsite. An ideal site for camping because of the view of the vast water, the overlooking of the homestead and the summit, and the glimpse of several mountains and its range situated in Lobo, Batangas.

There are four campsites in the mountain:  
Campsite 1: (Gulugod-Baboy) – The open Campsite,
Campsite 2:  (Niyugan) - water source,
Campsite 3:  (Anahawan), and lastly the Camp 4.

Niyugan Campsite

The open Campsite

The enormous rock viewed from the campsite is the summit; it will take you 10-15 minutes long to reach it. It is an open rock attached to the soil surrounded by mossy grass and bamboo trees which will give you a peek of the mountains, the sea, and the forest once you’re on the top.

Best side trip after or before hiking the mountain of Daguldol is the Naambon Falls, a 50 ft. high ringed by huge rocks and the presence of immense trees. And the beautiful white sand beach of Laiya where a numbers of resorts are available along the road.

Naambon Falls

A safety precaution, always maintain your range with the animals that are on current pasturage, some are wild and dreadful, and be cautious of the dogs on night, they’re loitering around seeking for food that endanger the foodstuff of any hikers/mountaineers camped in the site, let’s be vigilant and make sure to put all the stuff inside the tent.

Journey

We’ve met at DLTB Bus Station and ride on a bus heading to Lipa, Batangas, the ride from Buendia was rougly 1 ½ hours long to reach the SM Lipa Grand Terminal. Then, we took a jeepney ride with a signboard going to San Juan, Batangas. And lastly, a jeepney ride to Brgy. Hugom. It was already noon when we set foot on the registration point; we pay the fees for our guide and registration.

Prior to our hike, we make lunch to eat and prepare ourselves. The abundance of stores is in numbers surrounding the registration point. Surprised and aware after checking the logbook, there were no hikers registered ahead of us. We were informed by the guides stand-by at the registration point that all scheduled hike reserved was cancelled out by several mountaineering groups, and we’ll be the first to conquer the mountain that day.

Registration Point

Afterwards, we started our hike, tag along was our guide, Kuya Carlos. Guide is required before hiking the mountain and the rate will depend on the period of their services whether its day hike or overnight.

Standard Rate of Guide (as of July 2015)

Dayhike: P400

Overnight: P800

Firstly, we passed through the road that is under construction heading straight to the municipality of Lobo, Batangas, overlooking the white sand beach and the sea. Among the popular mountain in Lobo are Mt. Tibig, Mt. Banoi, and Mt. Naguiling. An alternative is that you can rent a tricycle ride from the registration point going to the trailhead.

It was already 2:00 pm in the afternoon when we start to hike, the trail is pure ascend with minor difficulty, it’s very similar to the trail of Mt. Maculot, with various stops of homestead, sheds and stores.

The shed

A shed will be reached after minutes of hike from the trailhead, afterwards, on the continuity, you’ll be landing on the trail going down heading to the waterfalls, the Naambon Falls descends a rocky and steep trail and will take you 10-15 minutes long to set foot in it, depends on your pacing. You can visit the falls before or after the hike of the mountain.

Eventually on the stretch of our hike, we had an exchange of discussion about the birth of the trail, the mountaineers who found the mountain, the brief history of the mountain, and the previous experience of Kuya Carlos in guiding other mountaineers specifically about their attitude towards them.  And stop at Sitio Catmon to have a good rest.

One of the stop in Sitio Catmon

Catmon has a neighboring sitio called Biga, both have a numbers of homestead in the location with most of the guides of the mountain are currently residing there. The residents on the sitio are very hospitable and welcoming especially when we met kuya Onad, who maintains a good sense of humour; he’s also one of the guides in hiking the mountain.

After passing through Kuya Onad house, we experience a minor assault trail ascending to the mountain, plantation of coconut trees and kaingin are visible along. The trail is muddy and slippery when rain occurs; make sure to wear sandals or hiking shoes. There were no outrage of weather that time, the sky is clear and it was sunny, which deliberately put us in good hand with no bruises and dirt attach to us in reaching the campsite successfully, although it was quite tiring and perspiring.

Kuya Onad rest house

Upon reaching the camp site, Kuya Carlos guides us to the water source and informed us what to do when the night comes. And as he bid goodbye, we express our gratitude to him, after, we pitch our tent and cook our food for dinner. The water source is located at Niyugan Campsite where we camped; the site is the smallest spot among the four.

The water source below the Niyugan Camp site

It was a mere pressure for us because we are the only campers who were able to reach the campsite during that day and thankful for the solitary moment as we feel and embrace the presence of mother Nature, and solemnly keep uttering that we’ve been a part of history of the “Least hikers of Mt. Daguldol in a day/night during weekend period”, with only comprise of 2 hikers.

Me and our guide having a brief conversation before his departure in the Niyugan Campsite

On the 2^nd day of our hike, we tarry the campsites and peek a sight of the exquisite scenery of the water, the mountain and the forest. In retrospect, we were not able to have good shots of the past mountain that was explored but this time we take our chances to have one and it resulted to perfection.  The distances of the four campsites are close with a minutes of interval in the course of hike.

Afterwards, we were confound on which trail would be the right direction proceeding to the summit, we did not pay attention on the given guidance of our guide, there was a long search of the right trail passing through a various kaingin, coconut plantation, and a kubo. In spite of our misconception, we stumble upon the exact trail and diligently reach the apex of the mountain that comforted us on spending an hour seeking for the right way; there was a moment of remarkable resilience on our arrival at the summit.

On the reach of the summit, we were bewildered and amazed upon setting foot on the highest peak of a mountain because of the 360 view offered and we hurriedly documented it by taking photos and videos. The massive rock known as the summit towered the forested mountain that resembles the appearance of the rock mountain in Mt. Marami. 

Subsequently, we return to our camp site, we break camp and planned to side trip the Naambon falls first before sojourning the beautiful Laiya Beach. Long way on our descend we met some guide notably kuya Onad, he reach to us offering some fruit and begin to inquire about our source of transportation and was concerned because at that time there were no available jeepney ride going back to the town, he then offered his service and we made an agreement stating our meeting place and time of our meet up.

Then, we continue to sidetrip the Naambon Falls; we had our late lunch there and a massive rest which took us until 6:00 pm in the evening, no matter how late we are and the stubbornness delayed the itinerary of our hike, but still, we pushed ourselves to visit the Beach.

Me in Naambon Falls

It was already night when we arrived at the beach and the water rage reaching high tide. The authorities who handle the resort give us the permission to stay nearby the shore but not to swim, after, we stayed at the hut and tidy ourselves while on the verge of waiting of our services going home.

Me in Laiya Beach

Mt. Daguldol and Gulugod Baboy are among the listed mountain with a side trip of falls and beach nearing Manila area and an ideal hike for beginners.  

Expenses (as of July 2015)

Manila – Lipa: P130 x 2 = P260 (Back and Forth)

Lipa – San Juan: P60 x 2 = P120 (Back and Forth)

San Juan – Brgy Hugom: P50 x 2 = P100 (Back and Forth)

Registration Fee: P40

Guide Fee: P400

Travel Tips

•  If you want to camp near the water source, proceed to Niyugan Campsite.
• Jeepney availability is until 12 nn in the afternoon at Brgy. Hugom to Bayan of San Juan, tricycle will only be the source of transportation if you happen to missed the jeepney ride.

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Photo Credit: Maan Villamor