Malagaslas and Ambon Ambon Waterfalls

There are two waterfalls in Laurel, Batangas which my friend and I  decided to visit- Malagaslas & Ambon Ambon eventhough it was rainy season.   We met at Buendia station of Starexpress at around 730am which was quite late already and boarded the bus heading to Tanauan City . It took us less than 2 hours to reach Tanauan. Upon reaching Tanauan proper,  we hailed a tricycle that would take us to the jeepney terminal bound for Laurel. We were blessed with sunny day.

Jeepney terminal to Laurel

harvested veggied as our co passengers

From the terminal to Laurel, the travel time was less than 90 minutes. We alighted at Laurel market at around 11am and we searched for an eatery to have a snack before proceeding to Bo. Salipit which was the jump off point of the trek to the waterfalls. We found an eatery inside the market compound and ordered Batangas Lomi. The jumbo serving was good for two persons and it cost only P80.

After finishing our snack, we hailed a tricycle that would take us to our jump off point. The first portion of the road was paved but after that it was bumpy road and probably muddy when it is raining. At the jump off point, our tricycle driver offered to be our guide for whatever fee we think was good enough. Since we read several blogs and the guide fee mentioned was P300 , we agreed on that fee. Our guide, Kuya Eddie, led the way.  We crossed a hanging steel bridge. It was fun crossing the bridge with stream underneath it and  trees on the sides.

steel hanging bridge

We paid P5 environmental fee and registered at a small store. Kuya Eddie was sometimes ahead of us and sometimes behind us covering our back. We crossed two shallow streams before reaching Malagaslas Falls.

We decided to go first to Ambon Ambon Falls and then returned to Malagaslas to swim. The trek was quite easy. The trail lead to another shallow stream  which one has to walk through as there was no other way. There were boulders  on the sides and  in the middle of the stream.

Huge boulder in the middle of the trail. 

 

 
At the end this stream, you will hear gushing of waters and finally, you will see the waterfalls.

Ambon Ambon waterfalls is awesome. I read that it is about 60 meters high. There was no pool to catch the falling waters. According to Kuya Eddie, the pool must have been buried by the sands due to development by big land developers above.

There were three bamboo cottages but nobody was tending them so it's for free. We rested in one of the cottages and just marveled at the sight of the waterfalls.

We then returned to Malagaslas falls where we bathed and enjoyed the cold flowing waters.

We were lucky to have seen an orange butterfly landed on a makeshift stove.

We bought sweet banana on a stick at Php10 each.

We rinsed and left the place at 2pm to be able to catch the last jeepney trip to Talisay at 3pm.

We thanked Kuya Eddie for assisting us and we took his phone number for referral. We reached Tanauan market at around 430pm where we boarded a Buendia bound JAM liner.

Overall, we had so much fun in chasing waterfalls at Laurel, Batangas. It was a very memorable adventure.

How to get to Malagaslas and Ambon Ambon Waterfalls
-take a bus going to Tanauan City. fare is P95 from Buendia terminal
-alight at Tanauan proper and hail a tricycle going to jeepney terminal plying Laurel; tricycle fare is P40 and fare to Laurel is P45 each
-From Laurel Market, ride a tricycle to take you to the jump off; all drivers know the jump off point. fare is P65
-hire a guide at P300, though it's optional ; it's better to have a local who knows the trail and can ward off dogs and even snake

Expenses if just one person
-Fare from Buendia to Tanaun and back P95 x 2 = P180
-Tricycle to Laurel Jeepney terminal = P20
-Jeepney to Laurel market and back  P45 x 9 = 90
-tricycle from Laurel market to jump off point and back  P65 x 2 = 130
 -guide P300 ( can be shared if more than 1 person)
-environmental fee = P5
-lomi P40
-Banana Q = 10
Total  P775.00