Anao Quinabutok Creek
Anao, Tarlac,
Rich in aquatic resources, picnickers, excursionists usually visit the place for fishing and swimming
Bueno Hot Spring
Capas, Tarlac
Located in Sitio Danum Mapali, Brgy Bueno, the natural hot spring is impounded in two concrete pools - about 2 to 3 feet in height. One pool has a temperature of 45 degrees centigrade and neutral pH level of 5.5. Its flow rate was recorded at 1/2 gal/min. The other pool has a temperature of 49.5 degrees centigrade with pH level at 5.5. The place may be reached through the Capas-Botolan Road. A perfect haven for local excursionists.
Dolores Spring Well
Tarlac City, Tarlac
Some seven kms. from Tarlac town, this spring is a favorite spot among local excursionists. The spring water is said to be medicinal. An imposing grotto of the image of the Virgin de Lorosa marks the religious character of this natural wonder.
Mt. Pinatubo Trek and Spa Town
Sta. Juliana, Capas, Tarlac
What to See: Spectacular views, towering lahar canyons, thermal springs, cool mountain springs and cascading waterfalls along O' Donnell streambed. Drive on board an all-weather vehicle for one hour, disembark in Sitio Dapili and trek for maximum of two hours to the crater, view the tranquil yet majestic 2.5-km crater-lake located in Botolan, Zambales which is 30 kms away from Sta. Juliana. Or optionally bathe yourself in any of the six sulfur-filled thermal pools at Sitio Tarukan. Cap your day with a generous fishing expedition at Tambo Lake before proceeding to the Korean-owned wellness spa.
What to bring: Whether traveling on a day trip or overnight, always bring with you your backpack. For a day tour, bring extra shirt, three liters of water or health juice, a pair of sturdy walking shoes plus strapped sandals, light meal and a pair of strong legs. For overnight guests, bring your own tent, sleeping bag, a warm jacket, cooking equipment and a full meal in addition to the above.
All-Weather Transportation: To get to the crater with reduced amount of effort (at least 2 hours of walking), bring or hire a 4 x 4 all-weather vehicle. Members of the Angeles City Four Wheelers Club or a transport group based in Sta. Juliana offers transport service all the way to the campsite close to the volcano. Without these vehicles, you walk some 6-8 hours using conventional vehicle.
How to get there: If you're coming from Manila, take the North Luzon Expressway. Exit Dau toll gate for you to take your rented vehicle (meeting place is usually at the Clark main gate), otherwise straight to Sta. Ines toll gate. From there, take the MacArthur Hwy to Mabalacat enroute to Bamban and Capas in Tarlac towards north. When you reach the marketplace in Capas, take a left turn to Brgy. Sto. Rosario and negotiate the 22-km. countryside road passing along barangays Aranguren, O' Donnell, Sta. Lucia, Patling and finally, the last frontier which is Brgy. Sta. Juliana - the gateway to the crater of Mt. Pinatubo. Travel time from Clark to Sta. Juliana takes about an hour and a half. From there, you'll drive along O' Donnell river for an hour and then trek on foot for two hours up to the crater (and back the same way). Remember to start your day early at 6:00 in the morning for you to be back late afternoon of the same day.
Fees to pay (trekking and spa):
Rates for Filipinos:
From Clark/Angeles, you hire a 5-pax capacity vehicle at P3,500 or P2,500 only if you're renting from Sta. Juliana in Capas. Additional fees: brgy. donation - P50 per person, guide fee - P500 per group of 5 tourists (required), conservation fee - P500/vehicle Optional - P500 (toll for use of skyway)
Rates for Foreigners:
(1 - 2 persons): Flat rate of P5,550 max of 2 persons (includes vehicle rental - P4,000 plus local guide/ conservation fee and brgy. donation - P1,550) Optional - P500/vehicle (toll for use of skyway)
(3 - 6 persons): P1,150 per person plus flat rate of P1,550 for local guide, conservation fee and brgy. donation Optional - P500/vehicle (toll for use of skyway)
Optional homestay or space at the local guesthouse may be secured at P250 per person. Bring your own packed lunch. Follow strictly the conservation guidelines found in their flyers (e.g. no swimming on crater lake, no camping on the crater site, avoid getting too close to ravines at the crater, carry your own garbage, camp out only on designated areas away from a waterway, etc).
Pinatubo Spa Town (optional)
What to Experience: A fascinating oasis amidst a picturesque pastoral environment framed by rolling hills and mountain ranges, this new product in health tourism offers a first-of-a-kind model in fitness therapy and wellbeing: from a relaxing body wrap on sulfur-laden hot volcanic sand, to a revitalizing dip in a thermal bath and foot spa, and finally to a soothing Shiatzu body work in a 100-pax capacity massage parlor - all made possible after a day's sweltering trek to Mt. Pinatubo. The wellness center also serves Korean/native cuisine cum grillery in a 150-seat capacity open-air restaurant plus a souvenir shop and soda fountain serving health drinks to the intrepid explorer.
Rates (Pinatubo Spa Town); US$ 25/pax (includes 4 x 4 ride, trek to the crater or dip in hot sulphur spring pools in Tarukan, foot spa, thermal bath and lunch); additional US$ 10 (hot sand bath) and US$ 10 (Shiatzu massage) or a total of US$45-50 per person (all inclusive). Rates are subject to change without prior notice.
Contact Information:
For further details, call Capas Tourism Office, Tel. No. (63 45) 925-0154/925-0112 loc 109 (Tourism) loc 124 (Office of the Mayor) or Telefax (63 45) 925-0408 (Direct Line to Office of the Mayor) Attn: Marissa Vidal (Capas Municipal Tourism Officer) Mobile 0918-285-3019 or emial: [email protected].
For renting all-weather vehicle, call Edwin Manalang (Angeles City), Mobile No. 0910-722-7575 or Jude Lenon (Sta. Juliana), Mobile No. 0920-803-5647/0920-576-2769 or call Wendell Mercado (Sta. Juliana), Mobile No. 0919-608-4313 or 0921-587-6291.
For further details, pls contact Pinatubo Spa Town, Brgy. Sta. Juliana, Capas, Tarlac, c/o Pull Travel Destination Corporation, Clark Office: G/F Oxford Hotel, MA Roxas St. cor N. Aquino Ave., Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga Contact Myra del Pilar / Joseph Lozano Phone (63 45) 499-0629 / 493-0031 / 615-0454 Mobile 0909-951-3103 / 0908-885-8479 / 0928-623-7669 Fax (63 45) 499-0630 Email [email protected] / [email protected] Website: www.mtpinatubotour.com Manila Office: HanaTour Philippines, 2/F Damon Bldg., Financial Center Area, D. Macapagal Ave., Pasay City, Tel. No. (63 2) 551-6741 / 6743 Fax (63 2) 551-6740 / 832-9572 Website www.hanatour.com / http://www.pinatubospatown.com/ Note: Rates may change without prior notice. Pls contact tour operator.
DISCLAIMER (7/2005): The Department of Tourism - Region III holds no responsibility or liability for any physical injuries, losses or even death incurred during the trek after the local government of Capas, Tarlac together with the Korean-owned Pull Development Corp. (PDC) unilaterally took over the management and operation of this unique DOT-initiated ecotourism project way back in May 2004. Infrastructural interventions had been put in place in an environmentally critical area without any consultation and approval of government agencies concerned. Further, the regional office does not endorse the use of water sports equipment and facilities on the crater lake as the said activity (swimming, boating, kayaking, etc.) is opposed to the official travel advisory of Phivolcs (that the volcano is still active) and that of the indigenous community called Aetas (that the volcano is the home of their deity called Apo Malyari and therefore sacred); Nor does the regional office endorse the use of the so-called skyway (bulldozed mountain trail) as it poses danger to tourists due to its unstable condition. No environmental clearance certificate or ECC has been issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in connection with the construction and use of the mountain trail or skyway. User discretion is strongly advised when utilizing the facilities of the spa town. Please refer to travel advisory of Phivolcs on this page.
Related Article:
TRAVEL ADVISORY - DOT-RIII WARNS TREKKERS TO MT. PINATUBO
The Department of Tourism - Region III Office continues to caution local and foreign tourists who wish to venture into the heights of Mt. Pinatubo via Capas, Tarlac to heed the call of government agencies like Phivolcs and DENR not to fall prey to a tour operator that takes their guests to the so-called “skyway” or a bulldozed mountain trail enroute to the crater of the volcano as it poses danger to the lives and limbs of tourists due to lack of environmental clearances and permits from agencies concerned.
Regional Director Ronaldo Tiotuico said that the so-called mountain off-road trail which was bulldozed by a Korean tour operator based in Brgy. Sta. Juliana, Capas, Tarlac was rolled out without the benefit of an environmental clearance from government and has been the subject of complaints from local and foreign tourists who venture into the majestic volcano crater lake. A number of accidents have been reported to the regional office the past years caused mainly by poor road construction method and unskilled drivers of 4x4 vehicles. Several cases of physical injuries and near fatal mishaps have occurred.
The tourism regional office started promoting Mt. Pinatubo in 1999 when it chanced upon an access road to the volcano via O’ Donnell streambed as the most efficient gateway to the crater. The nature- formed road was then the most expedient way to the crater though it took about an hour drive onboard off-road vehicle capped by a two-hour arduous trek before reaching the summit.
It was then the policy of the regional office to offer to tourists the riverbed as the most highly recommended route to the famous volcano. One had to muster enough courage and stamina though to be able to reach the summit. And besides, the volcano’s caldera is so fragile that it can take only so many people at any given time due to danger posed by its natural terrain (e.g. intermittent tremors and collapse of its walls may occur).
The man-made mountain trail, while it is more accessible even to the unskilled trekkers, is found to be ill-equipped with infrastructure support to be recommended to tourists.
Do it at your own risk, so they say.
Maamot Hot Spring
San Jose, Tarlac
Located approximately 10 kms from the Capas-Botolan Road, Maamot Hot Spring has a temperature of 45 degrees centigrade and pH level at 6. The place is located at the river bank of Moriones river. The property is owned by the municipal government of San Jose. One has to cross the Moriones river - waist deep - to reach the manifestation site though.
Paradise Island
Concepcion, Tarlac
A half hectare island in the middle of a five-hectare man-made lake in Hacienda Tinang
Tarlac Ecotourism Park
Sitio Padlana, Brgy. Lubigan, San Jose, Tarlac
In the early months of 2001 under the leadership of Governor Jose "Aping" Yap, a project was launched to find a place in the province where people and nature can co-exist in harmony with each other. Soon after, a 278-ha forested land that would eventually serve as a sanctuary for environment and nature lovers was established.
Located at an altitude of 308 meters above sea level, 30 kilometers from Tarlac City, the said place boasts of perfect climatic condition with natural ecosystem for plants, disterocarp trees, convenient habitat for native and migratory birds and wild animals. The place is a perfect place for camping holidays.
On April 12, 2004, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued Proclamation No. 602 officially declaring the Tarlac Ecotourism Park as "ecotourism park and campsite." Vic Yap, in-charge of Special Projects Office, facilitated the construction of concrete roads, electricity, water system, eco-park buildings and other amenities for the campsite.
Today, the Monasterio de Tarlac Chapel , a hermitage house, dormitories donated by friends of the "Servants of the Risen Christ" are now in place and soon a bigger church will rise to serve as a repository of a host of religious relics and artifacts that originates from the Vatican. The blessing of the monasterio dedicated to the Relic of the Holy Cross was presided by His Excellency Most Rev. Fernando Filoni, D.D., Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, together with Tarlac Bishop Florentino F. Cinense, and other clergy on January 30, 2007.
The place will soon become one of the most-visited piligrimage sites in the country.
Timangguyob Waterfalls
San Clemente, Tarlac
A magnificent fall tucked in the middle of nowhere. This natural wonder is quite unique that the water flows down on an extraordinarily vast boulder carved and shaped by nature - like a basin - through many years of exposure to the continuous flow of water pouring from atop at 50 feet in height. The basin-like solid foundation, where the water is generously maintained at maximum of 5 feet is in essence indigenous but beautifully crafted swimming pool. The journey offers an envigorating experience giving luxurious, healthful escapade to the people brave enough to find their way to the majestic Timangguyob. How to get there: From Manila, take a bus bound for Northern Luzon (Pangasinan) and find your way to San Clemente municipal hall along Romulo Hwy (approx 4 hours travel time). From there, it's one hour trip to Sitio Lippet (drop-off point) via 4x4 vehicle. From the sitio, it's trekking time up the waterfall good for two hours. Contact: Municipal Tourism Officer, Tel No. (63 45) 934-1413 / 1244 Email [email protected]
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