From Batangas to Daranak Falls

Daranak Falls, Tanay, Rizal

It hasn’t been 10 minutes yet since I told myself to take some rest for this holiday when I received a txt message from a friend whom I have invited the night before. I was actually going to claim back what I said (about taking some rest instead), and with that SMS, I pulled my backpack, stuffed it with a few clothes and my snorkeling gears.



I am heading to Binukbok Viewpoint in Batangas. I walked out of the house, and took a cab. I am picking up my friend in Makati and heading straight to the bus station in Buendia.

Starving! So before taking the bus, I thought about doing a quick take out from Jollibee; But, even before my order is served, I got a call from the resort saying that the typhoon is impending and the waves are turning rough. Resort owner said they can’t allow us to do the snorkeling.

I pulled back from this plan, and I told my friend that we’ll go beach bum in Calatagan, Batangas instead. Good thing he does not care wherever I bring him to. Then again, there was no calatagan, nor nasugbu, nor tagaytay bound bus in the Area. We were asked to take a jeep to coastal mall where we’d get these buses.

I changed my mind again. I thought we can just go surf in Real, Quezon. So, instead of taking the jeep, we took the LRT to get to Legarda. It was past 9am when we got to the Raymond Bus station.

We sat and slept. Both haven’t had any sleep yet.

I was awoken at 11:30am at the assumption that we had taken a stopover; To my surprise, the bus hasn’t moved. It was almost noontime when we left.

Along the way, I was thinking of whether we should still push for the surf in Real. I thought it might be quite late by the time we arrive. So, there, I had to disscuss the alternative of Hiking Mt Romelo instead where we can also ssee buruwisan and lanzones falls.


Again, my behaved friend agreed. We went back to sleep.

It was almost 3pm and the view from outside still looks very much city like. We were just in Antipolo city. At this pace, by the time we get to the jump off point for Mt Romelo, it would have been nighttime and our snorkeling gears wont get us anywhere. Again, we had to reroute. I told Erwin, let’s head to Daranak Falls instead. We got off in Tanay, Rizal.

Kainan sa Tabing Lawa in Tanay Rizal

1 serving of Buttered Shrimps in Kainan sa Tabing Lawa in Tanay Rizal

1 serving of Ginataang Manok in Kainan sa Tabing Lawa in Tanay Rizal

We’re craving for food. Our first stop was to a restaurant. After the restaurant, we finally got somewhere.. Daranak Falls!

Rock Balancing in Daranak Falls, Tanay, Rizal

Daranak Falls in Tanay Rizal

Rock balancing in Daranak Falls in Tanay Rizal

an attempt to do my own rock balancing in Daranak Falls in Tanay Rizal

How to get there:

1.       From Manila, take the Infanta bound buses from Raymond Bus Terminal in Legarda or you can also wait around Ortigas (Robinson’s Galleria). Most of the time though, the bus would have been full before reaching Ortigas so you risk standing in the bus, which might not be a very good idea considering the mountain terrain. Get off in Tanay Town Proper and from there, take a trike to Daranak falls. Average charge is P100-P150 per trike that can fit up to 4.

From the falls, the standard (local rate) charge to get to the town center is P20/head though tricycle driver would normally ask for P150.

Entrance to the falls is P20. Batlag falls is next to Daranak and is a notorious P100 additional.