Lumiang Sumaguing Cave Connection in SAGADA

Lumiang Sumaguing Cave Connection

One of the activities that you shouldn’t miss when visiting Sagada is exploring its caves. While most tourists opt for the 2-hour course at Sumaguing Cave – the quickest and most scenic route. Our friend though has a different plan for us. He chooses the 4 to 5-hour Cave Connection course, which starts at Lumiang cave and ends at Sumaguing Cave.

SAGADA CAVING OPTIONS

To book, visit the Tourist Information Center to register and pay the P35 environmental fee. They will assign a tour guide for you.

SAGADA MUNICIPAL TOURIST INFORMATION CENTER
Poblacion, Sagada, Mountain Province, 2619 Philippines
Operation Hours:
Daily, 7:00 am to 6:00 pm
Email: sagada.mayor@gmail.com
Facebook: @Sagadatourism

Lumiang Sumaguing Cave Connection Experience

We went to Sagada as part of our friend’s birthday escapade. On this trip his the boss. He gets to decide everything including the activity for the day. After lunch, he said we will go caving. He wanted to explore both Lumiang Cave and Sumaguing Cave so we opted for the cave connection. The first thing we did was to go to the Tourist Center to register. Two tour guides have been assigned to our group since we are a group of five. Then, we walk to the entrance of the cave.

LUMIANG CAVE

The first thing I noticed is the rock formations in the background. From this point, we head down to these concrete steps that lead us to the entry point of the cave.

At the entrance of the cave, there are wooden coffins on the wall that have been there for years as per our tour guide. We learned so much from them. They said the dead were laid down in a fetal position and their wooden coffins were placed at the mouth of the cave to bring the departed back to Mother Earth, not on the inside of the cave, or else the deceased would be lost in the darkness and will never find the light. They remind us not to touch or take anything from it.

They orient us on what to do and what not to do inside the cave for our safety. After the orientation, our tour guides ready their gas lamp to be used inside and asked us to put on our headlamps.

And now the challenge starts.

Entering the cave is mostly climbing down big rocks and going through some small passages. Guides helped us by showing us where to put our hands and feet, as well as literally offering a shoulder or leg as a platform so we get down safely. I was hesitant at first because I might hurt them, but they assured us that it was part of their job to keep the experience as comfortable as possible. Plus, they said they have been doing this since they were youngsters so they are basically trained by experience and they know the cave well. They also took some of our pictures. Thank you kuyas!

Lumiang cave mostly has big rocks. I feel like it’s the most challenging part of this cave connection. Some passageways will only fit one person at a time. There are also safety ropes strategically placed on the tough spots. But we still need to spread our arms and legs to hold onto something. It was quite an experience.

There is also a part of the cave where it is so dark – as in pitch black. We can hear the bats above, that we saw when our guide uses his flashlight.

SUMAGUING CAVE

Lumiang Cave is connected to Sumaguing Cave. And as we got closer to Sumaguing, the route became more slippery and more watery. The spelunking starts off easy enough that we can go barefoot here since it provides the best grip. There are more rock formations and we saw many people inside because this is the short course caving option.

Sumaguing cave also has the greatest number of stalactites and stalagmites developed naturally by traces of calcium in water droplets. Stalactites hang from the top, while stalagmites grow from the ground. We enjoyed it so much here.

SAFETY TIPS & REMINDERS
– Follow your guides
– Always stick to your group
– I wouldn’t recommend this activity for children younger, especially the cave connection
– Secure your belongings in a waterproof bag
– Dress comfortably–leggings, rash guard, dry fit shirts, or shorts are fine
– I would recommend trekking sandals over trekking shoes because there are parts of the cave where you need to get barefoot
– Don’t vandalize or litter
– Don’t touch any rock formations 

WHAT TO BRING IN SAGADA?

Prepare for your trip with our must-have travel essentials.

Waterproof backpack: 65L Water-resistant Hiking Backpack with Rain Cover for Outdoor Sport Travel
Quick dry microfiber travel towel: Naturehike Quick Drying Pocket Bath Towel
Action camera:  KIMSTORE GoPro Hero 11 – Black  
Hiking Sandals: Sandugo SD-1201 Hiking Sandals
Rash Guard: rash guard for men and Rash Guard for women Travel Pillow Powerbank – Multi-Functional Portable Powerbank Fast Charging Headlamp – Waterproof Headlamp

If you have questions let me know in the comment section below!

You might want to continue reading: Batad & Banaue Itinerary + Travel Guide. Also, I would really appreciate it if you subscribe to our YouTube channel below.