Tukuran Falls — Attraction in Puerto Galera

We got a deal of 1,500 php for two from Ocean Brew's contact Tuktuk and going back to Talipanan where we stayed.

Things we learned from the trekking: Bring an aqua shoes or hiking shoes that can do both wet, muddy and stones. We crossed 3 rivers within the 30 minute walk.

Pack your own lunch. Bring water and food. We came lunchtime and we thought it's going to be a good idea to buy grilled fish and meat with drinks from them to support the locals. We underestimated the price of grilled fish and meat, thinking it's going to less than 1,000 PHP but no, the bill came almost 4,000 PHP. We were shocked that they charged us more than the price of the restaurant for 2 grilled fish, 2 chicken and 1 pork. 4 beer bottles and 2 sodas. Souvenir shop is 3x expensive than the Mangyan village in Talipanan. Since we stayed at Talipanan, we always buy products from the Mangyan village. The dress and shirts are 100 to 150 php each versus the price in Tukuran Falls at 650 php. The ladies who are the guides has no fixed price which means you can give them whatever you feel like. It's uncomfortable to me to decide on how much I give them. I found out that they split amongst themselves whatever they earned for the day. They are a total of 41 women working as guides. They are also the breadwinners of their families while their husbands are on home duties or looking for a job. So regardless if 4 guides or 2 guides will come to assist you - in my mind I counted our guides and how much I will give to them, it doesn't matter if you give them 50 PHP each or 100 PHP each since they divide it together.

There's not much tourists and I wish that the government will help them and teach sustainability tourism. Now I get it why other reviews describe the guides as aggressive or hard selling. They are not aggressive, you just have to say no nicely to them on whatever things they are selling. With the guides, YES you need a guide, you can't cross the river by yourself, it's too dangerous especially the currents are strong. You will also get lost if you think you know the way and will end up walking 2 hours instead of 30 minutes. Once you reach Tukuran Falls, if you are not a pro swimmer - the water is 14 feet to 16 feet deep.

We enjoyed the rivers. We stayed for 4 hours swimming, eating and drinking. Next time we will be more prepared to come early and learn from our mistakes. Definitely a place worth going back.

I will upload the photos soon from our trekking...

Highlights: • A truly authentic experience riding a Carabao, the national animal of the Philippines. • Stunning natural scenery—waterfalls, birds, a river, and lush palm trees. • Serene and peaceful, with no other tourists around when we visited. • Glad they haven’t modernized the place, preserving its raw beauty. • No animal cruelty involved, as the Carabao only travels twice a day.

Lowlights: • Upon arrival, my husband and I were immediately surrounded by three women bombarding us with fees—parking, entrance, Carabao ride, etc. • Once we agreed on pricing, they called our driver, prepared the cart, and suddenly said, “Ma’am, we will all go with you.” This left us confused—why did three people need to tag along when we weren’t even trekking? • At the falls, they aggressively upsold food. We weren’t hungry yet, but they insisted we must order now since grilling takes time. We declined three times, but they wouldn’t let it go, so we gave in. • The three women followed us everywhere—to the falls, up the falls, and even to our cottage, just watching us swim. • During lunch, they stood around us, fanning away flies. We told them we were fine and wanted to enjoy our meal in peace, but they wouldn’t stop. • After eating, one of them sat beside me and said, “Ma’am, this is our only livelihood. The three of us guided and assisted you, and at the end of the trip, it’s up to you how much you can give us.” To me, this felt like a scam—we never asked for a guide, let alone three people shadowing us the entire time.

I always tip and am more than happy to do so, but I don’t appreciate being pressured with guilt poverty poor stories.

Tukuran Falls is still worth visiting—just be aware of these so-called ‘tour guides.’ I would rate it 5 stars if I didn't experience these...

First off you will not have cell service at the falls so google maps wont work for the walking portion. Once you reach the entrance you'll know by the crowd of people. I had 4 ladies with umbrellas offer there guide service and I delcined as I wanted a peaceful experience to myself. The walk back to the falls is a long one, 45+ minutes. There are 3 river crossing you won't be able to cross with a motorbike. At the entrance they do offer an OX cart ride round trip for (500 peso). The cart ride was rough but enjoyable. The guide service walked behind the cart all the way to the falls even though I didn't want a guide. I think the guide service is mainly for those who are going to make the trek to the falls. Once at the end of the ox cart ride, you'll walk 500 meters to the face of the falls. The Ox cart ride guy will wait for your return. I climbed the falls to the top and picked a nice pool of water to swim in. The ladies still followed offering to take photos for me but I declined. I crossed a more difficult rock section of the falls, and I was on one side of the falls and the ladies were on the other. I set my belongings down in sight and took a refreshing cool swim. After spending 30 minutes swimming the ladies finally left the other side of the falls and went back down because they could not reach me. On departure the ladies asked for a (25 peso) entry fee. I took the cart ride back to the entrance and the entrance people asked for a (25 peso) parking fee. I paid the ox cart dude the (500 peso) after he took me back to the...