Daranak Falls are located on government-owned land in Tanay municipality, a couple of hours drive east of Manila. The main waterfalls are about 14m high and there are a number of smaller cascades nearby. Batlag Falls are privately owned and are located slightly upstream from Daranak.
Looking for a quiet nature escape away from the crowds of Manila? If so, do not go to Daranak Falls on Good Friday like we did! Good Friday is one of most important holidays of the year so we didn’t expect to get the place to ourselves but as you can see from the photo it was really crowded.
An additional entrance charge is payable to access Batlag which makes them somewhat less busy.
The unusual straw huts make the whole place look like a film set from a Robin Hood movie.
This looks like Fred Flintstone’s roller coaster.
Away from the busy pools it was possible to find some peaceful spots and even a private mini-waterfall or two.
The only way to reach some of the upper cascades and pools was by scrambling over jumbled and slippery rocks. Luckily it was the dry season and there was no danger of flash floods that day.
This place is not the unspoilt paradise it might once have been and there was a lot of litter around. But overall it was worth the visit and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves.
