There are four pieces of gear that I simply never forget when I go on a hike. What are my favorite pieces of hiking gear? I met a friendly goat here while waiting for my friends to catch their breath from the stairs! The farmers use the trail every day, carrying huge packs of vegetables down in baskets. The path is cement for most of the way and it is all paved in the steep parts and the stairs so it is actually one of the better man-made trails on Cebu. After the stairs, the trail seems to plateau before you make your way up to the first summit. Straight into that anaerobic zone and everyone was breathing hard and feeling it in their legs as we climbed our way up a few hundred stairs to kick off the trail. Kandungaw Peak trail begins with a stair assault. From the summit, you can see Badian Island but also Osmena Peak and Casino Peak. This is known as the tallest peak in Dalaguete and it has straight drop-offs down one side so it is great for photos. The summit is almost 900-meters above sea-level. This trail, in particular, is pretty short but it is one of the steepest. I never expect anything too hard when hiking on Cebu, mostly because nothing is ever too high. A few ladies set in the information booth and took our entrance fee of 30 pesos. The Kandungaw Peak Hike in Dalagute is signed from the road and there are a few spaces to park. It depends where you are coming from but you are trying to get to Barangay Maloray. Or you can get the bus to Dalaguete and then habal-habal to Maloray. Get off at Mantalongon market and find a Habal-Habal to take you to Maloray.

Local bus: You can catch the local bus to Mantalongon (Dalaguete) from Cebu City and it will take about 3 hours and cost about $3 USD.

There isn’t an abundance of choice up in the mountains. The other tip is that there is a little restaurant in Mantolongan that has typical Filipino food with rice, vegetables, egg, pork and all other dishes to choose from. The journey is about 1.5 hours from Moalboal. Not great and lots of scattered potholes but nothing too crazy to navigate.

Motorbike (How I arrived): From Moalboal we drove down towards the south and turned right on Mantolongan Badian Road.

It is important to note that it may be referred to as Candongao Peak by many people including the locals you are trying to ask for directions. I will outline how to get to Kandungaw Peak below and also tell you what you can expect on the journey as well as my tips for the drive. Kandungaw Peak is on Google Maps and I can confirm it is an accurate pin, which is always handy. It is possible to also arrive on a bus or habal-habal (bike transport).

There are several options to arriving at Kandungaw Peak but the easiest is definitely to arrive by motorbike.

Casino peak itinerary