Blessed to have friends who share the same passion as I do – TRAVEL, HIKE, REPEAT, aiming to work hard and travel harder., hashtag YOLO. lol (pero char lng, poor me)

I Wander Philippines together with Meant To Go planned a day hike to Sicao Falls. We asked a lot of travel bloggers who been to Sicao Falls if day hike is doable. Finally, we found a contact to be our guide.

So day hike in Sicao Falls is doable but it is recommended to go for an overnight stay to witness sunrise and sunset and for a comfortable and light hike. But with our tight schedule, we decided to push through with our day hike plan.

How tiny I am in a world so big. Be humble.

How To Get There

Assembly time is 5:00 AM. We took a public hop on L300 van bound to Calinan. We arrived around 6:00 AM. We looked for a store named Buyzone Store because that was the popular landmark for motorcycle terminal going to Sicao Falls. They will drop you off to Sicao Village entry point.

We climbed all the way up to Sicao Village. The area where you need to register before you can start hike Sicao Falls. The trek took us 1 hour. Slow pace for us because it was all assault right from the start and up to Sicao Village. We have our guide with us but if you been there for so many times, you can have a DIY hike to SIcao Village. Below are the scenic view while on the trail.

Arrival in Sicao Village

After an hour of a breathtaking hike, we finally reached Sicao Village. Registered and rested for a few minutes. They will also conduct a short briefing of what to expect on the trail. They said it’s a difficult trail and usually a tune-up climb for Mt. Apo.

I learned that Sicao Village is an ancestral domain and most of the locals in there are related to Sicao. They were all relatives. Wowie Sicao is our contact from Sicao Tours, a guide and a mountaineer that I also met during Purpose Driven Adventure‘s advocacy climb right after our Sicao hike event. Small world for mountaineers.

Team Toril

Sicao Village’s products were brooms made from straw and stiff fibers. They supply markets in Calinan proper. According to the locals, nowadays, only a few hikers visit Sicao Falls because Mt. Talomo is now closed for hikers. Usually, mountaineers hike Mt. Talomo and had Sicao Falls as a side trip.

Production area for brooms

Descending to Sicao Falls

After the short briefing, we left our things in the camp, not necessary to bring all the things with you because you’ll be going back to Sicao Village. The trail comprised more of descending, need to grab on roots, trees, and rocks. There are areas where you need to do rappeling. Ropes were already installed to lessen the struggle. We also crossed 11 rivers. That was amazing.

As they said, the trail to Sicao Falls is difficult and I agree with that. In fact, the trail going down to waterfalls, more of them are difficult, steep, rocky and muddy. But trek to Sicao Falls is considered as minor climb regardless of its trail. Even though you climbed mountains for years but still not a good idea to underestimate the nature. As a newbie, its difficulty level is 5/9.

Buwis-buhay photo (Naslide unya hapit mahulog)

Datu Sicao Next Top Models

Sitio Utan Camp Site

We rested upon arriving in Sitio Utan. A solemn open place. Very relaxing. There were villagers before in Sitio Utan and before reaching Datu Sicao Falls, you need to register in Sitio Utan again. You can find info on blogs like that. But here’s a new update. Only ONE registration is needed which is in Sicao Village. Currently, there are no people living in Sitio Utan. Leaders suggested people in Sitio Utan to move in Sicao Village, so in case of emergency, it’s much nearer to town. Hike from Sicao Village to Sitio Utan is 3 hours. For them, they can run it, it can be 2 hours or less.

Datu Sicao Falls

After 1 and a half hour hike from Sitio Utan, we arrived at Datu Sicao Falls around 11:00 AM. The view of the waterfalls was so amazing. Water is very cold.

After lunch, we had a side trip to Daragdag Falls. They often called it Tres Marias because you can see 3 waterfalls located close to each other. Its original name is Daragdag Falls.

Daragdag Falls

Ascending Back to Sicao Village

It took us another 4 and a half hours to reach back to Sicao Village. The same trail going back. We should reach back to SIcao Village before 4:00 PM because we still need to trek for 1 hour going back to the entry point. And with our dedication to accomplish the goal, we reached the campsite around 5:00 PM not 4:00 PM, lol. Our guide was amazing, funny and full of hugots. We had a night trek going back to Sicao Village entry point.

Sample DIY Dayhike Itinerary (Davao City Starting Point)

4:00 AM Davao City Assembly time
5:00 AM ETA Calinan, Buyzone Store (Terminal bound to Sicao Village)
6:00 AM ETA Sicao Village Entry Point
7:00 AM ETA Sicao Village (Registration)
7:30 AM Start Trek
10:00AM ETA Sitio Utan
11:30 AM ETA Datu SIcao Falls
12:00 NN Lunch
1:00 PM Daragdag Falls
1:30PM ETD Sicao Falls
2:30PM ETA Sitio Utan
5:00 PM ETA Sicao Village
6:00PM ETA Sicao Village Entry Point
7:00 PM ETA Calinan proper
9:00 PM Home sweet home

Budget Per Person

L300 Van bound to Calinan 25.00
Motorcycle to Sicao Village Entry Point 100.00
Registration Fee 100.00
Guide Fee 500 (divided by group) But we gave 200.00 each so 600.00 for our guide
Estimated Food Budget 200.00
Motorcycle Back to Calinan Proper 200.00
Dinner 130
L300 Van bound to Davao 25
Total 980