Linamon's Best Side Trip
So how did I got in this place? Being a geologist who’s primary work setting is outdoor, it is one of our profession’s perks of traveling and exploring the outside world 😄 Not to mention, we spend most of our time on field than in the office. Although I am stationed at the regional office of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau in Davao, I got to be assigned on areas outside of our region when needed by the office. MGB’s target of completion for the coastal geohazard mapping of the entire coastal communities of the Philippines is by the end of this year. Since we already completed the survey on our region, we we’re temporarily deployed to our neigboring region of Northern Mindanao. Their only remaining province for the survey is Lanao del Norte. We were kinda hesitant to go to the area due to its bad reputation in terms of security. The province is just along the neighborhood of Marawi City which was just devastated by terrorism. Hence, proper communication and community relations should be done prior to our fieldwork. Since we can’t do an advance personal courtesy to the LGU, we only did it via email and phone calls. It was an ease that LGU Linamon especially Mayor Macapil and MENRO Tuazon accomodated us and ensured our safety during our stay 😂
How to get to Linamon?
If you are coming from Cagayan de Oro City which is the regional capital of Northern Mindanao, you may ride into public buses at the Bulua Westbound Terminal via the Linamon-Zamboanga Highway in about 3 hours. If you are from Iligan City which is also home to more waterfalls, Linamon is just around 20-30-minutes away. Take note that the municipality still doesn't have any bus terminals so just disembark at the town's commercial centers (near Mercury Drugstore, OGIS Lechon Manok). You will notice if you are already in Linamon if you pass by the Linamon Bridge. The nearest airport serving the region is the Laguindingan Airport which is just 30-minutes away from CDO. Cebupacific and Philippine Airlines are I think the only airlines flying to and from the airport with destinations such as Manila, Cebu, Davao, Clark, Iloilo, Bacolod, etc. For more information, just check Cebupacific and PAL websites.
Where to stay?
We stayed at Tinago Pavilion which is just within the vicinity of Tinago Falls. You may inquire about the accomodation at the municipal hall. Since it is quite far from the commercial area, you may stay at several beach resorts such as Lacida, Villa Lacida, Samburon, Montanier, and Pajo along the national highway. You can also bring tents if you are on a budget travel.
Where to eat?
We love to eat at Barrio Canton Restaurant which is situated just along the national highway in Brgy. Magoong as they serve fresh and delicious mixed seafoods. Of course, they have the best versions of "pancit" from canton to bihon. Also try their fried chicken, calamares, and other finger foods. Other than that, you may eat at several restaurants serving the delicious Lechon Baboy of Iligan in Barrio Timoga of Brgy. Buru-un which is just adjacent to Linamon. Stores outside the Tinago Pavilion also serves breakfast and short orders.
What to do?
These are the things we did and places visited during our short stay at Linamon;
How to get there:
How to get to Linamon?
If you are coming from Cagayan de Oro City which is the regional capital of Northern Mindanao, you may ride into public buses at the Bulua Westbound Terminal via the Linamon-Zamboanga Highway in about 3 hours. If you are from Iligan City which is also home to more waterfalls, Linamon is just around 20-30-minutes away. Take note that the municipality still doesn't have any bus terminals so just disembark at the town's commercial centers (near Mercury Drugstore, OGIS Lechon Manok). You will notice if you are already in Linamon if you pass by the Linamon Bridge. The nearest airport serving the region is the Laguindingan Airport which is just 30-minutes away from CDO. Cebupacific and Philippine Airlines are I think the only airlines flying to and from the airport with destinations such as Manila, Cebu, Davao, Clark, Iloilo, Bacolod, etc. For more information, just check Cebupacific and PAL websites.
Where to stay?
We stayed at Tinago Pavilion which is just within the vicinity of Tinago Falls. You may inquire about the accomodation at the municipal hall. Since it is quite far from the commercial area, you may stay at several beach resorts such as Lacida, Villa Lacida, Samburon, Montanier, and Pajo along the national highway. You can also bring tents if you are on a budget travel.
Where to eat?
We love to eat at Barrio Canton Restaurant which is situated just along the national highway in Brgy. Magoong as they serve fresh and delicious mixed seafoods. Of course, they have the best versions of "pancit" from canton to bihon. Also try their fried chicken, calamares, and other finger foods. Other than that, you may eat at several restaurants serving the delicious Lechon Baboy of Iligan in Barrio Timoga of Brgy. Buru-un which is just adjacent to Linamon. Stores outside the Tinago Pavilion also serves breakfast and short orders.
What to do?
These are the things we did and places visited during our short stay at Linamon;
- Beach Bumming. Most of its coastal area are beaches utilized for recreational purposes. Beach resorts stretches from Poblacion to Napo. Their beach area has a gray sand as a mixture of volcanic-derived sediments and coral/shell fragments. Some resorts have unprotected beach and foreshore area which developed wider beach areas. However, some resorts installed seawalls to mitigate coastal erosion. As an effect, some of these doesn't have any wide beaches. In general, they have a clean coastal area. Some beautiful beaches are in Adam and Eve, Montanier, Villa Lacida, Lacida, and Pajo Beach Resort.
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| Gray sand beach of Montanier Resort |
These beach resorts are just adjacent to the national highway and commercial areas.
- Indulge into the cold water of Tinago Falls. Lanao del Norte is a province known for its beautiful waterfalls. One of its most famous is the Tinago Falls which is actually part of the Linamon River that cuts across volcanic rocks chiefly of andesitic composition. The river also serves as the geographic boundary between the City of Iligan and the Municipality of Linamon. We stayed at the Tinago Pavilion, the hotel and accomodation run by LGU Linamon. It is located just within the Tinago area in Brgy. Robocon. It is situated along the denudational slopes of the municipality having lesser amount of population. Hence, there were no other activities you can do especially at night as sari-sari stores closes early. We almost missed the chance of going down the falls because we were too busy with our fieldwork but they say you haven’t been to their place if you haven’t bath into the Tinago Falls. Good thing we had the chance on our last day of stay.
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| It rained the day before we went to Tinago Falls so the water is a bit turbid. |
From the intersection of the national highway and road heading to the municipal hall, you may rent a motorcycle for about PhP 50.00 to take you to Tinago. Travel just takes around 15-20 minutes since the road is already concrete. The park I think opens at around 7 AM and closes at 5 PM for security purposes. There is an entrance fee and other rentals (raft. lifevest, cottage, etc.) but I forgot to take a picture of their price list as we are free of charge 😁. From the reception, you will trek down the almost 500-steps stairs to get to the main falls. Don't worry, there are some rest areas/stations for you to relax and enjoy the scenery. It is a good exercise especially going up 😉.
What to buy? Pasalubong!
- Linamon's Best Buko Pie. I am not a fan of buko pie before but because of Linamon's buko pie, I always look for it as a dessert after meal during our stay. The best buko pies are those sold at the municipal hall and by Neneng's. The latter also has other pie flavors such as ube and durian. Their buko pies are creamy yet not that sweet and has several buko strips (hindi tinipid). P.S. Thank you to LGU Linamon especially Mam Fely for giving us some packs of their buko pie as a token of appreciation 😊.
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| Neneng's Buko Pie (c) echostore |
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| Linamon's best buko pie (c) Burpple |
- Tinago T-shirts, ref magnets, keychains, etc. These are sold at the Tinago Pavilion at affordable prices so don't forget to buy some for your family and friends. P.S. They don't still don't have a designated pasalubong center so just buy on any stores within the vicinity.
Acknowledgement:
In behalf of my team, I would like to thank the Local Government Unit of Linamon led by Mayor Randy Macapil for accommodating us and ensuring our safety. Also to Mam Fely Tuazon, one of the most active MENRO I've met for the logistics and no hesitation acceptance despite that we are strangers 😂. To our field guides for taking us to right places..hahaha. And of course to the people of Linamon for accepting us and our project 😀
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| Officials of LGU Linamon with the MGB-XI Coastal Geoohazard Team at Barrio Canton Restaurant |
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