Hoyohoy Highland Stone Chapel Adventure Park, Tangub

Hoyohoy is the ridge above Tangub City. Drive up out of the city and the road climbs through barangay after barangay until the air cools, the bay drops away behind you, and you come out 850 metres up at the foot of Mount Malindang with the whole of Panguil Bay spread out below. That is where the adventure park is, and the view alone is worth the trip.

The zipline

The reason most people come. The Sky-Line Zip runs in two stages, 1.25 kilometres on the first line and 1.1 kilometres on the second, 2.35 kilometres in total, and it is billed as the longest in Asia. You launch off the ridge with the bay and the two cities in front of you and the wind in your face for most of a minute at a time. Even if you have done ziplines before, the length of this one and the drop under it put it in a different category.

It is a real height. If that is not your thing, the ridge is still worth the climb for the view, the chapel and the cool air.

The stone chapel

On a small hill inside the park is a chapel built of stone that seats about twenty people. It is a quiet place, in a good way. Couples book it for weddings and it is a favourite photo stop, but it also works as it was intended, somewhere to sit for a few minutes with the wind coming off the mountain.

The rest of the park

Hoyohoy is more than a zipline and a chapel. There is an organic herbal garden, a working farm, and an agricultural learning centre, because the site doubles as a training ground for the province. A hostel on the grounds takes groups, families and couples who want to stay up on the ridge overnight, which is the best way to catch both the sunset over the bay and the early morning before the haze comes up.

The view

From the ridge you look straight down over Panguil Bay. Tangub City is directly below, Ozamiz is off to the right along the coast, and across the water is Tubod in Lanao del Norte, with the Panguil Bay Bridge a thin line joining the two shores. On a clear morning you can see a long way down the bay. It is the best single viewpoint in the province.

Getting there

Tangub City is about half an hour south of Ozamiz on the coast road, with buses and vans all day. From the city proper the park is a climb up into the hills. If you have a car the road is driveable and signposted. If not, hire a habal-habal, a motorbike taxi, from the city; agree the fare for the round trip and the wait before you set off, which is the normal arrangement here. Allow the best part of an hour for the climb and go early, both for the light and because clouds tend to sit on the ridge by afternoon.

Fees and hours

Zipline rates and park hours change, and weather closes the line on windy days. Check the park's Facebook page, Hoyohoy Highland Stone Chapel and Adventure Park, before you go, and bring cash for the entrance, the zipline and the ride up.

Make a day of it

Hoyohoy in the morning, then back down to Tangub for lunch by the water and a look at the bridge. If you are here in December, stay for the Festival of Lights after dark. Ozamiz, with the Cotta Fort and Asenso Wellness Park, is half an hour up the road.

Restaurants, resorts and shops in Tangub and across Misamis Occidental are listed in our local business directory. If you run one, get it listed and be found by the people coming up the mountain.