A local's guide to Catmon on Cebu's northern coast — the old Spanish watchtower, a hot spring with waterfalls attached, Cebu's second-highest peak, and a roadside beach few tourists ever find.
TL;DR: Catmon is a quiet fishing town on Cebu’s northeastern coast, about 57km (1.5–2 hours by car, longer by bus) from Cebu City. In one town you get a 19th-century Spanish watchtower (Bantayan sa Hari), a working hot spring with waterfalls attached (Esoy Hot Spring, ~₱350/US$6 entry), Cebu’s second-highest peak (Mt. Kapayas, 783 masl, guide required), and a roadside beach locals call KM47 (₱20 entry). It’s worth a day trip or an overnight if you want north Cebu without the Bantayan Island crowds — just skip Tinubdan Falls after heavy rain. Verified July 2026.
Most visitors heading up Cebu’s northern coast blow straight through Catmon on their way to Bantayan Island or Malapascua, and that’s the town’s whole appeal — almost nobody stops. What you’d be skipping is a compact cluster of sights that would anchor a whole day trip anywhere else in the province: a crumbling Spanish watchtower, a hot spring resort with its own waterfall and cave, one of Cebu’s tallest mountains, and a beach the locals still call by its highway kilometer marker. This guide covers what’s actually in Catmon, what it costs, how to get there, and which of it is worth your time versus which you can skip. If you’re routing through the province’s heritage core before heading north, pair this with a stop at Temple of Leah in Cebu City on the way out.
Catmon, Cebu at a Glance
| Spot | Barangay | Cost | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bantayan sa Hari (watchtower) | Catmon-Daan | Free | Sits on elementary school grounds; visit during school hours |
| Esoy Hot Spring | Duyan | ₱350 adult / ₱175 child (~US$6 / US$3) | No-booking-no-entry — call 1–2 days ahead |
| Ka-Tinggo Falls | Duyan / Sakatun | Included with Esoy Hot Spring guide | 10-minute walk, hanging bridge crossing |
| Tinubdan Falls | Tabili | Small local entrance fee, confirm locally | Check weather; avoid after heavy rain |
| Mt. Kapayas climb | Various trailheads | ~₱250 permit per group of 10 (~US$4/group) + guide fee | Guide mandatory, register with police |
| Hinagdanan Beach (KM47) | Binungculan | ₱20 entrance / ₱200–400 cottage (~US$0.35 / US$3–7) | Day-use only, no overnight stays |
Verified July 2026. Prices at small, family-run spots change without notice — confirm before you go.
How Do You Get to Catmon From Cebu City?
The quickest way is by private vehicle up the Cebu-Bogo Highway — figure 1.5 to 2 hours to reach central Catmon, longer to the outlying barangays where the falls and hot spring are. Public transport works too: board a Bogo-, Daanbantayan-, or Hagnaya-bound bus at the North Bus Terminal in Cebu City, tell the conductor your barangay (Duyan for Esoy Hot Spring, Tabili for Tinubdan Falls, Binungculan for Hinagdanan Beach/KM47), and expect the trip to run 2–3 hours with stops. Fares run roughly ₱100–150 (about US$1.70–2.60). From the highway drop-off, most of these spots need a short tricycle or habal-habal ride to finish the trip — agree on the fare before you get on.
If you don’t want to manage transfers and drop-offs yourself, a private van or car with driver is worth booking for a Catmon day trip, especially if you’re trying to combine two or three sights. Compare Cebu tour and transfer options on Klook before you go.
What Is Bantayan sa Hari, the Old Watchtower?
It’s the reason Catmon shows up in Cebu heritage write-ups at all — a Spanish colonial watchtower built around 1835–1842, reportedly by the Augustinian Recollect friar Padre Miguel de Jesus, to warn the coastal settlement of Moro raiders working their way up from the more heavily fortified south. What’s left today is one surviving wall, about 7 meters high and a meter thick, built from coral rubble bound with argamasa mortar, with an octagonal footprint and crenelated top edge still visible.
The catch: the tower now sits inside the grounds of Catmon-Daan Elementary School, where students play around it during the school day. That means it’s genuinely free to see, but access and hours depend on the school’s schedule — go on a weekday during school hours, be respectful of the campus, and don’t expect a ticket booth or visitor center. It’s a five-minute stop, not a destination on its own, so bundle it with a trip to the hot spring or the beach rather than driving out for the tower alone.
Is Esoy Hot Spring Worth the Trip?
Yes, if you plan ahead — this is Catmon’s most-visited spot for a reason. Esoy Hot Spring in Barangay Duyan draws people for its sulfuric water, said locally to help with aching muscles and some skin conditions, but the bigger draw is that the resort bundles in more than a soak: entrance (around ₱350 for adults, ₱175 for kids under 10, roughly US$6 and US$3) typically includes a guide who walks you to a nearby waterfall and a small cave, plus cottage and table use.
The one rule that trips people up is the resort’s strict no-booking-no-entry policy — you cannot just show up. Call or message the resort 1–2 days ahead to reserve, confirm the current entrance fee when you do (these numbers move), and build the reservation into your itinerary before you leave Cebu City.
What About Ka-Tinggo and Tinubdan Falls?
These are two different waterfalls, and only one of them needs a safety caveat. Ka-Tinggo Falls is a short, easy 10-minute walk from Esoy Hot Spring, crossed by a hanging bridge, and it’s a gentle cascade — good for photos and foot-dipping rather than a serious swim, and it’s typically covered by the same guide fee as the hot spring visit.
Tinubdan Falls, in Barangay Tabili, is the bigger draw on paper: six cascades feeding into two catch basins, including a small natural jacuzzi and a larger pool, tucked into dense jungle with a short, flat 10-minute walk in. It’s also the site of a real tragedy — in September 2021, a sudden flash flood from heavy rain upstream swelled the water without warning, killing two visitors and leaving one missing, and the falls was closed for a period afterward. Treat that as more than a footnote: check the weather before you commit to the trip, avoid the falls during or right after heavy rain in the hinterlands, and follow your guide’s instructions immediately if water levels start to change. It’s a beautiful spot, but it earns its “confirm conditions” warning more than most waterfalls on this list.
Should You Climb Mt. Kapayas?
If you’re an experienced hiker looking for something harder than Cebu’s usual day hikes, yes. Mt. Kapayas — known locally as Lantawan or Torre — sits at 783 meters above sea level, making it the highest point in northern Cebu and the province’s second-highest peak overall. Reports from hikers describe steep, mossy, and rocky terrain, with a genuine rock-climbing scramble in the final stretch before the summit, and a full climb (basecamp to summit and back) commonly taking most of a day.
This isn’t a casual add-on to a beach-and-falls day. A guide is effectively mandatory given the terrain, the municipality charges a permit of around ₱250 per group of up to 10 people, and climbers register at the local police station before heading up. Along the way, some routes pass Lumanoy Cave, a popular spot for caving — but it comes with its own hazard, since a roughly 30-foot chasm sits just off the entrance, so this is guide-only territory, not a wander-in-yourself stop. Budget a full day (or an overnight camp) for Kapayas alone, and don’t try to combine it with the falls or hot spring in the same trip.
Is Hinagdanan Beach (KM47) Worth a Stop?
Yes, especially if you want a cheap, uncrowded beach break without the resort-town price tag. Hinagdanan Beach, universally known by locals as “KM47” for its distance from Cebu City, sits at the bottom of a roadside cliff in Barangay Binungculan — the beach opened to the public back in 1957, after the family who owned the land carved stairs down the cliff over the years to connect the road to the shore.
It’s a straightforward day-use spot: entrance runs around ₱20 per head, cottage rental ₱200–400, with no corkage fee charged on food or drinks you bring. There’s no overnight accommodation here, so it’s strictly a stop on the way to or from somewhere else — pair it with the watchtower or the hot spring rather than planning a whole day around it.
What About Catmon’s Church and Its Real Festival?
Catmon’s parish church, San Guillermo de Aquitania Parish (also called Catmon Church), dates to the town’s 1835 parish establishment and is dedicated to San Guillermo de Aquitania — historically identified with St. William the Hermit, a saint’s identity that several old Cebu parishes, Catmon included, have reportedly mixed up with the unrelated Duke William of Aquitaine over the centuries. Worth a quick stop if you’re already in the town center.
Here’s a correction worth flagging: Catmon’s actual town fiesta is the Budbod Kabog Festival, held every February 10 in honor of San Guillermo. It celebrates budbod kabog, a local delicacy made from native kabog millet wrapped in banana leaf, with a signature dance depicting the crop’s full journey from planting to cooking, plus a Search for the Festival Queen, street dancing (Sadsaran), and a food fair. The similarly named Sikoy-Sikoy Festival is not Catmon’s — that one belongs to neighboring San Fernando, and the two towns’ festivals get mixed up online often enough that it’s worth clearing up before you plan a trip around the wrong date.
How Do You Plan a Day (or Weekend) in Catmon?
Pick a theme rather than trying to see everything. A realistic single day looks like Esoy Hot Spring plus Ka-Tinggo Falls in the morning, then Hinagdanan Beach or the watchtower on the way back if you have daylight left. A heritage-and-beach day pairs the watchtower with KM47. If Mt. Kapayas is the goal, give it the whole day (or an overnight) on its own, separate from everything else — the terrain and permit process don’t leave room for add-ons.
Bring cash; most of these spots are small, family-run operations without card readers. Bring a change of clothes for the hot spring and falls, and start early if Tinubdan Falls is on your list, both to beat the heat and to give yourself the clearest read on the weather upstream.
The Honest Take
Catmon isn’t a postcard destination, and that’s exactly the appeal if you’ve already done Kawasan Falls, Oslob, and Moalboal and want to see a slice of Cebu that tour buses skip. The watchtower is genuinely just a five-minute photo stop on a school campus, not a heritage site with signage and staff, so keep expectations modest. Esoy Hot Spring and the beach at KM47 are worth the detour precisely because they’re unpolished and cheap. Mt. Kapayas is a real commitment, not a bucket-list add-on, and Tinubdan Falls deserves the respect its 2021 tragedy earned — check conditions, don’t push through a guide’s warning, and skip it entirely if there’s been recent heavy rain in the hills. Skip Catmon if you’re short on time and want guaranteed, polished sights; visit it if you’d rather see north Cebu the way locals actually experience it.
Combine your trip with the wider northern coast — see our North Cebu grand day tour for a route that strings together several towns in one day, or browse our list of under-the-radar towns in Cebu and nature spots in Cebu for more spots like this one. If hot springs and caves are more your speed than another beach day, our roundups of hot springs in Cebu and caves and spelunking in Cebu cover the rest of the province.
Sources
- Shellwanders — 10 Best Things to Do in Catmon, Cebu
- Sugbo.ph — A Day Trip to Catmon’s Ka-Tinggo and Tinubdan Falls
- Sunstar Cebu — Explore Mount Kapayas in Catmon
- Sunstar Cebu — Catmon waterfall closed after tragedy
- ParishPH — San Guillermo de Aquitania Parish, Catmon, Cebu
- Queen City Cebu — Budbud Kabog Festival of Catmon
- Entrance fees, permit costs, and travel times cross-checked against multiple recent visitor blogs and local tourism write-ups; confirm current rates directly with each operator. Verified July 2026.
Planning to base yourself in Cebu City before heading north? Check where to stay in Cebu City or compare Cebu City hotels on Agoda so you can leave early for Catmon and beat the highway traffic.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Catmon and how far is it from Cebu City?
Catmon is a small municipality on Cebu's northeastern coast, about 57 kilometers from Cebu City along the Cebu-Bogo Highway. By private vehicle it's roughly 1.5 to 2 hours; by public bus from the North Bus Terminal, budget 2 to 3 hours depending on traffic and stops.
How do you get to Catmon from Cebu City?
Take a Bogo-, Daanbantayan-, or Hagnaya-bound bus from Cebu City's North Bus Terminal (fare runs roughly ₱100–150, about US$1.70–2.60) and ask the conductor to drop you at Catmon town or the barangay you need, like Duyan for Esoy Hot Spring. Driving yourself via the Cebu-Bogo Highway is faster and gives you more flexibility to hit multiple barangays in one day.
What is Bantayan sa Hari?
It's a 19th-century Spanish-era watchtower built around 1835–1842, reportedly under Padre Miguel de Jesus, to watch for Moro raiders along the coast. Only one wall survives today, about 7 meters high, made of coral-rubble argamasa masonry. It now stands inside the grounds of Catmon-Daan Elementary School, so visits are best on school days during school hours — confirm access locally before you go.
How much does Esoy Hot Spring cost and do you need to book ahead?
Entrance has run about ₱350 per adult and ₱175 per child under 10 (roughly US$6 and US$3), which typically covers a guide, cottage use, and access to the nearby falls and a small cave. The resort enforces a strict no-booking-no-entry policy, so call or message ahead 1–2 days before you go. Confirm current rates directly with the resort.
Is Tinubdan Falls safe to visit?
Normally yes, and it's a striking multi-tiered falls with a natural pool. But in September 2021 a sudden flash flood from upstream rain killed two visitors and left one missing, and the falls was temporarily closed afterward. Always check the weather before you go, avoid the falls during or after heavy rain upstream, and follow any local guide's instructions without hesitation.
How hard is the Mt. Kapayas hike?
Mt. Kapayas (also called Lantawan or Torre), at 783 meters above sea level, is considered a challenging climb with steep, mossy, and rocky terrain and a short rock-climbing scramble near the summit. Hiring a local guide is required, a municipal permit runs around ₱250 per group of up to 10, and you'll register at the local police station before setting out.
What is Catmon's actual town fiesta?
Catmon's real fiesta is the Budbod Kabog Festival, held every February 10 in honor of the town's patron, San Guillermo de Aquitania. It celebrates budbod kabog, a local delicacy made from native millet, with a dance depicting the crop's planting-to-cooking process, street dancing, and a food fair. The Sikoy-Sikoy Festival, sometimes confused with Catmon's, actually belongs to neighboring San Fernando.
Can you do Catmon as a day trip from Cebu City?
Yes, if you focus on two or three stops. A realistic day covers Esoy Hot Spring plus Ka-Tinggo Falls, or Hinagdanan Beach plus the watchtower, with an early start. Trying to add Tinubdan Falls and Mt. Kapayas on the same day is unrealistic — Kapayas alone needs most of a day, so save it for an overnight or a dedicated trip.
