CANTABACO COAL CAVE
(with Zambalis River Cave and Nadangs Cave)
Barangay CANTABACO
Municipality TOLEDO
CEBU

Surveyed Length: 3973 meters
Surveyed to: BCRA Grades 3-5b

Main Route

Surveyed Length: 1260 meters

The gated main entrance of the Coal Cave opens onto a small terrace and coal tip. Wooden tramlines lead the way in to the cave. A delicate and loose vertical climb on the right just inside the entrance provides a risky exit from the cave for parties who have lost the key, but is not recomended. Ahead, the route is generally easy walking as would be expected from a miners roadway. Modification of the natural cave has been minimal; the tramway winds between calcite formations and it is occasionally necessary to stoop.

After about 250 meters, the junction to Zambalis River is passed on the left, shortly followed by a nicely decorated rift section about 2m wide and averaging 5m in height to a small chamber with The Pit leading down to tthe Vulva Passage below. Ahead, the tramway continues as comfortable walking passage with some major leveling of the floor and short oxbow passages to The Cathedral - a large chamber about 20m high and 15m across at its widest point with some nicely decorated high level loops reached via a climb up over mud and boulder slopes.

Beyond The Cathedral, the tramway follows some square, low mined passage for a few meters followed by a rift passage with some alcoves on the right stacked with mining debris. Soon the waters of Coal River are met and the passage widens. A bridge carry the tramway over a rift containing the river. For about 50 meters the tramway follows a wide, high passage with an interesting cross-section; above is a high rift while below is a deep rift of Coal River over which the tramway repeatedly crosses in a display og engineering ingenuity. The miners take their meal breaks here and there are chairs, a table and even a rubish can.

Soon the high passage come to an end with the rift continuing blind after a few meters and it is necessary to descend into Coal River. The tramway ends here too and a wooden ramp leads down to the water. Downstream provides an alternative access to Vulva Passage while upstream the route continues as a narrow, meandering rift significantly modified by mining with some underfoot timbering to aid the dragging of miners buckets. The first coal seam is passed on the left shortly followed by a small spring on the right. After 180 meters from the end of the tramway, the hauling ramp ends and a short climb up leads to a chamber, carrying the stream and some sluices for washing the coal.

Following the wooden sluices upstream leads to sombre stream passage and a white sparkling dome chamber to a low and wet area with a 1.5 meter climb up a cascade on the far side. The next 50 meters are most easily followed by walking and stooping along the wooden sluices which carries the bulk of the stream. A climb up on the left leads to Miners Chamber with a few levels leading off dirtied by miners activity. Continuing upstream, the passage soon resumes its characteristics rift nature with some stoops and alcoves. A number of levels lead off and there are some gruesome looking inlets carrying sluggish blood-red trickles of ochre-stained water.

Finally, about 1100 meter from the main entrance, the miners' cave is passed and the passage continues above a 3m cascade as a clean washed and nicely decorated crawl for some 80m to a very low aquatic section. This area has been closely examined, without diving gear, but no possible dryway on was located. Aor space and trickling water can be seen ahead but diving gear would be required. Significant cave passage is unlikely to exist beyond.

Zambalis River Cave

Surveyed Length: 932 meters

From the junction of the Main Route 250 meters from the main entrance, an easy walking and a stooping passage on the left is followed for 200m to a stretch of shoe-stealing mud beyong which the Zambalis River is soon encountered. First glimpse of the river are heart-warming crystal clear water tumbling over cascades coated with white calcite in a friendly passage of pink rock. Downstream the going is low, wet and narrow ending in a very tight section. Upstream leads to some 500 meters of the most attractive, sporting and pleasant caving imaginable. A series of cascades, boulders, chambers, lakes, pools, river passage and climbs eventually leads to The Waterfall. The draught and a soaking can make a scantily clad caver rather cold here.

The Waterfall is only some 4m high and a caver with climbing ability should be able to free-climb it with little difficulty, but not in high water conditions, letting down a handline for companions. There is an old timber ladder on this climb at present , considered totally inadequate and dangerous. This ladder must be removed by local cavers (ladder has been removed-Aug 16, 1998). the evacuation of an injured caver from this location would be a very awkward and time consuming exercise.

The caving becomes more demanding and aquatic immediately after The Waterfall. A short deep-water, ceiling section of cave leads to a large, deep, circular lake some 6m in diameter, the best route for non swimmer being around the upstream right hand edge where there are numerous handholds. The river cascades down a narrow slot on the far (upstream) side of the lake and the way on is up through a dry squeeze at a higher level. Some 50m of pleasant stream passage continue on to a 2m ascent up over a boulder-strewn clim, nicely decorated with a calcite covering. Immediately above this climb is an ascent through boulders to emerge in the magnificent Mona Lisa, a quite breathtaking chamber some 20m high, 30m long and 20m wide full of quite magnificent pillars, stalagmites, stalactites, dog-tooth crystals, gour pools, flowstone and other calcite formations, a taped route has been placed into the chamber from the climb.

In the interest of conservation, this route must be respected and adhered to. By straying from the taped route, irrepairable damage will occur, to the gour floor in particular. All the needs to be seen can be viewed from the taped area and there is no need for anyone to progress beyond the marked area. Visiting cavers are urged to take extreme care, maintain the taping and clean dirtied formations.

At the base of the climb up into Mona Lisa, the stream is followed upstream for 200m through large river passage, heavily bouldered, to an obvious narrowing. Mud deposits soon become apparent and the stream is confined between two large mud banks. Just before the narrowing in a mud-floor area, an exquisite mud formation exist on the floor resembling a chalice. This 15cm high mud formation has been protected by tape. Some 50m up the narrowing streamway, a tight inlet on the right is passed, explored for a short distance to conclusion. Ahead, the main passage soon degenerates after 100, into a series of boulder breakdowns eventually becoming too tight. Beware, some of the boulders are very unstable.

Vulva Passage

Surveyed Length: 786 meters

Vulva Pit in the main Coal Cave is 11m deep. It was rigged for rope during the expedition but a ladder would suffice or for the experienced caver a hand-line would be possible. The pit droppes dirrectly into Vulva Passage. To the right (facing the rope), leads to the mid section of the Coal River Loop. The main route is to the left at the bottom of the rope, and starts off as easy meandering rift passage averaging 4m high and 2m wide with some short loops and inlets. After 350m, a stream can be heared thru a small fissure in the floor - watch out for twisted ankles here - followed by Fourways Junction. The first exit from the junction is the downstream entrance to Coal River Loop, the second is a major loop by-passing Stal Store Chamber which is reached via the third exit.

Formed along a fault at right angles to the main passage, Stal Store Chamber is a peacefull room some 20m wide by 18m high with some unexplored upper extensions. Some neatly sawn formations were found stacked here. At the far end of the chamber, the main passage continues high and wide with another uninvestigated lead at the very centre of the domed roof about 20m above the floor. A passage on the left here is the entrance to Stal Store By-pass and a second, less obvious route leads up to NADANGS CAVE.

The main Vulva Passage route meanders along generally large passage with well decorated walls and roof and a floor alternating between boulders, mud and clean-washed rocks. After 90m a high aven with some fine white flowstone remains unclimed on the right and the way on is down through some calcited boulders on the left - Vincent's Meeting Place. Beyond this constriction, the cave resumes its comfortable walking size to the crossroads with miner's inclines heading off for a short distance to the left and right.

Stooping momentarilly, Vulva Passage continues over a pebble floor with some particularly fine speleothems including botryoidal stal ip to 2cm in diameter, until a descent over boulders leads to a T-junction. Left here leads to an inaccessible daylight entrance high overhead. The main route zig-zags down to a boulder chamber on the right; a low, sharp fossil series above the second bend has been pushed inconclusively for 50m.

From the boulder chamber, it is only a short way to the First Pit (5m), which drops to the top of a mud bank in a slippery 15m high chamber bisected by the main Vulva Passage. The mud here is red rather than the more familiar brown colour common in the rest of the system.

Beyond the pit, the cave assume a bleaker character. Amigo's Rift (too tight and containing a trickle of water) is passed on the left followed by a steeply ascending section with a dog-leg thrown in to the left as a result of fault action. The passage continues high and wide to the Second Pit (6m) which drops into a chamber reminiscent of that at the base of the First Pit.

Again the passage ascends from the foot of the pit and Vincent's Water Pit is passed on the right. (The survey notes of this section has been lost. Exploration should not be repeated here as disturbed mud resurges at the village washing and drinking place at the base of the large limestone cliff). Squeezing through The Legs - brown columns resembling to elephant's leg - there are signs of deliberate vandalisms suggesting the proximity of an entrance and indeed it is only 100m to the major Vulva Entrance. This entrance hardly provides easy access to the system as it is 25m up a sheer cliff but it provides a possibility of a pleasant round trip and an exhilarating abseil with a fine panoramic view over Cantabaco.

There is some spectacular vertical fluting in the porchway of Vulva Entrance and there are a faurther three alternative entrances nearby. The first of this is reached via a short crawl on the left just before Vulva Entrance. There is a second small entrance just beyond the Vulva, followed by an upper entrance, again characterised by a strong fluting in the porchway.

In the Vicinity of the Vulva Entrance, there are some short loops and blind routes one of which ends in a mud choke after an 11m pit, Amigo's Death-defying Acrobatics. At the head of this pit is a small alcove on the right above which there is a soaring aven climbed for 10m and still continuing, possibly to yet another entrance.

When the BEC first entered the Vulva in 1989 (with the assitance of bamboo ladder fixed to the cliff face) there was a further 5m bamboo ladder giving access to a short upper series near the Vulva. It is consider that explorations of this upper level are complete but local informants insists that a further entrance exists here. The connection between Vulva Entrance and the Coal Cave was not made in 1989.

Coal River Loop

Surveyed Length: 664 meters

From Fourways Junction, a sporting routes leads back to The Ramp (in the main Coal Cave) via Coal River. Coming from Vulva Pit the first exit at Fourways Junction leads via some uncomfortable thrutching to the streamway after about 60m. just before the stream, the passage is characterised by a shale floor, white limestone on the left wall and the more massive red limestone on the right.

The low route down stream at the stream junction has not been explored; upstream is easy walking for 130m to a domed chamber entered via a keyhole passage with a white limestone trench beneath the phreatic tube in red limestone. The stream rises in a tight fissure here but a roomy sand-floor passage with a well decorated roof provides the way on. It is probable that this route carries the river in wet weather but athe single scrap of domestic garbage jammed in the stalactites 2m above the floor is insufficient evidence of total flooding. A passage on the right leads to a wide expanse of water and has not been explored. Meanwhile, the main route continues low for a furthere 100m to the Coal River. There is a climb up a rift just before the stream to a small passage that leads left to the foot of Vulva Pit and right via some flat-out squeezing on down to Coal River.

Some fun caving follows which will probably be impossiblble in wet weather. For 150m the aquatic route is frequently low and narrow and necessitates a thorough wetting. A climb up some short cascades gives access to high walking passage and the Twin Falls from where it is but a few meters of easy going to the foot of The Ramp and the Main Coal Passage.

Nadangs Cave

Surveyed Length: 92 meters

From the junction just beyond Stal Store Chamber a low arch leads to a steeply ascending rift on the left including a delicate climb up through boulders and mud to a large chamber with some knobbly stalactites on the left wall. Continuing the ascent, an insignificant-looking crawl on the right provides awkward access to a narrow rift 11m high. An exposed 6m climb (hand line essential for novices) leads to a small ledge and traverse to the left to a daylight entrance. To the left outside the entrance, an ill-defined track leads to the summit of the hill overlooking Cantabaco. To the right inside the entrance, a wide low chamber terminates in short pit with a mud floor.

Conclusion

Cantabaco Coal Cave offers a variety of moderately easy routes, some almost totally dry, the finest chamber we have found, and at least two distinct watercourses. A study of the drainage here would be fascinating and most informative but it must be remembered that these streams feed Cantabaco's water supply. We idscover this when our final explorations resulted in the village washing pool turning muddy. This is the place where all residents of Cantabaco take their baths and do their laundry. It is generally a hive of activity from dawn to dusk but that afternoon there was only one glum woman with a bundle of unwashed laundry. Our muddy caving suits did not feel so glamorous then. Interestingly, a trickling spring only a few meters away was unaffected. It is here that, despite the waiting in line involved, the local people always collect their drinking water.