Sagbayan Peak
Sagbayan Peak is a mountain resort and recreation center located in the town of Sagbayan, about 45 miles northwest of Tagbilaran City. Offering a 360-degree perspective view of the famed Chocolate Hills plus the distant blue sea separating Bohol from the island of Cebu, the place has captured the interest of the nature loving tourists.
10 miles from Carmen’s Chocolate Hills Complex and 1-1/2 hour drive through scenic rice fields, historic towns, coconut and banana groves from Tagbilaran, the resort sits on a five-hectare property situated on a mountain top at the cool mountain town of Sagbayan, Bohol. Compared to the Carmen complex, the resort is more spacious and a whole lot less crowded, with ample parking space for vehicles.
The resort offers many facilities for its guests. The first facility that you will pass by upon entering the resort is an open-sided chapel. A short trip thru a scenic landscape will bring you to the wide parking area and entrance of the park, where one has to buy P10 tickets to enter.
Beside the ticket booth is a screen-enclosed structure with plants inside housing some tarsiers, the smallest primates in the world. One is free to enter the tarsier sanctuary but is advised to avoid taking pictures with flashes and to refrain from making too much noise for they stressed the little animals no end and may cause death.
Going up a wide flight of stairs, one reaches a plateau where you are greeted by a life-size dinosaur known as T-rex. The dinosaur is 19 feet in length and 10 feet tall and really fearsome to look at. At the foot of the stairs leading to the pavilion is Pizza Man with his funny grin.
Other cartoon characters are scattered around such as Duffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Lola, Marilyn Monroe, Donald Duck, Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, Lion King, Tiger and other dinosaurs. The cartoon figures give life to the place and are a joy to look at. The kids surely love playing and running around them.
The covered pavilion is provided with tables and chairs where guests can dine and take their snacks. Refreshments are offered at the counter situated at the side of the covered court. Café Baudillo is set in front and at the rolling end of the mountain with sliding glass doors. The café is air-conditioned and geared for fine dining and overlooks the butterfly dome and the viewing deck in the distance. Room accommodations are available for guests.
A high-powered telescope is on the pavilion’s deck. With a 10-peso coin, one can view the Cebu City skyline across the sea for a minute or two. A few steps down, from Café Baudillo, is the butterfly dome which houses about 18 species of these beautiful winged creatures. Flowering plants augment the inside of the dome with a very big man-made butterfly gracing the center.
A playground is in the middle of a grassy field with a flea market at the side offering native products and delicacies. Picnics are often held here by groups or families with children. Wishing fountains are scattered throughout the property and a grotto is also present.
Down a flight of stairs and slowly going up a small hill, you will arrive at a massive viewing deck that gives a 360 degree view of the surrounding landscape including the Chocolate Hills, the sea, and the Island of Cebu. The view here is spectacular and awesome making some mutter a few words of thanks to our heavenly creator for such grandeur.
Leaving the park, one will notice some construction going on at the parking area, way across the ticket booth. It is partly finished and shows a wide swimming pool with covered kiosks. This is obviously the Water Park. The park now accepts visitors and entrance is P80 per head with free use of the pool and the kiosks.
Sagbayan Peak is managed by Mrs. Myrna Torrefranca, wife of the Mayor of Sagbayan. The Torrefranca Family worked hard to erase the bad image of the town, it being an ambush area, into a tourist destination.
How to Get There?
“For hire†vans are available from Tagbilaran City, at the Dao Terminal; and from the town of Tubigon, fronting the municipal building. Following the Tagbilaran-Tubigon-Clarin route, partially on the way to the town of Nahawan, one will see a junction road with a sign indicating the way to Sagbayan. Sagbayan is way up thru a winding road to a point which is more than 900 feet above sea level. One passes by lush vegetations, developed and tilled lands, and common houses of the townsfolk. One also sees the shorelines of Tubigon and the vast expanse of water with the silhouette of the island of Cebu across it.
Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=13571.0
