Taal Volcano Hike
A Guide to getting to the Tail Volcano Hike
Difficulty - 3/10
Distance - 5.5 kms
Elevation - 180m / 590ft
Time - Approx. 3-5hrs (includes boat ride)
Cost - 1500 - 2000php (25-35$ USD)
Directions
To get to this hike you will need to get to hire a boat to get to the island. To get to the boat rentals you have to get to Precious Boat Station located at Talisay, 4220 Batangas, Philippines. It is impossible to miss and only a 15min drive from Talisay.
From here there are lots of options of people offering round trip rides to the island. The average listed price is 2500 - 3000 php. But if you walk around and explore your options you can find boat rides between 1000-1500 php (20 - 25$ USD). I was fortunate enough to find a round trip for 1000 php.
Once you get to the island there are guides waiting by the beach. The guide costs are 500 php and they will bring you the rest of the way. If you have challenges hiking for an additional 500php you can go horseback riding up to the volcano.
Background
Taal Volcano is the Philippines 2nd most active volcano. It is located only 50 kms off Manila and apart of the "Pacific Ring of Fire".
The taal volcano is 311meters tall and is located on an island in taal lake. in the crater there is another lake with a small island making it an island with a lake and an island within it. It is inception like.
The taal volcano has erupted 38 times historically with the last time being in march 2022. It erupted in 2020 2 weeks after my trip to the volcano.
What to Expect
The hike is very straight forward and easy. It is non technical and will take approximately 40 mins to reach the view point.
The hike brings you along trails that are well travelled by horses and remains relatively mellow the whole way.
As you are nearing the summit of the trail it starts to smell like sulphur.
Be prepared by packing some snack and water if not there are some available at the start of the hike at marked up prices.
