Despite its proximity to Tagaytay City the town of Amadeo in Cavite has pretty much remained under the tourism radar. A small town of less than 40,000 people, Amadeo is nonetheless known as the “Coffee Capital of the Philippines,” acting as a major supplier of coffee beans to Metro Manila’s numerous cafes. Looking for a waterfall in the Cavite-Batangas area to practice our photography four years ago, we were delighted to know about Balite Falls in Amadeo, only a 15-minute or so drive from Tagaytay.

GETTING THERE

The shorter route going to Amadeo from Metro Manila would be to take the South Luzon Expressway, then take the Southwoods exit and head for Amadeo through Indang. Since we didn’t like the traffic on this route and wanted to drive through a more scenic route, we took the Santa Rosa/Greenfield City exit on the way to Tagaytay, passing through Santa Rosa and Silang on the way. At Tagaytay we continued on past the junction, turned right at Mahogany Avenue, then right again at Crisanto M. De Los Reyes Ave. we drove straight along the latter for about 14 kilometers or so (avoiding going through Amadeo town proper) and turned left on Balite Road from the main highway – this road goes straight to the resort and falls.

If you are commuting you may take the bus headed for Trece Martires-Indang. Ask the driver to drop you off at Manggahan. There are jeepneys near the 7-Eleven store there that will take you to Balite, Amadeo in barangay Banay-Banay. Just ask the driver to drop you off at the entrance to Balite Falls.

REFERENCE:

Amadeo’s Balite Falls