Sohoton National Park is located on the southern tip of Samar Island, the fourth largest island in the Philippine archipelago. The park covers an area of about 840 hectares. You can get here from the town of Tacloban on the island of Leyte - the journey along the longest bridge in the country, San Juanico, will take only about half an hour. Then you can rent a boat in the town of Basie and reach the park boundaries in an hour.
Sohoton National Park is a paradise for lovers of unspoilt nature and breathtaking landscapes: hidden amongst the lush rainforest are many limestone caves, many of which are as large as cathedrals! Inside the caves, tourists are treated to a stunning sight - dozens of rock formations of the most incredible shapes and sizes. One of the most well-known and well-studied is Sohoton Cave, whose entrance is shaped like an arch, up to 50 metres high. Immediately after the entrance begins a gentle hall about 20 metres wide and 50 metres long. Spike-shaped stalactites hang from the ceiling. and from the floor, stalagmites rush towards them. At the furthest end of the cave there's an opening and a rock formation in the shape of a balcony, from which there's a view a view of the pond below.
Other noteworthy caves in the park are Panhulugan I and Panhulugan II. The former has an interesting H-shape with inner halls up to 15 metres high and many tunnels. The second cave, dotted with snow-white stalactites, is 50 metres long and 5 metres high. Not far from the caves is the cliff Panhulugan, where the locals used to set up ambushes during the Philippine-American War.
An attraction of the park is the so-called "natural bridge" - a huge limestone arch connecting two mountain peaks on different banks of the Sohoton River. The bridge reaches 7 metres in height, 8 metres in width and about 40 metres in length. It's covered with forest on top, and from its lower part hang giant stalactites. The Sohoton River itself runs swiftly onwards, breaking off in grandiose waterfalls.
