Tagaytay Things to Do

Overlooking Taal Lake, Tagaytay offers a myriad of activities that will please both nature loving and thrill seeking individuals.

Taal Lake

Most people who visit are usually content with seeing the crater from afar. However, we highly recommend actually going to the crater. You heard that right, the crater.

Taal volcano is an active volcano so a trek to its crater is a bragging right that not many will ever have. Furthermore, there's a bit of a mind-bending fact about its geological makeup that Wikipedia attempts to explain: "Taal has an island within a lake, that is on an island within a lake, that is on an island: Vulcan Point Island is within Main Crater Lake, which is on Volcano Island, which is within Taal Lake, which is on the main Philippine Island, Luzon". You see – isn’t it one more reason to actually get up there just to see what that means?

It's not at all complicated to get here, just get to Talisay which is about 15 minutes from Tagaytay. From there, you can either join a group or rent a boat on your own. Prices for the boats range between PHP2000 to PHP3000 and the rate normally includes the tour guide and docking fee.

If traveling solo, you can join a group tour for PHP900 with Precious Boat Station. Check their Facebook page and book in advance. The boat ride to the hiking point usually takes about 15 minutes and once you get there, pay the entrance fee of PHP100. If you plan to also hike Red Lava, you pay an additional PHP50. It took us about an hour to reach the viewpoint since we decided to go on foot. You will be offered to go up by horse if you want, but it will cost you around PHP450. The hike was fairly easy and the view from the top was phenomenal to say the least.

Sky Ranch – the Theme Park

If after the trek you're still hankering for some adrenaline rush, head over to the 5-hectare theme park – Sky Ranch (Nasugbu Hwy, Kaybagal South). The park is open between 10am to 10pm on weekdays and 8am to 10pm on weekends and holidays. There you can enjoy standard fair rides like the Ferris Wheel and Super Viking.

We were just bummed though that some of the rides were under maintenance. The view up the Ferris Wheel would have been beautiful too had the fog not caught up with us so we just enjoyed the cool breeze. All things considered, it was still an enjoyable stop. If you don't plan to try any rides, you can just pay the entrance fee of PHP80 to PHP100 and stroll around. There's a variety of restaurants and food kiosks if you get hungry.

Zoos in Tagaytay

Traveling with kids? You might wanna bring them to one of the two zoos in Tagaytay.

There's Paradizoo (Tag.Via Mendez Barrio Rd.) where you can interact with farm animals and even feed them. We had a blast feeding rabbits and cows. The zoo also features a butterfly sanctuary, pet cemetery, gardens, and organic vegetable farms. Open from 9am to 7pm; there's an admission fee of PHP150.

Then there's Residence Inn Zoo (Neogan, Tagaytay) which is smaller in scale but with definitely more animals to see and things to do. The zoo houses a surprising number of animals that include tigers and a lion. You can also go horseback riding, go biking, ride the cable car, or zip line for a fee. Admission is only PHP249 for adults and PHP199 for kids measuring between 3ft. to 4ft. tall. Kids below 3ft. are free. The zoo is open from 9am to 8pm.

Wellness Village

All the adventures are starting to get to you now? There's a wellness village to help wash away your tiredness. There's good ambiance, relaxing massages, luxurious spa treatments, scrumptious food, the works. Nurture Wellness Village (Pulong Sagingan, Barangay Maitim, West, Tagaytay ) is open from 8am to 9pm.