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Mabinay: the cave town of Negros Oriental

Welcome to the Cave Capital of the Philippines!

Mabinay is a municipality in the middle part of Negros Oriental. It is the second largest town in the province of Negros Oriental. It is halfway from to Dumaguete and Bacolod. It is the center and the borderline of Negros Oriental. You can either go to the southern part of the Negros Island going to Bayawan City or to the northern part, going to Bacolod. The next city beside Mabinay in the northwest part is Kabankalan City. Mabinay is also a boundary going to some municipalities and cities in Negros Oriental. To the north side is the municipality of Ayungon. To the south side is Bais City. To the east are the municipalities of Bindoy and Manjuyod. The East is a portion of Bais City and the province of Negros Occidental in the west side.

Wonderful view at Mabinay

Mabinay is one of the best assets in the Negros Oriental province. Every year, more and more foreign and local tourists would come to visit this town. The beautiful and majestic of view of the valleys can capture your eyes and your eagerness to take pictures. As well as the marvelous sunrise view if you pass by the cliffs and mountain top. The town also has breathtaking waterfalls and hot spring. The trees in the town are also well preserve and taken cared of by the locals. Langud Festival Mabinay celebrates Langud Festival along with the town’s charter day celebration. Langub is a visayan word for cave. The highlights of the town fiesta are the search for Miss Mabinay every year and the Langud Festival street dancing affair. Dancers with colorful costumes would perform a unique dance choreography related to the caves of Mabinay. This festival is a thanksgiving for the wonderful creation of our mighty God. Mabinay also joins the Buglasan Festival every October which is held in Dumaguete City. They showcase their festival in the contest. They also advertise their food delicacies and tourist destinations in their booth.

Mabinay Spring

Mabinay spring zipline and canopy walk

There is a story behind Mabinay Spring. A long time ago, Binay, the daughter of a chieftain named Datu Ilog and Binto, a son of another chieftain named Datu Namangyan fell in love with each other. At first, there love story was a secret because their parents were both powerful and mighty in their place and there was a big rivalry between the two of them. But secrets cannot be kept forever. One day, Datu Ilog followed his daughter caught them red handed. Datu Ilog does not like Binto for his daughter since he has a big hatred towards his father. So at that time, he killed Binto using a spear. And just after the incident, a small pool of water sprung all over the area where Binto died, and so from that day, they called the place Banintohan. As for Binay, she ran away looking crazy and doing wild things without any direction. She was angry at the same time sad. Mother Earth took pity upon the sad ending of the lovers so she swallowed Binay up. And from that spot, a big body of water came out. Now this place is called Mabinay Spring.

Mabinay rice fields