Cauayan (Isabela)

Cauayan is a city of over 143,000 (2020) in Isabela. It is the center of the tobacco industry in Cagayan Valley, and being in the approximate center of the province, it is also an important economic center, mostly concentrated on agriculture and industry.

Understand

Founded on the ancestral lands of the Gaddang people, Cauayan started in what is now the barangay of Calanusian, along the Cagayan River, around 1740. Flooding along the Cagayan forced the moving of the town into its present location further inland. In 2006, it became a city under law. Most of the city's inhabitants are Ilocanos, but there are still some of the indigenous Gaddang living here.

Cauayan is a relatively young city, and is largely a stopover and a commercial center. It does have hotels, an airport, and malls, but little in the way of sights.

Get in

By plane

• 1 Cauayan Airport (CYZ  ^IATA). Cebgo offers daily flights from Manila four times per week. Takes about 1½ hours, and tickets start from ₱5500. (updated Jan 2019)

By bus

• Cauayan City Central Bus Terminal. (updated Sep 2020)

Major bus companies serving Cauayan include Dalin Bus Lines, Victory Liner, and G.V. Florida Transport. There are also smaller individually-owned companies that have buses coming from nearby towns.

Buses not terminating at Cauayan stop at the intersection of Maharlika Hwy (Rte 1/AH26), Governor Dy Blvd (Rte 53), and Quezon St, 200 m (660 ft) south of SM City Cauayan.

By jeepney

Modern jeepneys connect Cauayan with the city of Ilagan to the north, and Roxas to the northwest.

By car

Cauayan is along Asian Highway 26 (also Rte 1, locally, the Maharlika Highway or the Cagayan Valley Road/CVR). It is (375 km (233 mi) away from Manila, 48 km (30 mi) from Santiago City and 35 km (22 mi) from Ilagan.

From Tuguegarao and the north, the main route is through the Santiago-Tuguegarao Rd (Rte 51) and the connecting Cabatuan Road (Rte 53, becomes Governor Dy Boulevard upon entering Cauayan City), through Roxas and Cabatuan.

Get around

Tricycles are widely available, especially within downtown and at the commercial district.

See

• 1 Hacienda De San Luis Eco-Tourism Park, San Luis, ☏ +63 916 915 5368. Tuesday-Sunday 8AM-5PM. (updated Sep 2020)
• 2 Our Lady of the Pillar Parish Church, Mabini Street. A Baroque Roman Catholic church, established in 1740. The original church included a belfry, but it was destroyed during a devastating earthquake and only the church building has been rebuilt. (updated Sep 2020)
• 3 Meraki Garden, Pan-Philippine Highway. 6:30AM–10PM. The park is spacious and has a lot of different things to offer. The plants looks beautiful and the park is well taken care for. ₱50. (updated Sep 2023)
• 4 Rizal Park-Cauayan City, Pan-Philippine Highway. Open 24 hours. Free. (updated Sep 2023)
• 5 Bonsai No Sato Park, Faustino. Bonsai garden. (updated Sep 2023)

Do

• Gawagaway-an Festival - Celebrates the cityhood of the city and the numerous ethnic groups inhabiting the city

Buy

• 1 Primark Town Center (Cauayan City Public Market), 45 Maharlika Hwy, San Fermin. 8AM–8PM. Two-story shopping mall opened in 2016. Also houses the city's public market. (updated Sep 2020)
• 2 SM City Cauayan, Maharlika Highway. 10AM-7PM daily. Two-story SM mall, with a supermarket, cinema, department store, the first Uniqlo outlet in Cagayan Valley, and branches of national restaurant chains. Parking available at ₱15 for the first 3 hours (₱100 beyond that). (updated Sep 2020)

Eat

• 1 Green Mustard Countryside Pizza-Cauayan City, greenmustardcauayan@gmail.com. 9AM–10PM. (updated Sep 2023)
• 2 Otep's Tinuno, Banigan Street. 10AM–9PM. The resto offers a wide array of typical Filipino food from Pinakbet to Inihaw to Beef Bulalo. (updated Sep 2023)
• 3 The Pares Corner - Cauayan City, #42 Judge Valle Street, San Fermin. 10AM-10PM. (updated Sep 2023)
• 4 Cheelogs, Airport Road, ☏ +63 992 897 7387. 9AM–9PM. Asian restaurant. (updated Sep 2023)
• 5 Taste of Cauayan, Road A, Coloma Subd. San Fermin (located in Rykas Hotel and Executive Rooms). By far the best place to get steak around Cauayan City. Their steak is excellently flavored. (updated Sep 2023)
• 6 Kabayan's Arrozcalduhan and Tapsilogan, Cabatuan Road, San Fermin. 8AM–8PM. Affordable and tasty Filipino food. Though, its self service. Worth to try. (updated Sep 2023)
• 7 The Lady Purple Restaurant, Don Laureño Lucas Street. 11AM–10PM. They serve the best ramen in Cauayan City. (updated Sep 2023)
• 8 La Casa by Mix Cuisines, Pan-Philippine Highway. 10AM–8PM. Filipino/Asian Restaurant. (updated Sep 2023)
• 9 Tres Barakos Gotohan - Cauayan Branch, Pan-Philippine Highway. Filipino comfort food. (updated Sep 2023)

Drink

• 1 Cafe 1254 - Cauayan, #68 Bala Street. 8AM–9PM. (updated Sep 2023)
• 2 Teakaboo Cauayan, #114 Pan-Philippine Hwy, San Fermin, ☏ +63 9534155707. 10AM–9PM. Milk Tea, frappe, coffee. (updated Sep 2023)
• 3 2K2-Jackals Resto Bar, Canciller Avenue. (updated Sep 2023)

Sleep

• 1 The Hotel Sophia. From ₱3200. (updated Sep 2020)
• 2 Mango Suites, Quezon Street. From ₱1300. (updated Sep 2020)
• 3 Rykas Restaurant and Executive Pads, Governor F.N. Dy Boulevard, ☏ +63 997 550 2591. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: noon. (updated Sep 2023)

Go next

Routes through Cauayan

Tuguegarao ← Ilagan ←	N  S	→ Alicia → Santiago/Manila
END ←	E  W	→ Cabatuan → Becomes