Cavite

Cavite (Tagalog: Kabite) is a province in the Calabarzon region of the island of Luzon in the Philippines.

It is the most densely populated province in the Philippines, with a population of about 3.7 million people (2015). Being near to Metro Manila, its northern areas has become characterized by sprawling residential communities, which are continuing to grow until this day. Industrial developments are also leading its growing economy, with factories moving to industrial parks scattered in the province. The province is also rich with history as one of the provinces which led the Philippine Revolution against the Spaniards. Cavite is the location where the independence of the Philippines was born, so the province was named the historical capital.

Regions
Cavite is divided into 8 cities and 16 municipalities, but for convenience, we divide the province into three possible regions:


 * Northwestern Cavite (Cavite City, Kawit, Noveleta, Rosario) - Coastal communities with a colorful history.
 * Northern Cavite (Bacoor, Carmona, Dasmariñas, General Mariano Alvarez, General Trias, Imus, Tanza and Trece Martires) - A bustling suburban area, with its many problems like traffic jams and uncontrolled development.
 * Southern Cavite (Alfonso, Amadeo, General Emilio Aguinaldo, Indang, Magallanes, Maragondon, Mendez, Naic, Silang, Tagaytay and Ternate) - The touristic part of Cavite, with many natural attractions, inland resorts and small towns.

Cities

 * - site of one of many major battles during the Philippine Revolution, it is now a sprawling suburb of Metro Manila.
 * - first city and first capital of Cavite.
 * The university city of Cavite, another sprawling suburb of Metro Manila.
 * The birth place of the Philippine Revolution, replacing the Katipunan; popularly known as the Tejeros Convention, Tejeros Assembly or Tejeros Convention.
 * - another sprawling suburb, where the Battle of Alapan, another major battle in the Philippine Revolution, took place.
 * - municipality in the interior of Cavite, home to various inland resorts and heritage churches.
 * - birthplace of Emilio Aguinaldo
 * - the second "Summer Capital" of the Philippines, with its cool highland climate and views of Taal Lake and Volcano.
 * - capital of Cavite
 * Tanza City - most progressive

Other destinations

 * - Mountain range, one of the last patches of lowland rainforest in Luzon.
 * - Mountain range, one of the last patches of lowland rainforest in Luzon.

Mount Palay-Palay-Mataas na Gulod Protected Landscape occupies over 4000 ha of western Cavite, and also straddles the boundary with Batangas; we do not have an article for it, but is covered at Ternate (Cavite).

Understand
Cavite is known for its rich history and a large number of national heroes, including the first president Emilio Aguinaldo (though some historians dispute this claim). The province is one of the eight provinces that led the Philippine Revolution, and is a site of many important events during the rebellion. It is sometimes called "Land of the Brave" or the History Capital of the Philippines. Those who live in Cavite are called Caviteños.

Cavite is bordered by Metro Manila in the north, Laguna in the east, Batangas in the south and by South China Sea (or West Philippine Sea, at the wake of the Spratly Islands dispute) on the west. Being just south of Metro Manila, Cavite is seeing a rise in suburban development since the 1970s and 1980s, especially residential subdivisions and industrial parks. Bacoor, Imus and Dasmariñas is the three principal cities not far from the boundary with Metro Manila, have became bustling extensions of the vast metropolis in the north, and are bedroom communities for daily commuters who leave to work or study in Metro Manila.

Talk
Tagalog is the native languages of most Caviteños, but in parts of Cavite (particularly Cavite City and Ternate), the Spanish-based creole Chavacano is spoken, though speakers of those will readily switch to Tagalog when dealing with outsiders.

Get in
Common means of transportation from Manila to Cavite by bus and jeepney. It takes an hour or less.

By car
One main entry point to Cavite is the Manila-Cavite Expressway. They also name this road as Coastal Road (name of the road from north end of the road to Bacoor exit) since it is near the coastline of Manila Bay. The Manila-Cavite Expressway has two exit points: the Longos Flyover in barangay Talaba in Bacoor and Cavite Exit located at Binakayan Diversion Road and Tirona Highway in barangay Binakayan, Kawit.

Another entry point to Cavite is the South Luzon Expressway. Common exit points are Carmona, which takes you to Governor's Drive, the main east–west corridor, and Santa Rosa, which leads you to Santa Rosa-Tagaytay Road, which becomes snagged during weekends and holidays with many travelers heading to Tagaytay.

From Batangas, entry points by road are the gently sloping Tagaytay-Nasugbu Road, and the winding Diokno Highway from Lemery and Ligaya Drive from Talisay, the main gateway to Taal Volcano.

By boat
MRS Super Shuttle operates ferries to Cavite City from SM Mall of Asia. Since December 2019, there is also a "water jeepney" service between the pier near the CCP Complex in Pasay and the pier in Cavite City.

By train
Construction of the LRT Line 1 (LRT-1) extension to Cavite province is ongoing; it to expected to be operational by early 2023. The extension project, will give rise to eight new stations in Parañaque, Las Piñas and Bacoor. The line will initially not reach Bacoor itself, but two stations at Bacoor proper are planned.

Get around
Much of Cavite, especially the northern urbanized conurbation, is undergoing explosive growth marked by subdivisions, malls, and industrial parks. Most areas of the province are accessible by local public transport, but most new residents in the suburbanized cities prefer buying a car. The major cities in Cavite are plagued by daily traffic jams. Public transport cover well the cities but they are also affected by the congestion.

By bus or jeepney
Most locals commute using the ubiquitous jeepneys. You may hail a jeepney from anywhere, though some cities have jeepney only allowed to stop at designated areas per local ordinances. Most jeepney routes run within the province, but there are several routes running toward Metro Manila (Alabang and Baclaran) or Laguna (Santa Rosa or Calamba).

Buses are a more comfortable and spacious alternative for jeepneys, but they only travel on the most prominent destinations. Most bus routes in Cavite run between Manila (Parañaque Intermodal Transport Exchange/PITX, Pasay) and Batangas (Nasugbu, Balayan, Calatagan).

The common bus operators in Cavite are as follows, with their routes:
 * Cavite-Batangas Transport Cooperative
 * DLTB (PITX-Nasugbu via Tagaytay or Ternate)
 * Erjohn and Almark
 * Jasper Jean (Fairview-Palapala via EDSA, Navotas-Palapala via EDSA)
 * Kirsteen Transport
 * San Agustin
 * Saulog (PITX-Cavite City/Ternate)

By minibus
Travel to coastal Cavite may not be complete without taking the colorful custom-made minibuses (or "baby buses"), which travel between Bacoor and Naic (with some operating from Baclaran and vice versa via CAVITEX). Cavite minibuses can be basically seen as bus-like versions of the jeepney; fares are cheap and the buses have a separate entrance and exit door, but are cramped and uncomfortable to foreigners. Minibuses were planned to be phased out in the early 2010s (and replaced by the usual jeepneys), but the plan was scrapped after it met opposition from lifetime drivers.

By car
Cavite has an immense network of roads, with the Aguinaldo Highway (Route 62, 419, and 410), Antero Soriano Highway (Route 64 and 402) and Governor's Drive (Route 65, 651, 403 and 405) serving as the backbone of the system. Aguinaldo Highway is the most prominent, being a north–south national road serving the largest cities. Governor's Drive is another important highway, from Carmona to Ternate. Antero Soriano Highway is another highway that continues from Manila-Cavite Expressway (CAVITEx) and serves the coastal communities of Kawit, Noveleta, Rosario, Tanza, and Naic.

Cavite has a negative reputation for traffic jams due to uncontrolled suburbanization that created car-dependent sprawl, and it can take 1-2 hours to travel from one side of the province into another. The major highways, notably Aguinaldo Highway between Bacoor and Dasmariñas, are always congested, even in weekends and holidays, and drivers can be aggressive. The city of Bacoor, from 2016, has implemented a number-coding system in order to reduce congestion, and created a "Friendship Route" modeled after Las Piñas', which is permissive unlike the latter (where a sticker is required). Public transportation is the better choice, but are affected by the congestion.

The province enforces a road space rationing ("number coding") scheme under Provincial Ordinance No. 164 s. 2018 since December 2018 to reduce traffic volumes on its major highways, including Aguinaldo Highway, Governor's Drive, Molino Boulevard, and Molino-Paliparan Road. The ordinance is implemented M-F 7-10AM and 3-7PM, except national holidays. If you get caught, you driver's license will be confiscated, and receive a ticket and a fine of.

Cavite's only expressways are the Manila-Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX) in Bacoor and Kawit, and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) through Carmona, but the national government is undertaking the construction of new expressways to decongest its major highways. One ongoing project, the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX), which will connect CAVITEX in Kawit with SLEX in Biñan, Laguna, has been under construction since 2018; as of 2021, the expressway is open between Biñan and Silang, and the remainder under construction. Another expressway, the Cavite-Tagaytay-Nasugbu Expressway, is proposed to serve Tagaytay, Mendez and Alfonso.

By tricycle
Motorized tricycles, or simply tricycles are motorbikes with attached sidecar. Tricycles are a common means of public transportation in the Philippines. These public utility vehicles either have a set route or are for-hire, like taxis. The tricycle is the most popular means of transport for short distances of less than a kilometer in small towns and cities, especially in the rural areas.

See
While urban sprawl has took hold in most of Cavite and the primary reason to be in the province is Tagaytay and Taal Volcano (which is in Batangas though), there are many places in the provinces still waiting to be discovered.





Do
It's a must for every Cavite visitor to visit Tagaytay City. While on your way to the city, you might want to try the boiled sweet corn along Silang by-pass road. You won't miss the sweet corn being cooked on the large cookie bins which serves as hot pots.

Upon arrival to Tagaytay, enjoy the view of the lake and the volcano.

Would you want to do horseback riding? DRive along the Tagaytay Road and see Picnic Grove and enjoy the picnic park. Avoid visiting during holidays because the park might be really crowded.

Eat

 * Original Digman Halo-Halo - Digman, along the Streets of H. Rubio and C. Gawaran, is a small barangay in the city of Bacoor. It's known for its famous halo-halo which Caviteños have enjoyed through the years.
 * Pancit luga is a very saucy, breakfast version of the Pancit Palabok and Pancit Malabon. The primarily difference is in the noodles used in the recipe.  Luglog uses a thicker noodle than the traditional bihon of a pancit palabok. The noodle dish is served with an array of seafood garnish, spring onions, hard boiled eggs in thick rice noodles and eaten with local-made Bibingka rice cake.  Luglug eateries are located in Rosario and the local favorite is at Rizal and Gov Pugeda Street.

Drink
Cavite and neighbouring Batangas Province both have a local coffee variant called Kapeng barako.

Buy
There are many malls and chain supermarkets in most of suburbanized Cavite, but national mall chains have begun to spring out in the touristic center of Tagaytay. Almost all cities and municipalities will have traditional wet and dry market at the downtown. The municipality of Silang has a designer outlet mall, the European-themed Acienda, whose main catch is an all-year 70% discount for all stores.

Sleep
Most cities will have at least one or more hotels (especially motels), but the majority are in Tagaytay, the main tourist area. At the coast, there will be beach resorts, often the only option of staying there, but there will hardly be one on the bustling northwest region, where the towns grew into the coastline.

Stay safe
Weather, crime, and aggressive drivers are major safety concerns when travelling in the province. The weather can become unpredictable in the province during the monsoon season, and roads can become slippery or muddy during short rainstorms. If you drive, it is advisable to hire a driver, as driving habits tend to become aggressive. The area does show signs of poverty, and common crimes like pickpockets and hold-ups do occur, so be watchful of your valuables. Do not just flash a classy phone or camera anywhere, so you do not attract thieves. Keep them in your bag or hotel safe if possible.

In Tagaytay, beware of tourist scams, especially involving trips to Taal Volcano in nearby Batangas. Always agree on a price when taking tricycles, and avoid drivers posing that they know you: you might get overcharged if you give in.

Go next

 * Batangas - Just south, and home to beaches not far from Manila, as well as heritage churches.