Cauayan (Isabela) - Cauayan (Isabela)

Cauayan is a city of over 130,000 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

The city has a population of around 130,000 in 2015.

Originally 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

• 16.93121.7530561 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 Highway, Governor Dy Boulevard, and Quezon Street, 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 (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 Road (Route 51) and the connecting Cabatuan Road (Route 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

• Hacienda San Luis. (updated Sep 2020)
• Our Lady of the Pillar Parish Church. 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)

Do

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

Buy

• Primark Town Center (Cauayan City Public Market), 45 Maharlika Hwy, San Fermin. Two-story shopping mall opened in 2016. Also houses the city's public market (updated Sep 2020)
• 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

Drink

Sleep

• 16.9242121.75771 The Hotel Sophia. From ₱3200. (updated Sep 2020)
• 16.934934121.7681142 Mango Suites, Quezon Street. From ₱1300. (updated Sep 2020)

Connect

Go next

Routes through Cauayan

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