BANAUE: Best time to visit the Banaue Rice Terraces

February 25, 2011


BANAUE: Best time to Visit the Banaue Rice Terraces

Lonely Planet Philippines (shown here) concludes that the best viewing time is one to two months before harvest because it is at its greenest.

Lonely Planet Philippines

UPDATE AS OF APRIL 2014!!!

We visited the Banaue Rice Terraces both in Banaue Viewpoint and Batad in April 2014. We were informed by the locals that due to climate change, they moved planting season from February/March to April to avoid the typhoons. I am therefore updating my old post shown below:

I am also sharing with you other information I got from the locals about current practices: 
  • The rice terraces in Banaue, both in Barangay Viewpoint and Barangay Batad, plant the Tinawon variety of rice. Tinawon means once a year. 
  • Tinawon takes 6 months to grow. They only plant tinawon once a year.
  • They tried planting other varieties but it didn't flourish so they returned to Tinawon.
  • The Tinawon is not commercially available because they only produce enough for their personal consumption.
  • If you wish to taste Tinawon, they will sell you their personal stock still in stalks and will pound the grains and cook it for you.
  • Since they changed planting season to April, harvest time will be in October. Based on Lonely Planet's recommendation, the best time to see it all green will be in August. But August weather in the Philippines is unpredictable so it's important to take it into consideration.


When is the best time to view the Ifugao rice terraces?
With the new planting season, I am color coding  the months in the same way as the old post to indicate what you most probably will see when you arrive at the Ifugao Rice Terraces on your chosen month. You get to decide when, in your opinion, is the best viewing time for this famous site.

January to March is not the best time to view the rice terraces, not unless you want to see it in its barren look. Some people appreciate the rice terraces and enjoy them as well during this time. 
April to May is planting season. It's slightly green but not lush. However, this is summer time in the Philippines so it's a nice time to visit because the weather is fairly predictable and there is less chance of rain. 
June to July is a good time to see green rice terraces.
August to September is the best time to see the rice terraces at its greenest. 
October to November is the best time to see the rice terraces in its golden color.
December is not the best time to view the rice terraces, not unless you want to see it in its barren look. Some people appreciate the rice terraces and enjoy them as well during this time because of the cold weather. 
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BELOW IS MY OLD POST FOR REFERENCE:
  • Banaue plants rice only once a year. Harvest time is in August. So best viewing time is June and July.
  • Batad (a few kilometers from Banaue) plants rice twice a year. Harvest time is June and December. So the best viewing time is April to May and October to November.
When is the best time to view the Ifugao rice terraces?
I have color-coded the months to indicate what you most probably will see when you arrive at the Ifugao Rice Terraces on your chosen month. You get to decide when, in your opinion, is the best viewing time for this famous site.


January to March is not the best time to view the rice terraces, not unless you want to see it in its barren look. Some people appreciate the rice terraces and enjoy them as well during this time. 
April to May is the best time to see the Batad rice terraces at its greenest.  
June to July is the best time to see the Banaue rice terraces at its greenest. 
June is harvest time at Batad so you can see it in its golden color. 
August is harvest time in Banaue. 
September is planting season in Batad. 
October to November is the best time to see the Batad rice terraces at its greenest.  
December is harvest time in Batad



To help you decide when to view the Rice Terraces of the Cordilleras, photos below (not mine) will show you what to expect at any time of the year.

January
Photo courtesy of ironwulf.net

February
Banaue Rice Terraces by Sahlee C. Camposano
Photo courtesy of Sahlee Camposano


March 
The Banaue Rice Terraces
Photo courtesy of Jen Salegumba

April
Banaue Rice Terraces Viewpoint by Marcos Chymera
Photo courtesy of Marcos Chymera


May
Photo courtesy of stlrams, tripadvisor forum member

June
Banaue Rice Terraces
Photo courtesy of colatwist


July
batad, banaue, ifugao
Photo courtesy of ferdibee

August
Photo courtesy of Bobby Wong


5 comments:

Ruby Batallones said...

Hi Meanne! Your post is very useful. I posted your link in my blog. Thank you :)

http://antsybee.blogspot.com/2012/03/tappiyah-falls-musings-on-trail-and.html

the-moroccan-rose said...

Hi Meanne, thanks a lot for writing the information! I wanna go to Banaue, but only a day trip. I will arrive in the morning, and will try to reach Batad Saddle point. Can you tell me, is there any Jeepney to take me to Batad Saddle point or can I hire a motorbike?

Thanks a lot in advance!
Dea
www.deasihotang.com

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the read! I'm coming into Manilla in mid June. I'll have 4 days to visit. I want to see the Terraces and some beaches.

Any advice or recommendations for tour guides for Rice Terraces? Planned on taking a bus at night.

Thanks!

Meanne said...

Hi. Sorry for the late reply. You can contact the guide we hired: Jun Pitpitunge at +63 935 420 4041

Meanne said...

You need to contact a guide to Batad saddle first. They're the ones who will arrange the transportation to Batad saddle which is a jeepney with driver. They will inform you of guide rates and jeepney rental rates. The guide we used is Jun Pitpitunge and you can contact him at+63 935 420 4041