How to Get to Manaoag

How to Get There

Manaoag is a town in Pangasinan province. To get there one must first take the same roads to get to Baguio City (the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), the Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) and exit in Tarlac City. Then keep dricing till you reach the next province, which is Pangasinan.

Since three Pangasinan towns that folks pass on the way to Baguio City border Manaoag, it is pretty easy to get there by car. Manaoag is bounded by Pozzorubio in the north, Urdaneta City in the south and Binalonan in the east. So one can turn left in any of those three places along MacArthur Highway and ask for directions to Manaoag.

As I answered “getting to Manaoag by private vehicle”  in another post:

Hi Jeric,

After Urdaneta, one will see a sign in the next town, Binalonan, that indicates the way to Manaoag. Once you turn there from MacArthur Highway, you will drive for about 30-45 minutes more.

If you leave Manila at midnight, you should hit Manaoag at about 3 or 4 am, which may be a bit too early yet, but it’s ok to nap in the car as Manaoag is a pretty safe town.

By the way, I haven’t been there in years so I am recalling the route from memory. What I can safely say is that you can speed up all the way to Urdaneta and start watching out for the road signs that indicate Manaoag (to your left, if I am not mistaken) after you exit Urdaneta City. The turn may either be at Binalonan or in the next town Pozzorubio.

Hope this helps.

ADDED OCTOBER 2009:

There is a nice paved road leading from Urdandeta to Manaoag that I passed when we had to take the Damortis-San Fabian-Manaoag-Urdaneta detour when the bridge connecting Pangasinan to La Union was damaged during Typhoon Pepeng. Thus here is the new travel advisory for those wanting to take a side trip to Manaoag when From Manila to Baguio or vice versa:

1. Going up to Baguio — when you get to Urdaneta, turn left at the second major intersection and this will lead you to Manaoag.

2. Going down from Baguio — turn right at Binalonan to get to Manaoag because it’s closer than Urandeta when you are southbound. This of course is the way to go when that bridge is fixed. Otherwise you will not be passing Binalonan at all, and will be passing Manaoag via the abovementioned detour.

Getting to Manaoag Via Public Transportation

Getting to Manaoag by public transportation is a little trickier, but I got the answer from Yahoo Answers, editing the same a bit and numbering the process for easier reading:

1. First go to Victory Liner station and take DAGUPAN for your destination. Back in the days it takes 4 hours to travel to Manila to Pangasinan now a days because of the never ending constuctions on the roads a long the way it may take you now at least 5hours.

2. 2nd step is when you arrive to the station of victory liner take a jeepney ride and take the one who has a sign DOWNTOWN take that one then tell the driver take you to STARPLAZA hotel he will drop you off there.

3. 3rd check in relax, rest for a while….

4. 4th you must be early to go to Our LADY Of Manaoag especially on Sundays is full house. The front desk will give you the directions to get there or ask them to point out where is the Jollibbee that there is a jeeps there that takes you to Our Lady Of Manaoag. When I say early Really early around 5 or 6 AM.  Be careful around there is too many people and hustlers.

5. When you’re done take a jeepney that says DAGUPAN then when you arrive to the city take a Tricycle its better and nearer.

6. Your last Question: Manaoag to Baguio around 2hours but if you take the Vans who goes to baguio only 1:30 only or less but it is station at Dagupan. Have a great trip!!!!”

So there you have it — the route by public transport is Manila-Dagupan-Manaoag-Dagupan-Baguio. On your way back to Manila the route would be Baguio-Dagupan-Manaoag-Dagupan-Manila.

Addendum

I remember Manaoag to be a sleepy town although I read there are hotels and pensions there already. I observed several things in my past visits:

1. There were several Sweepstakes outlets that purportedly sold winning tickets, so I guess folks feel the need to buy their tickets there. Maybe there are lotto outlets already, I don’t know. Somehow I remember my last trip being when cellphones were still analog.

2. Puto Calasiao is available there — those delicious little nuggets that you pop into your mouth that does not need any niyog.

3. On my last trip I distinctly remember having the best halo-halo in a jeepney waiting shed which a bunch of locals converted into a beauty parlor — basically manicure and pedicure services — on hot summer afternoon.

Hope this info helps. I decided to create a post about Manaoag so I can redirect folks to here whenever I receive  queries via the comments section in the various travel advisories found in this site about getting there.

Seriously now, Manaoag is a great place to visit, a sleepy, congenial town where some folk I interviewed still believed in 1997 that the Pangasinan governor was Primicias.

The photo in the previous page of the Shrine of Our Lady of Manaoag comes from their official web site that contains a whole lot of information about Manaoag Mass Schedules, and the other areas and activities of the shrine.

Should you have any more info to add that will be helpful to folks planning to visit Manaoag, please feel free to add them by posting a comment below.

Thanks.

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