Respect code
Sagada’s burial caves and hanging coffins are graves, and its church holds mass. These are the rules visitors are asked to keep.
Do not touch, move or climb on coffins or anything at a burial site.
Source: PTV News, 14 Feb 2019Do not join, photograph or film a ritual unless the elders leading it say yes.
Source: PTV News, 14 Feb 2019Do not take photos or video in or around the church during mass.
Source: PTV News, 14 Feb 2019Stay away from the panag-aapoy, the bonfires families light at graves on All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days, and do not photograph them.
Source: Wikivoyage, SagadaWhen a community closes a place for ubaya, stay out until it reopens.
Source: Daily Tribune, 21 Jul 2025Enter caves only with a guide.
Source: Wikivoyage, SagadaBring a refillable bottle. Plastic bottles are discouraged.
Source: PTV News, 14 Feb 2019Keep your voice down at night and follow the curfew your inn gives you.
Our own note
Our promise as visitors
- I will ask before I photograph people or ceremonies.
- I will leave every site as I found it.
- I will follow my guide and the town’s closures.
The most complete list we found is from 2019. The town may have added rules since, so follow what your guide and inn tell you.