2 days · 6 stops
The eight thousand who kept Subic Bay
When the US Navy left in 1992 it abandoned a city-sized base with nobody to run it. What happened in the following weeks is the reason there is a town here at all.
These are suggested places from the story, grouped into a starting route. Adjust the order, travel time and bookings to suit your day. Check current opening hours before setting out.
Day 1
Subic Spanish Gate
Stone gate built by the Spanish Navy as the entrance to the 1885 Arsenal de Olongapo; it once had gunports and served as a jail. WWII POW survivors of the Oryoku Maru sinking were held nearby in a fenced tennis court.
Alava Pier / Alava Wharf
Waterfront pier used by the Spanish Navy from the 1880s and extended 600 feet by the US Navy in 1967. The Oryoku Maru burned and sank about 100 yards offshore here in December 1944; the pier now serves as Subic's passenger terminal.
Naval Air Station Cubi Point (former)
Former US Navy air base built 1951-56 by Seabees, cutting a mountain into the bay for a 10,000-foot runway in one of the era's largest earthmoving projects. Renamed for Admiral Arthur Radford in 1972; now Subic Bay International Airport.
Day 2
US Navy-era officer housing districts (Binictican Heights, Kalayaan Heights)
Binictican Heights and Kalayaan Heights were built as US Navy officer housing before the 1992 handover and are now SBFZ's main residential districts, together home to most of the Freeport's roughly 6,000 residents.
Hell Ship Memorial
Memorial on Waterfront Road centered on the WWII sinking of the transport ship Oryoku Maru offshore in December 1944; includes a painting of the vessel donated by Japanese artist Kihachiro Ueda. Free, open 24 hours.
"The Hands that Freed the Nation" monument
Free monument on Waterfront Road, open 24 hours, commemorating the 12 Philippine senators whose 1991 vote against renewing the US bases treaty led to the 1992 handover and the creation of SBFZ.