Canyoneering at Kawasan Falls

I am an adventurous person and upon hearing the popularity of canyoneering in Cebu I feel excited about it.  Canyoneering is travelling in canyons using a variety of techniques that may include other outdoor activities such as trekking/hiking, climbing, jumping, rappelling, and swimming.

I am not really afraid of heights but what I’m looking forward to is jumping off cliffs. It would be a whole new experience for me and a new way of conquering my fears of falling.

Together with the colleagues, we decided to try the very famous Kawasan Falls canyoneering located in Cebu City. Luckily, we were able to booked a roundtrip ticket to Cebu last year for only P1,437.00 each via Cebu Pacific Airlines.

A week before our scheduled trip to Cebu, we finalized everything and decided to contact Mr. Raymund Sande who will be our tour guide for the canyoneering. He offered us P1,200.00 per person (minimum of 6 pax). His service includes all equipment to be used for the activity from helmet, buoyancy vest to footwear. He even included a sumptuous lunch consisting of chicken adobo, pork sinigang, chopseuy, unli rice, and softdrinks. I will be providing details on how to contact him below this blog for those who are interested with his canyoneering service.

Moalboal is located 3-4 hours bus ride away from Mactan, Cebu City. So from Mactan-Cebu International Airport, we hopped on a taxi that will take us to South Bus Terminal. It only cost us around Php200-Php250 depending on the traffic. We took the bus that goes to Badian; the one with signage Bato via Barili and tell the driver to drop us off at 7-Eleven (Badian Branch) since Kuya Raymund will be picking us up there. Bus fare is Php126.00 (Air-conditioned).

After a long bus ride, we finally reached our destination. We stayed for a while at Kuya Raymund’s house to change our clothes and prepare ourselves for the highest jumps of our lives so far.  

From the drop-off point, we need to walk downhill for about 5-10 minutes to reach the first jump-off point.

A short briefing was conducted by our 2 assigned guides namely Kuya Roel and Kuya Ralph about the dos and don’ts of our activity. And after that we are off to our first ever cliff diving experience.

Who would have thought that the first jump would be the highest cliffs of all our jump-off points? It was a 10 ft. cliff and the water below it is about 10-15 ft. deep. Though we’d probably float because we have buoyancy vests, still we have the fear of drowning since majority of us in the group don’t know how to swim at all.

Though we’re first timers, yet we are all daredevils. So we took the risk and one by one we jumped; conquering our fear of heights and fear of falling for the very first time.

If you would to ask me what I felt standing on the edge of a 10 ft. cliff, well, there are so many things running through my mind. I just keep on repeating a mantra in my head saying that there’s no other way out aside from jumping; so I did.  It was a relief after plunging into the ice-cold water after the longest jump of my life.

According to our guides, it was at least 8 jumps ranging from 6-10 ft. and 2 slides for the whole activity.

It took us few minutes of swimming through strong water currents and climbing through big boulders of rocks before reaching out next jump-off points. True enough, it was not that high as the first one yet it is terrifying. Good thing you have your friends with you cheering “You can do it!”

After few swims, treks and jumps, we’ve finally reach the first slide. I am not a “slide” person so this one is more petrifying to me than cliff diving. It looks like the usual slide we see in resorts but the difference is, it is right above strong water current and you’ll slide through natural rock formation. For a moment there, I ask myself how that rock was perfectly carved.

Later did I found out I plunged into the cold water after our guide pushed me.   

After the first slide, we get to pass along small caves in the water and small openings or pass through strong water current to get to the next jump off point.

We stopped for a while to see the beauty of the place; those big rock formation above us and the serenity of the water. It was so surreal.  We stayed there for a couple of minutes and took some photos before heading to the next station.

It wasn’t an easy track; there are instances that you’ll slip because of the moss that surrounds the area. But believe me or not, all efforts from jumping off cliffs swimming through deep cold waters, slides and passing through big boulders of rocks are all worth it.

After almost 2 hours of canyoneering is a pit stop where vendors are selling barbeques and puso (a local rice cooked using coconut leaves shaped like a diamond). Barbeques of any kind is P15.00 and puso is P10.00. Softdrinks and water are also available for those who are thirsty. After enjoying our meal, we took a rest for a while and watch those with brave hearts jumping off on a 20-35 ft. cliffs.

One of my friend even tried the 20 ft. cliff diving; what a brave girl.

The second half of our canyoneering activity is now more on swimming and trekking towards the Kawasan Falls 3. Despite all the body pain we felt from swimming too far and trekking for 20-30 minutes is our eagerness to reach our destination and see the very famous beauty of Kawasan.

We climbed through big trees that fall due to natural causes, we dried up from trekking (30-45 minutes) under the heat, and we got wet again from swimming through small waterfalls but eventually, all our efforts had been paid off. We have reach the Kawasan Falls 3.

We were not able to take some photos of the area since our camera’s battery is almost empty. We switch it off for a while so we could take some photos when we reach Kawasan Falls 1.

We stayed for a little while in Kawasan Falls 3 to enjoy the cold spring just below it. The water is as cold as ice and as clear as a crystal. What a gift from Mother Nature to see!

After a few minutes of relaxing in the spring, we decided to trek more and head to Kawasan Falls 2. It’s another 10-20 minutes hike under the sun. Good thing that we had a small lunch at the spit stop; because if we didn’t opted to eat, we’d be starving by now.

Then we have reached Kawasan Falls 2. It’s a bit bigger that the 3^rd falls and a lot of people are already in the area, mostly are foreigners.

We did not opted to swim since we are all too tired to do that, instead, we eat all our weariness out. Haha.

We get to served what Kuya Raymund promised us for our lunch. For a group of seven, it’s too much. We even have leftovers, sad to say. The serenity of the place makes the food more delicious and enticing.

Good thing we stayed there for a while because we met our friends who unfortunately was not able to book the same flight schedule with us.

So after enjoying our food and the place, we started trekking again towards the Kawasan Falls 1, the very finale of all this canyoneering activity. It was not that of a long trek compared to the treks we did.

Kawasan Falls 1 looks like a big swimming pool with a falls above it. The color of the water is so green making it so surreal. By the looks of it, I think its 15-20 ft. deep.

We decided to try the floating bamboo-raft that will take us to the falls and massage our weary bodies. It cost us P500.00.

Our “bangkero” (whom I forgot to ask his name) gives us instructions on what shall we do when our raft pass through the waterfalls. He asked us to sit in circle, stand in circle or lay on the raft so the water would hit us in different areas of our bodies.

It felt like we are being hit by big rocks in our heads, in our backs and in our legs. It was a tolerable pain; it was relaxing. I can say that it was the best part of the whole canyoneering activity. We get to laugh our hearts out and it was I guess the best bonding moment we have.

Our activity officially ended around 5:00 in the afternoon where we hopped in a habal-habal to take us to our drop-off point where our service is waiting for us to take us back to Kuya Raymund’s house.

I can say that it was one great experience we will surely looked back to in Cebu. We never would have thought that we could conquer our fears and enjoyed it instead. Surely canyoneering is a must try for those who seeks adventure.

Raymund Sande:

·         Contact Number: 09151392249 // 09326079016

·         Facebook Account: https://www.facebook.com/raymund.sande?fref=ts

·         Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raymundsande/