Day 5, another Island, another Epic Day. This was the only day tour we pre-booked before our trip: Canyoneering Kawasan Falls and hiking Osmena Peak.
There was a fair amount of mis communication leading up to it as far as pick up time since initially they had said pick up at 6:30 but then the night before when I e-mailed to confirm, they said 8-8:30... well ok so the next morning around 8 we started watching for the van and it got there just before 8:30 but I noticed later he tried to change it back to 6:30... oops we were already passed out though. So 8:30 it was. We had a comfortable private van for the almost 90 minute journey to the Canyoneering outfitter. There we finished paying for our tour, selected our lunch options, and were fitted for helmets, life jackets, and water shoes (if you wanted... I just used mine that I know I like)
After getting all fitted up, we had a VERY thrilling ride on motorbikes to the start of the canyoneering trail (about 10 minutes) with 2 of us behind one driver on a bike... I honestly think this may have been my first motorcyle experience and being on the back of 2 people was pretty terrifying haha I was never sure if I was supposed to lean or not to lean or what on turns. Thankfully we made it there alive and the scariest part of the day was over. *whew!
At the start of the trail, you register at a guest book with your guide, throw your stuff in a dry bag, and head out for a nice walk. It takes anywhere from 20-30 minutes to actually walk to the canyon but the path is paved for the most part and the views over the island are really great. (lots of palm trees) There are some really steep jungle path stairs down to the water but then you're ready to start your swim!
What part of the long hot walk looks like. You start out on a nice path with great views of palm trees and in general, the island, before descending some scary jungle stairs to the water.
View from the peak height of the trail before you descend into the jungle
About the Tour
I researched a few companies for canyoneering Kawasan Falls before settling on Highland Adventures. They were very responsive and helpful in planning and were one of the few companies that I saw combined a tour between Canyoneering Kawasan Falls AND hiking to Osmena Peak. Since these were 2 very high on my lists things that seemed like they would be more difficult to book once there, we decided to spend a bit more for the security of knowing we'd get to do it. Plus since our hotel was far from the falls, we didn't think we'd have too many other day of deals.
The tour is all day with 2 different itineraries with pick ups around 6-8 AM and getting back a little after 5. It includes the gear you need, a private tour guide, entrance fees, all transportation, and lunch at the falls.
There are 2 canyoneering routes Badian and Algerian. Since there were many more tours offered and information about Badian, that was the one we choose.
Once at the water, we did our last minute sorting, our guide took over my water camera, and we headed out. The first couple of jumps are maybe 4 feet and really easy. The caves surrounding the water are so cool and the water color felt great after the walk to get there. (Our guide took videos of almost every "jump" even the little 3 foot ones which are honestly just embarassing to watch. haha)
My very first jump!
There were a couple of fun "slides" and one slide to 4 foot fall that you lay on your back and went "head first" over just to switch things up.
Going head first with just a hint of feet showing
The canyon got pretty narrow at times and darker, every bend brought new excitement!
After about an hour we got to the meat stick spot where if you are hungry, you can buy pork/ chicken?/ etc kebabs for 40 pisos. This is also the site of the first "big" jump about 20 feet. It looked like you could walk a little further to a smaller jumping spot but where is the fun in that?
Checking to see if I was good to go!
Once you jump, you can see the caves under the cliffs you were just standing on and they are full of stalactites and fun formations. Then it's another hour or so of adventure with the jumps getting bigger and bigger.
We passed a beautiful DAM waterfall and did a few smaller jumps before reaching an optional 30 foot jump off a suspended bamboo walkway.
This is the EASIEST 30 foot jump. No pushing off necessary, so your form for hitting the water is a lot better (for me at least) making this my favorite jump of the day.
Survived our first 30 foot jump!
A little more walking and wading through water, and you get to the last jump of the day: and it just so happens to be right into a waterfall. Again it's about 30 feet but if you could do the last one, you can do this one right? RIGHT! This one requires a little bit of a shove off meaning my form wasn't great, my land not pleasant, but hey it was still exhilerating and awesome and I regret none of it!
Surveying the landing point under the falls
The jump zone!
After the last jump you're in the first picnic area and it's lunch time! We got 2 choices of meat with rice and coke to drink. We soaked up a bit more sun and hung around the area though we could tell our guide was kind of ready to go
Standing next to our picnic spot! Can't beat lunch with a view like that!
We started to head now to the parking area where we passed the ACTUAL Kawasan Falls and things clicked into place a bit more. The waterfall we jumped was still an upper fall and we had further to go before getting to the main recreation area.
The lower Kawasan falls (no jumping) and commonly photographed with the bamboo rafts. I don't edit or filter any of my photos, the water color really was just like that!
It was a lot more crowded and a bit shady so we didn't stay and swim more but it was a beautiful area and if we'd done the earlier itinerary in the day, this would've been a fun place to be in the afternoon sun.
Heading down the path and looking back, the falls are pretty big!
Plenty of pretty smaller cascades you can play in on the way back as well.
It was another 5-10 minutes from Kawasan Fall to the parking lot where our van was waiting and then we were off to part 2 of this exciting tour!
Up next for day 5: Our tour continued to the highest peak on Cebu: Osmeña Peak
Day 5 Costs:
Skipped Breakfast
Street Food Dinner: $0.85
Street fruit smoothies: $1.00
Bakery breads for snack and next morning: $0.50
Water: $0.40
Tour Company used: Highland Adventures: $75
Lodging:
Sascha's Resort Oslob: $9.50 pp