I AM seriously not the most adventurous person out there but I made a promise to myself to go out and explore nature before I become a full pledge tita (lol).
One of the things that I wanted to try is canyoneering in Badian, Cebu.
To give you an idea canyoneering or canyoning is an outdoor adventure that may include walking, scrambling, climbing, jumping and swimming which sounds like a lot, right? That is why I have watched a ton of videos prior to this trip to make sure that I am mentally ready. haha
A little back story: we were supposed to do this last year but something happened so I am so glad that it finally came true!
Getting there
Badian is a municipality situated in South Cebu. From Cebu City, we rode the Bato via Barili bus and travel time of three hours to reach Badian.
I went canyoneering together with one of my besties, Susie and we booked our trip with Kawasan Canyoneering. Their headquarters is located at Matutinao Beach Resort in Badian. You can change clothes, leave your things and eat breakfast at the resort which we did before proceeding.
To avoid the crowd, we woke up super early and left Cebu City at around 4 a.m., we then arrived in Badian at around 7 a.m. From the resort we took a 20 minute habal-habal ride going to Canlaob, Alegria which was the starting point for the Canyoneering activity.
The Adventure
After our habal-habal ride, together with our guide Kuya Lloyd from Kawasan Canyoneering, we started with a 20-30 minute hike before we reached the canyons. You know you’re near when you start hearing the flowing water and the screams of people jumping.
First thing to note, you really need to prepare yourself for a lot of walking and rock scrambling. The rocks can also be slippery so wear appropriate shoes. It was a good thing that we were in a small group and our guide was patient in assisting us in some areas which can be challenging and slippery. I honestly was really taking my time in every step because I don’t wanna slip and end up with another back injury after! (#AgingProbs).
Next are the jumps, the first one is required while the rest are optional. Oh boy, my legs were shaking prior to the first jump but we conquered it anyway!
According to our guide, the highest jump there is about 50-feet. I am proud to say that I have done about three jumps excluding the highest one though just because I reached my “conquering heights quota” already (haha reasons). Someone (yes, you!) laughed about how easy the jumps look liked in our video but it’s really scary in real life so be prepared!
But more than conquering our fear of heights, the beauty of the place is so surreal and so worth it. The canyons are so beautiful and the water is cold and clean as well. It still amazes me that there are barbecue stalls halfway if you wanna grab a quick bite or a drink.
Our adventure came to an end upon reaching Kawasan Falls level two which is the less crowded one and the main Kawasan Falls which you can opt to hike down or do the 50ft jump. The duration of our canyoneering was about four hours.
Overall
One thing I learned: jumping and falling can be a scary but sometimes, you just have to do it and by the end of the day you will be glad that you did. Just be prepared for the next day body pain though. Haha!
We paid a total of P1,500 for the canyoneering package which includes the essential gears (helmet and life jacket), bottled water, a snack, habal-habal ride, and post canyoneering recovery meal. We also rented a Go Pro for a P500 fee from our tour provider; you just have to bring your own SD Card.
Our overall canyoneering experience was really one for the books and something that I can now tick off my bucket list! And this experience was made more awesome by Kawasan Canyoneering. Shoutout to our guide Kuya Lloyd for documenting the whole activity for us, all we did is to pose for the photos!
You can contact Kawasan Canyoneering at +63-0918 654 4111 / +63-0905 333 2623 or email them at kawasancanyoneering@gmail.com.
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Hi, I’m Kriztja and thanks for reading My Notebook! Check out my blog: rainbow-wishes.blogspot.com for more and like my Facebook Page: My Notebook by Kriztja Marae for more updates. Comments? Suggestions? Email me at: kriztja.labrador@gmail.com.