Cebu! Day 3, Part 2: Canyoneering and Kawasan Falls

It was a 1.5 hr drive from the whale shark snorkelling to  to Badian, where the canyoneering is taking place. We all knocked out in the car, after the early morning and all the water activities. 

We stopped at the center, geared up and was given a choice to do a PHP600 each zip line and save 45 mins’ hike or hike all the way to the 1st jump off point. We opted for the former and was led to the tower across the road. We were each given what looked like a sack. 

When it was our turn, they hooked us up, then lifted up our legs, as if we were a slab of leg ham. The zip line was in a superman position.

I am not going to lie; I was quite worried about the safety standard but had to assure myself that it was fine with so many people done so safely before me. The team was very efficient and the Q moved very quickly. 

Once at the other end, it was a short walk to the start of the canyoneering adventure. We had 4 guides with us.

The kids were very excited; I was very scared. I don’t fancy free falls, including the need to jump off an edge and into water. Why did I agree to sign up for this? Lol.

Soon, we were at the very 1st jump off point and Zaky took the lead. The guide said to jump “there”, into the bubbles and away from the big rock. Zaky demonstrated. 

The 1st jump was the most difficult. The mental barrier was so hard to cross. The guide rattled off the same instructions to me and I nodded my head but when I finally jumped off, I realised that the big rock was so near to me. Daddy Lim said that I almost killed myself. Thank God for the protection. 

I was so dangerously close, that the guide move Nana and Daddy Lim to another spot to jump off. 

After the 1st jump, we trekked somemore and came to a big “slide”. 

We were all very glad to have proper swimming shorts and tights. We saw an ang mo girl in front of us with a tiny bikini bottom and then very sore butt cheeks thereafter. We know why. Lol. We saw many sore butt cheeks along the way. Haha.

Other than the jumps and slides, there was a lot of hiking. We had to step from rock to rock and waddled through ankle-deep water. The waddling was really hard bcos we can’t see the many pebbles, rocks, sudden drops and potholes in the water. Thankfully for the skilful guides. Then we realised that we each had a guide, which wasn’t the case for the rest of the groups. Maybe that was the perk of our “private tour”. 

We also had to squeeze through a tight hole (we were actually dragged through and thankfully for the shorts again) and narrow pathway. I was worried that Daddy Lim couldn’t fit through with his AS condition.

There were a lot of swimming too. Ok, we didn’t swim much. Most of the time, we were dragged through the waters.

That was probably faster than us swimming on our way. I realised that our group was moving very quickly. My guess is that the guides would end their job earlier if we were faster. Zaky was young and able and mainly on his own, except for parts with slippery rocks and his (and Nana’s) crocs were hazards. Daddy Lim and I had wet shoes on and while thinner on the sole, gripped wonderfully. The rest of us had somebody constantly holding and guiding us. My guide kept “mama here, mama there”. I only recognised his voice even by the end of the trip bcos I was constantly just looking down at where I was stepping. 

There were several other small jumps that became a little more manageable than the 1st. The rest of them were obviously enjoying the jumps more than I do. The biggest was 7m high and Zaky did that.

Daddy Lim and Nana jumped from a lower point, but still a good 5m high. 

Me? I was given the choice to skip the jump totally and I absolutely embraced that option. Lol.

I wasn’t the worse. There was this girl who was obviously scared of height. At one of the jumps, she held up the line.  She tried but couldn’t summon her courage and was in tears. I bet she questioned her choice to sign up for the activity, just like I did. Lol. 

The mid point was a “7-11”. 

We didn’t have $$ with us but whatever we bought can be paid later. There wasn’t the best comfort bcos I didn’t bring much that day, leaving most of our $$ in our hotel room. We bought a banana and also some chocolate bars. The guide said that the “goods” were hand carried and by foot brought here. This meant things were sold at a premium. 

We continued our way and came to the Tarzan swing. Only the kids tried at PHP10 per swing. 

Nana said that this was the least scary activity. We saw somebody tried to dive in, and another one tried a backflip! The parents were just happy with taking pictures. Lol.

More edges, more jumps, more water. 

At the 2nd tier of the Kawasan Fall, there was another Tarzan swing. This time, only Zaky attempted and he asked the guide on how to do a back flip. He got half a flip and we were laughing our heads off while looking from afar. Hahahaha. 

After more hiking, we were at the 1st tier and did some swimming. The guides only gave us 5 mins. 

Did we swim? Yes, bcos I wanted to pee. Lol. Daddy Lim wanted to pee too but wasn’t successful. He hadn’t attempted any pee in the sea earlier too. I was an expert already. Lol. I had already peed so much in the sea the last 2 days. Muahahahaha. 

That brought us to almost the end of our adventure. 

The remaining was a fairly flat 20 mins hike back to the center. 

We changed into dry clothes and settled the bills for the ziplining and the “ grocery shopping”. Everybody was glad to be in dry underwear. Lol. The guide had nicely asked for tips but I barely brought enough and wished that I had more to give. 

Our driver was standing by. It was super hard work for him. J said that his daily routine during the peak season was to wake up at 1.30am, collect the company car, pick passengers and by the time he is home, it would be likely 10pm and the routine starts again. When does he sleep? When the passengers are off snorkelling with the sharks or doing crazy stuff like jumping off the cliffs. Lol. I can imagine their need to work so hard during peak season bcos there probably be little or no work when the monsoon season comes. 

Dinner was not included in the package. While on the way to the zip line, I saw a bakery. They have so many bakeries in Cebu and that was my bucket list. Checked! 

All these for PHP50, which is slight more than SGD1. We each had a bit to tide us through the ride home. 

We all slept. The way home would take 3 to 4 hours, depending on the traffic. We took 3.5hrs. It was torturing and thankfully for the 7 seater car, giving us ample space. It was already 9ish when we arrived back at the hotel. We tried looking for dinner but most places were closed, especially when it was a weekend. We ended up feasting at the real 7-11.

Hmmm… I think their 7-11 food can be further improved but beggars can’t be choosers. 

Finally, we headed back to shower and hit the sack. I was exhausted. 

Mummy Lim