Kawasan Falls

Having travelled by ferry, two busses and tricycle for several hours we finally arrived in Moalboal at 2300. This was going to be our base for the next few days with canyoneering at Kawasan Falls our main adventure.

Having read several blogs and making contact with Mike Vincent African, who you can get on Facebook if you ever want to go canyoneering there yourself, I’m sure he’ll do you a good deal, we had a plan how to best see the falls. The idea was to head out early using public transport, see the falls before everyone else started arriving and then meet up with our guide and go canyoneering. Usually when travelling it never quite goes to plan but luckily that day did.

Catching the bus from Moalboal to Kawasan Falls is simple, it’s costs 30 pesos and takes about 20-30 minutes, you then have a short trek up to the falls. You’ll need to pay an entrance fee, this is 30 pesos too. Once in you’ll be greeted by the magnificent coloured stream coming down to your left hand side, the colour is due to the minerals in the water and makes for beautiful turquoise water flowing down lush dense green jungle. It’s quite a sight to be fair.

The falls are tiered with the first the main falls then two smaller upper falls with a short trek in between each other. Everything was wet and it was raining but the tracks are good and we were able to do it in flip flops but I’d advise some wet shoes if available.

As the photos show, all three are amazing. The water is just incredible and being able to get in amongst it all is great but the fun really hadn’t started until we went canyoneering.

It has gone down as one of the best days out I’ve ever had travelling, it was that good. Mike has sorted us out with Wilson our guide for the day and they also supplied all necessary safety equipment including life vest, helmet, wet shoes and even lunch at the end was supplied. We haggled and got a really good deal but you shouldn’t look to pay more than about 1200 pesos without food. It’s worth every peso though!

We researched to see if you actually required a guide or if you could go alone but having done it you definitely need a guide and there’s also check points to ensure you are with one as it’s now all government run.

It starts with a motorcycle ride for 15-20 minutes (all included) and then a trek for about 30 minutes. It’s all downhill from there!

Wilson’s opening question as we got off the motorbikes, with a cheeky grin, was “Would you like to go the extreme route or the normal route?” Which we both laughed and said normal of course… With the real answer being “Extreme” he then shouted “Of course you are warriors!” and then jogged off down the trek which we quickly worked out meant to follow at that pace! Even with Ryan struggling to keep up we managed to skip past many groups and crack on. I think Wilson was really on a promise but he never mentioned it.

The canyoneering involved a range of tasks from jumping, sliding, climbing, trekking and posing for photos, which Wilson was a great camera man for. It was honestly such good fun, having been lucky enough as a youngster and in the forces doing many similar activities I could really appreciate how good it was. I couldn’t recommend it highly enough to anyone that enjoys outdoor adventures. A few highlights were the 15m jump and the rope swing which you can hopefully see in the videos below.

I must admit one thing, even though I’ve done this before, I have never been greeted by little ladies knocking out bbq food half way down! The sausage covered in ketchup was delicious but we bottled it and decided not try the chicken intestines!

A big highlight for the geeks but not so much the naturists was the mini hydro-electric plant that harnesses the energy from the Kawasan river. I can’t say it interested me that much but for you that are intrigued it kicks out 0.72KW and was built in 1990.

I’ve probably banged on enough about how good this day was but there’s not many times I’ve come away from a day like that with such a grin on my boat race. If you ever get the chance, jump at it!