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Kawasan Falls canyoneering with family

Kawasan Falls canyoneering with family was the best activity from our Cebu trip. Read our 2019 Dec Cebu Family itinerary here.

No matter which angle you look, Jumping is SCARY!

10 years old girl leaping 10m! — 10 years old girl leaping 10 metres!

Water hiking (canyoneering) involves a lot of jumping and the risks are definitely higher. We are not saying this activity is suitable for everyone.

But if you and your family is game, this is our guide to visiting Kawasan Falls. Even non-swimmers can join in the canyoneering fun!

If the kids can JUMP, it would be embarrassing if I could not follow haha. You jump, I jump!

Just count 1,2,3 JUMP. Otherwise your legs will freeze :p

Photos cannot capture our fun morning. Do checkout our Kawasan Falls Canyoneering with family video ! (4K YouTube link)

First, everyone has to report to Kawasan Canyoneering office.
Payment, briefing, and gather our safety gears and one small waterproof bag.

The life jacket has a pouch for a water bottle and your spectacles. Besides your phone (waterproof) and GoPro, everything else will be kept in locker. Do keep your towel and spare clothes in the locker too.

You do not need anything else. And you are not allowed to bring your own 5l or 10l waterproof bags.

Transport will bring you to the assembly point.
You can decide to take the zipline, or trek 45min to the trailhead.

Take the Zipline, because Fun is guaranteed!

This is not your usual zipline, you will literally experience a Flying sensation YEAH!

This hut is the “trailhead”. From here, everyone will walk 20 minutes downslope to the water.

It took us 40min as the Mrs struggled with the slope and steep steps.

You will hear water splashes and screams (thrills!) before you even spot the water.

WOW the water is really emerald blue!

Expect human jams during weekends.

Warmup jump, 4m.

This is the easiest cliff jump, subsequent leaps will be higher!
Feels like reliving our childhood dreams.

Surreal surroundings as we walk through the waterway and valleys. The cliffs and walls are spectacular. Love the sun rays filtering in through the tree foliage.

The Blue water is refreshingly cold!

8m looks tall

..but you will land within 2 seconds! It is still intimidating standing at the edge 😛

We had tons of nice family photos at Kawasan Falls too.

We had fun role-playing Sparta kicks too!
Our guides are good, professional and yet super caring.

They really take care of everyone, and they like to sing too 🙂

This scenic dam is famous for posing at Kawasan Falls. Funny, why others POSED so nice but me #notSexy

Unglam photo can only blame model, not props, camera or photographer :p

More family photos.

Amazing, there is a BBQ in the middle of Kawasan Falls too! Guides can pay in advance for you.

Seen this photo before? Why always the same person eating huh?

8m jump after hot dogs!

From the top, the river below seems a bit narrow. I always hesitated before leaping, but kids just JUMP! Quite the dare devils.

Jumping is optional, but NO Need to tell the kids or spouse :p

The water and surroundings are so unreal. Greens, blues and sunlight shining through.

Super Instagramable. Simply magical!

Helmets and life jackets all the way. Canyoneering is not a walk in the park, slips and falls can happen, safety first.

10m platform is the halfway point

We have to run and take off. Just keep your legs close, otherwise good luck to your groin.

Once you leapt off and see the Drop below, you will get a “WTH” moment ! Too late for regrets haha

Boon Yee (12 years old) leading the jumps. He can go to Commando course next time and enjoy all the free adrenaline.

Our family’s adventure appetite has Level Up, and I am so proud that we can enjoy adventures together as a family.

Preparation tips for your reference

If time permits, do some staircase training. Kawasan Falls canyoneering is doable for anyone with reasonable fitness. Your calf and thigh will get a lot of workouts.

Your shoes will be wet all the way. We had some experience canyoneering in Johor (Pelepah waterfall), and the kids adjusted well.

The final leapt, 15m

Others mention it is 12m. Nevermind, it feels like 20m from the top! Only No1 and No3 completed this jump, Daddy chicken out.

Crazy crowd, all waiting to do the last jump!
So proud of the kids, my bum was still sore from the 10m landing.

Walking back towards the “main” entrance. If you are only at Kawasan Falls for photos, do take note there is a small entrance fee of 40 pesos.

* Take note there are two entrances to the Blue waterfalls

Our package is inclusive of transfer to and fro from Kawasan Falls (from Moalboal), and a lunch.

The chicken thigh is not bad, maybe we were hungry too 🙂

From Social Media, you should know there are two ways to appreciate Kawasan Falls, Canyoneering or just waterfall photo.

We would strongly recommend trekking 3 to 4hours and do Kawasan Falls canyoneering! You will be rewarded with 7 cliff jumps!

During our research, we could easily find 50 tour agencies offering Kawasan Falls canyoneering package. But it is rare to find vendors who cater for family and kids.

Kawasan Canyoneering contact:

Website: https://www.kawasancanyoneering.com.ph
–Facebook and Instagram

Zipline – 500 pesos per pax
Canyoneering – 1500 pesos per pax

Additional tips for Kawasan Falls Canyoneering:

– Go for the Badian Zipline (Superman!) The kids and spouse will thank you for it

– Jumping is optional, there are alternate paths to walk down. Do confirm with your agency beforehand.

-Safety is a top concern for us. Accidents had happened before, follow guides’ instructions and do not anyhow jump

-The trek will take 2 to 3 hours, expect longer weekend queues

– Book your Kawasan Falls slots earlier, this adventure is very popular!

-Some might bundle Kawasan Canyoneeering (Afternoon 3 hours) with Oslob whale sharks (Morning 30 minutes) together. This might be adrenaline overkill, we recommend covering the activities over two days

– Location is just 25km South of Moalboal. Those who visit from Cebu city would need to leave around 3 or 4am to avoid queues

More photos are uploaded in our Fanpage albums :
–Moalboal Panagsama stay
–Whale shark at Oslob
–Kawasan Falls
–Half Day Cebu City Tour (and nice food Sugbo Mercado)
–Danasan Eco Adventure Park
-Free & Easy SM Seaside

Cebu Blog posts:
* Cebu Family Itinerary
Day 2 Oslob with Whale Sharks
Day 3 Kawasan Falls canyoneering with family
Day 4 Free & Easy
Day 5 1/2 day Cebu city tour
Day 6 Danasan Eco Adventure Park (more adventures!)
Day 7 Free and Easy
Day 8 Fly home

Do pop by our Instagram Hashtag #SengkangbabiesCebu and Story for our summary. The links to more photos and other blogs are at the end of page.

Disclaimer: We have received some discounts from “Kawasan Canyoneering”

All our Hiking trips are listed here https://sengkangbabies.com/tag/hiking

Cebu Day 2 Oslob Whale Sharks

Oslob Whale Sharks came on top, when we were researching for our Cebu family itinerary.

It is on many folks’ bucket list after they see the Social media photos (or maybe BBC Planet Earth or Natgeo). It is easy to understand why.

Measuring 10m easily, with a huge gaping mouth, this gentle giants are magnificent. Oslob might be one of the places where whale shark spotting has been commercialised.

There is another famous spot at Donsol, which offers a more natural setting to view the gentle marine creatures.

For those interested to visit the whale sharks, Oslob is about 125km South of Cebu City. Traveling time would be easily 3 to 4 hours. As we stayed at Moalboal, it was still 80 km away.

Most would need to leave at around 3 or 4am. As whale Shark feeding time is only during the morning, you might need to leave early to beat the crowds.

Our package came with breakfast. Hello Mango sticky rice at 0630 🙂

All visitors must undergo a briefing session before going into the water.

T&C for swimming with Whale sharks 🙂

1. Stay 5m from the whale sharks (very difficult!)
2. Do not touch the whale shark, or get a fine and jail
3. No sunscreen, as we do not want to contaminate the water.

whale Sharks snorkeling rules — Whale Sharks snorkeling rules

Visitors will then proceed to the beach area and wait for their boats. Each Oslob Whale sharks session is 30 minutes.

You can opt to stay on the boat (Why!), but we strongly recommend you to snorkel (life vests available).

And Oslob Whale Sharks are only 50m from the shores! They are domesticated and know when food (shrimps) are available from the fishermen.

With our legs dangling from the boat, it feels like the scene from the Mag (Megalodon) attack scene Hainan Sanya beach :p

We were lucky. There were no whale sharks just a day earlier. The typhoon must have affected the whale shark’s schedule.

We spotted 4 among our midst. And these are just the juveniles. Full adults can grow beyond 12m and weigh 20 tons easily!

Awesome experience, watching these gentle giants up close. They just opened their mouths and sucked in plankton. In this case, shrimp and krill from the fishermen.

They can come very near to you, which can be intimidating haha.

Some folks will voiced disapproval that Oslob Tourism is exploiting the gentle giants. Whale Sharks’ natural migratory paths have been altered, as they have now made Oslob one of their regular stops.

Whale sharks are already accustomed to fisherman’s feeding schedule and appear daily at the beach. We will let you decide whether Oslob Whale Sharks would be suitable for your families.

Although we only snorkel for 30 minutes, it was an experience of a lifetime.

Watch our Youtube Video here.

After our whale shark encounters, we were brought to another nearby attraction.

You can walk towards Tumalog Falls, but it will be hilly and 20 min walk. We chose the motorbike options. The motorbike trip is 500 peso and thrilling, checkout our video !

There is a small pond for hungry fishes to nibble on your toes.

Otherwise, the water “fall” was not fantastic during our visit. Only a small sprinkle. We were told that drought might have turn off the tap at the top hee hee.

Most tour agencies will not provide towels, do check and bring own towels if necessary.

We had our lunch at 0915, a bit early.

We got our Oslob Whale Sharks package from Klook. Thank you to our guide from Island Trek Tours, Marlene and Robert.

Additional Oslob Whale Sharks tips:

1) Tour agencies are available at Oslob too. But we will recommend you to reserve your slots before you even reach Oslob. You can expect 500 visitors during peak hours!

1a) Oslob Whale Shark rates are from 1000 peso (SGD $25) onwards. Some will charge additional for snorkel and life vests. This fee is not inclusive of the return-transfers.

2) Just bring your GoPro and waterproof-pouch for your phones
If you are comfortable, do away with the life vest. It is difficult to selfie with whale shark when you have a life vest. Not to mention at least 50 humans photobombs

3) Check with your vendor whether towels are inclusive. Otherwise bring your own. There is only a small area with taps to rinse off the water, no shower facility. Some might wish to change back to comfortable clothing for the return trip (3 hours again)

4) There is only Whale Sharks at Oslob. Consider side trip (Google Map) to Tumalog Falls or Osmena Peak (short 30min hike) on your return trip

Do pop by our Instagram Hashtag #SengkangbabiesCebu and Story for our summary. The links to more photos and other blogs are at the end of page.