Kawasan Falls of Badian, Cebu

Aside from the hospitable people, Cebu is well known for its magnificent nature spots ranging from diving spots up to its clean and fresh bodies of water. One of which is the wonderful Kawasan Falls. Kawasan Falls is shared in the blogging community as one of the admirable attraction in Cebu, therefore I should experience and see it myself.

How to get there?
Matutinao, Badian is the town where Kawasan falls lies. It is a 3 - 4 hours travel from the City of Cebu and one can take a bus ride at the Cebu South Bus Terminal. Take any of these two bus lines: the Ceres Bus and the Rough Riders Bus. There is an alternative aside from taking buses at Cebu South Bus Terminal and that is to take a bus at Librando Terminal. Either of these three will bring you to the town of Badian. Bus fare is around 120 pesos.

The ride is pretty long so just relax and enjoy the view but as for us who had a 5am call time for this trip, it is an ideal time to gasp more sleep and charge up. We also took our breakfast on the road to conserve time and be on Badian the soonest time possible because we're all excited  to witness its wonder.

sharp eyesight is needed to be able to see them

(Photo from William Cua)

Alight at Matutinao Church, you will be mobbed by men soliciting for their tour services which I found annoying because they are being persuasive in a wrong way. Tip: Just ignore them. You don't need a guide because the trail going to the heart of Kawasan is easy and pretty obvious where to go. We got a guide and it was unnecessary. From our experience, guide may only be useful if you have lots of things to carry. You can give it to them as their service to you. Before you start trekking, get ready with 10 pesos as for registration fee. We trekked for about 15-20 mins which along the way we saw divers wild plants and monkeys that are swinging on the trees. I also noticed that the environment is clean and really taking good care by the locals. At the end of the trail we gave our guide 150 pesos (it is a group decision on how much you will pay your guide). By the way if you have your private vehicle with you, you can leave it in front of Matutinao Church and a 100 pesos mandatory fee will be charged.

The Mother Falls of Kawasan (Photo from Byron Cantonjos)

As we saw the first falls (since Kawasan is a cascade of falls), everyone was like, "wow" in the sense of being amazed with its beauty and tallness. From a far, we can still hear the strong splash as the water reaches the ground. It really made me excited!

But before we all go swimming and go wild, we first tried the bamboo raft. Heads up! Aside from the 300 pesos fee of the bamboo ride, your rafting guide(s) will also ask you to pay them. Make sure you ask how the raft is going to cost and how much each "guide" will charge you to eliminate misunderstanding which happened to us. Don't overpay for the bamboo ride and fix the price in advance. We had 3 rafting guide so we decided to give them 200 pesos each.

Off we go!

We start to feel the coldness of the water from that position

This bamboo ride will take you to the waterfalls and the raft will move carefully until you're all expose to the pressure of the water which makes a good water massage. One of your guide will choreograph the position you can do which target parts of your body and have it massage by the water pressure. Some group activities are really fun and we were all like screaming and laughing at the same time. It was a refreshing experience and people who'll visit the place should try it out.

Team Showtime position! 

After the bamboo ride, our group started exploring the other parts/falls of Kawasan. All of it have unpredictable water levels so for non swimmers you may rent safety vest at the first falls.

One of the few falls of Kawasan (Photo from Gladys Dizon)

I'm really paddling my feet so hard here. Caution: deep water, no joke (Photo from Byron Cantonjos)

There's another bamboo raft at the last station (Photo from Gladys Dizon)

We saw some folks jumping on a cliff at the last station, so we, Julius, Baron and I, decided to also give it a try. Apart from that, people who first jumped confirmed us that the level of water that we're going to land is deep and assured us that it is safe to do that kind of stuff in the area. The height of the jumping zone is 3-4 times of my height so it around 15-20 feet. I was scared then but excitement ruled me more. So I just prayed, jumped, and screamed!  After that jump, I was so happy that I can still do things despite the injury I had during our Mt Tabayoc climb. I guess nothing has changed and that I am back to my abnormal state. Yeah!

Baron, Author of Baron the Explorer (left) and Julius (right) (Photo from Gladys Dizon)

My version of our mini cliff jump! (Photo from Byron Cantonjos)

After our trek on the other parts of Kawasan Falls, we went back again to the first falls and spent some time there laughing, swimming, and having fun. Note: Don't take warnings who say that you need a guide in order for you to swim. You can go alone for as long as you know your capability as a swimmer. Just enjoy the cold water and the beautiful view of Kawasan Falls.

Photo op! (Photo from Byron Cantonjos)

Breakdown of Expense:
Transportation: 120 pesos (from Cebu South Bus Terminal - Badian)
Registration Fee: 10 pesos
Tour Guide: 150 pesos (good for group sharing; still negotiable)
Entrance Fee:
Bamboo Raft: 300 (good for group sharing)
Bamboo Raft Guide(s): 200 pesos each (good for group sharing; still negotiable)
Life Vest: 50 pesos
Chairs and Table: 300 pesos (good for group sharing)