When the name “Kawasan” comes up in conversations, in adventure-seekers and nature-lovers’ circles, in particular, “canyoneering” would be the logical thing to come to mind. After all, the place has become famous for its canyoneering activities. Which I’d also love to do. And we were already there. Too bad we didn’t have enough time, because you’d need at least more than half a day for it. Which we didn’t have. So we just settled for checking out the waterfalls instead.
Kawasan Falls is located in the municipality of Badian, which is next to Moalboal. According to Google, Moalboal is 34 minutes away from Badian, and we thought it’s worth it to go before we checked out and headed back to the City.
After our island-hopping and sardine run experience (you have to check out that post here), we rode on a habal-habal – all five of us – and went on that more than 30-minute ride to Kawasan Falls.
There were a lot of canyoneering outfitters by the road on the way to Kawasan Falls. Even as we got off on the side of the road, there were locals approaching us convincing us to try canyoneering. But we had to say no because we had to be back at our accommodations around lunchtime to head back to Cebu City later that afternoon.
The trek to the waterfalls… well, I wouldn’t even call it a trek, because it’s simply following a concrete path, stone in most parts and dirt-packed in some, but there are no slopes or climbs to be made. There’s a stream alongside the path, and river crossings were limited to crossing bridges and footbridges. I must say it’s pretty safe and very friendly even for the elderlies.
Kawasan Falls has three layers or tiers, falling into natural pools where people frolic and play in the water. As we were approaching, we can already spot quite a number of people on sheds… or shaded tables close to the waterfall.
I did read in a local Cebuana’s blog before how disappointed she was that the waterfalls part has become so “commercialized”. And I suppose that’s inevitable for a waterfall that provides easy access (easier than other waterfalls, I mean).
I won’t let that take away my joy from seeing another waterfall, however.
From the road, it will take you around 20 to 30 minutes to get to the waterfall… depending on your pace, that is. And the amount of human traffic.
We rented a table for around Php250, if my memory serves me right. We would have passed on it, but we had some stuff that we can’t just leave lying around, so we had to. We also rented some life vests for Php50 each, because we wanted to get into the water and, due to our lack of swimming skills, needed it to get close to the cascade.
Look at the first tier.
We would have gotten a bit closer, but as I was treading water forward, I spotted a couple underneath the cascade, and they were… well, in some serious liplock sesh that I wouldn’t want to crash, haha! So we just decided to keep our distance.
Anyway, the view from this distance is already a good one.
Without realizing it, we have spent more than 30 minutes in the water. And there were still a couple of tiers left.
So three of us went up to take a look at the upper tiers. This was where the trail has become challenging. Tree roots were particularly unforgiving, criss-crossing the path so that one wrong step, and you’d get all entangled and, worse, injured.
This area was a lot less crowded than the first tier… although there were still quite a number of people. I’m not sure if this was already the third tier and we missed the second one on the way up (because there were several mini-falls we passed on the way), but we saw some people who just finished their canyoneering making that jump from the top of the cascade.
Personally, I think the upper tier was prettier and higher, although it does not have as much water as the first one. The pool was much wider too, and there was even an area on the side where you can swing on a tree limb then drop into the water.
We just dipped into the water and watched the canyoneering junkies jump from the waterfall, and all those swinging monkeys (I mean, people, really) making a loud splash into the water.
Kawasan Falls is not as tall or majestic as other waterfalls I’ve seen. I’ve seen plenty more beautiful places, but I can see the charm of this one. I appreciate also how it is still clean, compared to other waterfalls that are just as “commercialized”.
I’d also have to agree with others who weren’t as pleased with how “commercialized” this was. The stores and tables were so close to the water. It’s so… there. Like, you’re sitting on a table, and you need only to take a couple of steps to get into the water. It just didn’t set so well with me, I didn’t even bother taking a photo of it. XDD
But if you focus only on the waterfall itself, then I guess you could ignore that fact. Or pretend it wasn’t the case. Because it still has some of the things I love about waterfalls: the calming sound of the water cascading down rocks and dropping into the water, the spray of water as you get closer to the cascade, the gentle (and sometimes not-so-gentle) push of the water as you try to get close…
Yep, it’s all there. And I’m glad we made time for this visit.
