Canyoneering (or canyoning) means traveling in canyons using a variety of techniques that may include walking, scrambling, climbing, rappelling, jumping and swimming. It is a must-do activity on the island of Cebu, Philippines. There are several places on the island where you can go canyoneering but the most popular is the one in Badian.
Around Moalboal where I stayed, the average price going around for the package was PHP1500. Some tricycle drivers offered PHP1300. I'm not sure if it goes any cheaper than that. To avoid hassle, I simply booked at my hostel reception. It was PHP1400, including lunch and transfer. Since it was the monsoon season, I was a little scared that it might rain the next morning, but the receptionist told me not to worry. The trip wouldn't get cancelled if it rained. It was only going to be more fun and challenging, he said. I was told to wear a good pair of sneakers, aqua shoes or sandals with straps. No flip-flops were allowed.
The next morning, the driver picked me up at my hostel at 8.30 a.m. Joining me was a Japanese American guy named John who stayed at another hostel nearby. There would only be the two of us in our group. This was a good thing because the more people you had in your group meant the longer it would take for you to finish. But it could also be a bad thing for me because I usually only feel brave when there's someone who's more scared than I am. The larger the group, the higher the chances are to find such a person.
Our van stopped at a tour shop where we got our life vests and helmets, and signed the indemnity form. The life vests had pockets in the front where you could put your water bottles. We had both brought our own dry bags for our phones and wallets. But I put mine in John's bag as his was bigger. From the tour shop, to get to the starting point, we shared a ride on a habal-habal, which is a long motorbike that could fit up to five people (and maybe more).
At the starting point, we listened to a safety briefing given by a member of the staff. Then we registered our names and began the journey. Be prepared to walk for about 20 minutes to get to the canyon. By the time we reached, I was already out of breath, so we took a short break. The place was already crowded with large tour groups.
We then made our way to the first jump. This was actually one of the highest jumps out of the five or six that we'd be doing throughout the trip. The first jump was compulsory while the rest was optional. The guide was telling me where I should land, because if I missed, I might hit a rock, and I was like, "Riiiight, as if I know how to aim." It took me some time to gather my courage, but I did it.
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| Before the first jump |
The second jump was slightly painful. The life vest had straps that went around both my legs, near the crotch, so when I fell hard into the water and the vest tried to buoy me up, the straps kind of pulled my butt cheeks too far apart and tore my perineum. Going to the bathroom was awful for a few days after that. (Sorry, too much detail) 😁
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| Before the second jump |
I'd been doing all these activities that scared me in the hope that it would help me get rid of the fears I had. But I realized that it didn't work that way. The fears were always going to be there. Those activities only trained me to handle them better. But sometimes I'd still have my weak moments. This was one of the times that I let the fear take over me. For some reason, during the third jump, I chickened out even though it was not as high as the previous jumps I did. Maybe it was because of the queue that had started to form behind me that made me even more self-conscious. Or maybe it had something to do with my little 'accident' earlier.
So I skipped two jumps, including the highest one (40 ft). But I still managed to enjoy the experience, swimming beneath the stalactites, sliding down rocks, or simply floating in the aquamarine water.
I saw one or two spots where other people were queuing to jump, that our guide seemed to deliberately avoid. I wonder if it was because of me that he didn't even bother taking us there.
When I got home and looked at the videos, I started to get mad at myself. John seemed to be having a lot more fun than I was because he did all the jumps. Although the camera was mine, it had more videos of him than of me. I had come all the way from my country, taking two flights to get there, and it's probably going to be a long time before I get a chance to visit again (if at all), and I had wasted the opportunity just like that. I wish I hadn't been such a coward. Okay, maybe I'm overreacting. But it's true what they say. In the end we only regret the chances we didn't take.
