I had too much of a lot of things in this 4-hour adventure, I do not even know where to begin storytelling. To summarize, I think I pretty much experienced everything that I had to in such a ride — I drifted, was rescued, bumped on rocks more than once, laughed so hard I could not paddle, caught trash in the water, got tumbled by the rapids, went under the water under the raft, and of course, had fun.
Our group / team. They are mountaineers!
So now, where do I begin? I will skip on the part that explains how I got to Davao in the first place.
Now I will start with the night before the rafting trip.
It was a Sunday night and we just came from Pearl Farm Beach Resort. Monday would be our last day in Davao, and will be the day of rafting. I packed up most of my things for the flight to Manila and prepared my usual swimming gears for rafting — swimsuits, change of clothes, sun block, goggles, aqua shoes and waterproof camera. We were out of the house early in the morning to get to Crocodile Park, the pick up point, on time.
We were first asked to sign a waver. The waver mentioned “death” several times. It also says that if an accident occurred due to the company’s negligence, you still cannot sue them. Things like these, we need to know. (I’ll upload a photo of the waver that you can read) I asked one of the staff if there has been any death with regards to their rafting activities. The guy half-jokingly answered “There’s always a first time, ma’am.” That being said, we still signed up for it. It’s really like taking a risk. And there’s always a risk in any adventure.
Briefing for Whitewater Rafting in Crocodile Park
The person who facilitated the briefing had really good English, though sometimes he talked fast. He also gave some witty remarks. He talked about safety first and taking care of belongings. There are lockers in Crocodile Park where you can leave your belongings. I left my waterproof camera due to their advise since there will be photographers to take our photos. I also left my goggles because the guides said that it’s better to not use them. We were also briefed about the length of the ride which is about 13 KM with around 21-25 rapids along the way. The rapids are from class 1 to 3. If it’s the rainy season, there are more rapids with higher levels.
Briefing at Crocodile Park
We were assigned to our groups in the briefing.
Start Off Point for Whitewater Rafting: Tamugan River
We were briefed on how to wear the life vest and taught the different paddling techniques – forward paddle, back paddle, easy paddle and hard paddle. The guide told us that the strength of the raft depends on us. We were also taught how to do rafting high-fives. We were then positioned in the raft. The two biggest men were in the front — they were supposed to be the leaders, the strong paddlers. Two other men after them, the the two ladies. Then me. We were also told about the rapids, capsizing, drifting, how to rescue and the correct position when in the water. In our group, I was the person used to demo how to rescue when we were still on land. It was kind of funny because I simply did not help in pulling my self up, I just let Wong, our guide, pull me to the raft.
all ears to the guides' pointers
The Whitewater Rafting Adventure Begins
We were the last boat to be able to move in the water because we were immediately stuck on rocks. We paddled to calm and deep waters, then taught how to rescue. Each had a rescue partner, I, who was at the end of the raft beside the guide, did not have a rescue partner. Wong jokingly said that no partner, no rescue. Hahaha.
I pretended to be helping out
we're surrounded by mountains
paddle hard!
We enjoyed the view and awaited for the rapids. After the first few rapids, we were allowed to drift. Drifting is when you let the water take you downsteam. I enjoyed drifting. Then one by one, we were told to go back to the raft when a rapid was nearing. I was always the first girl to be back on the boat. A few rapids after, we’re already getting the hang of it, until we stopped for lunch. There’s packed lunch of chicken and pork adobo with egg. There’s tetra-pack juice and bottled water and two mint candies.
drifting with a groupmate
Back to the water, I awaited for a really big rapid. I was getting a little bored for not getting some adrenalin rush. I was just glad when the next time we drifted and I was the first on the boat, I was positioned up front to paddle hard to be able to get our other group mates. There’s a bit of adrenalin rush there because there was only two of us in the boat to paddle, plus the guide so I enjoyed paddling hard and seeing how fast we glided in the water. When everyone was rescued, we’re back to braving the rapids. Then more rapids with smaller intervals started to line up. We high-fived more. We had a lot of photo opportunities because our guide was fun and we would always call the photographers to take our pictures.
Photo op with other groups
rapids!
There’s a group of old men – probably around their 50s-60s. They were so cool and as I was always watching them. Since our raft was always the first to cross the rapids, we stopped and watched the other rafts as they cross the rapids There was a time when I looked at the raft with the old men and gosh, the front paddler on the left was swinging with half his body almost out of the boat. This was right in the middle of an angry rapid, so the raft was moving a bit wild. Then pan to their guide, the guide was ecstatic, doing high-fives and facing the camera. The guide did not see the poor old guy who looked like he was riding a mechanical bull. It was so funny because the old man seemed to also be enjoying his ride, but honestly, I wanted to yell at the guide that Granpa’s almost down! But it was really a hilarious view. I laughed so hard my tummy ached and I had to stop paddling. And everytime I think about it, it’s still so funny! :D
one of the many times that we're stuck
Then came an unexpected event. We got trapped on a rock in a fairly strong rapid when two other rafts hit us one after the other. the hit took us out of the trap, but tipped over four of us. I felt myself washed by the rapid, then when I was almost surfacing, i saw a red blur passed over me, then trying to feel with my hands the surface of the water, I realized that I was under our raft. I glided under the raft then finally, I surfaced. I saw my group mates also in the water. One of them was even telling me to go near the sides so we can get rescued. Before I was able to go to the side, another boat from behind called me to rescue me. It was fun. The group who rescued me greeted me with a loud high-five! Then immediately gave me a paddle to move to a safe distance. I was watching from afar while my raft tried to save my other group mates, and other people that got tipped over from other boats. Then in calm water, I returned to my raft. It was a fun experience and it’s probably the adventure that I was kind of looking for.
another strong rapid
I will post the video where I got swept under the raft.
high five!
Before completing the 13KM ride, Wong told us that one raft wanted to try to capsize, so we needed to help in rescuing. I was not able to rescue anyone because my place that’s very near the guide was not very accessible to the people in the water. But everyone else in our raft was able to rescue at least one person. It’s ok with me too because I have weak arms, so my pull is not very good.
Our group after the rafting adventure
with our guide Wong
All in all, I enjoyed most of our rafting trip. I was thinking if I would do it again because there were parts where I was waiting for strong rapids, but after I was washed under the raft, i had a second thought. Also, the rocks under the water were really scary. My other group mates that fell on the water had bruises and cuts! But hey, I think given the chance, I’d definitely do it again!
Related Posts:
Pearl Farm Beach Resort, Davao (Part 1)
Pearl Farm Beach Resort, Davao (Part 2)
Isla Malipano, Davao
Giant Slide at the Maxima Aquafun, Island Garden City of Samal
Aldevinco Shopping Complex, Davao City
Crocodile Park and Tribu K’Mindanawan Cultural Village, Davao
Bogser’s Coffee House, Bangkal Davao
tourists love chillin’ at Vigan Heritage Village’s wooden benches
