For years living here in Cebu, I’ve finally visited and been to one of the top tourist attractions in Cebu, Badian’s Kawasan Falls. But sadly, I was too tired (since we traversed from Osmena Peak to Kawasan) and I don’t want to leave my things I didn’t dive into the cold waters of the falls.
So basically, I can give and share with you guys only the tips I can share with you, like how to get to Kawasan Falls, rates and fees, etc. I can’t really share much when it comes on how’s the water and the experience – I know, I’m such a kill joy.
Why Visit Kawasan Falls?
Other than having a bucket list crossed on your list or just being able to brag online that you’ve conquered this falls in Cebu Philippines, the cold water and refreshing environment might just what you’re looking for to get out with from the city life – take a break, have a KitKat. LOL.
Other than the falls, you might enjoy the view going to the falls, it’s just about 20 – 30 minutes away from the main highway where the bus will drop you off. On the way to the falls, you’ll get to see and witness it yourself the local life…
A calming view and music from the waters…
And you just might want to stop walking and just dip in there – like how I felt.
For those things made me really want to come back again maybe sometime soon, it reminds me of my grandma’s place where behind her house is a small river like it. Wherein they wash the dishes, wash their clothes, and I get my own clear water pool.
All you can hear there is the water flowing, the water splashing, and falling from the top, and of course the people enjoying the cold water of the falls.
Tips for Your Day Trip to Kawasan Falls
Again, I can only leave you a few tips and tips that I was able to think of while observing there. Anyway, here are the few tips I can share with you:No Guide Needed Going to Kawasan Falls. Unless, you’re going for the canyoneering experience they have, then of course you need a guide. But if you’re just going to go to the Kawasan falls, and swim there there’s no need for it. There will be a couple of guys that will offer this to you and even a ride for a certain fee but really, you can totally walk it. And I think, you’d be able to appreciate more the view going to the falls if you walk.
Wear a comfortable shoes or sandals. I was wearing a training shoes, so it was totally fine but still there are some parts going to the third tier of the falls that are hard for me. I was sweating like I’m steamed.
Using the Kawasan Falls is FREE, but there’s an entrance fee. So I’m not sure if you can say it’s 100% free. There will be a group of women in a shed that will tell you that you need to pay the entrance fee, I believe it’s for the maintenance of the area. They did gave a receipt for us though. Entrance fee (as of April of 2015 is P20).
Cottages are available, but optional. Our guide Janice actually said that it’s okay if we don’t have a cottage since the locals just made it commercialized in having their own restaurants there. But I want to be able to sit down comfortably, eat comfortably, and be able to have a place to leave my things so we got the cottage. The cottage can be rented for P300.
No life jacket is required, but it’s recommended. Living here in Cebu for years, I’ve heard a lot of accidents in that falls. So, if you want to be safe then you may rent a life jacket, but if you’re a good swimmer and knows when to stop swimming and go somewhere safe then you don’t need it.
Avoid going on weekends, holidays, and summer. Because other than the tourists, it’s also the favorite spot of the locals and favorite place of Cebuanos to cool down and get away from the summer heat. Actually, on that day (if you haven’t noticed in the photos) the falls is actually too crowded for me.
Bring your own food and drinks (highly recommended). From drinks to meals, it’s over priced there and they have a slow service. So if you can, do bring your own food, if you have the budget, willing to wait, and don’t want extra stuff to carry around then it’s okay to get the food there. Please take note again of the slow service, can you imagine that we were actually the one who’s writing on the piece of paper for our orders? The waiter said “mam, palihug nalang kog sulat sa inyong order diri mam” (mam, please write your orders here) because he seems needed somewhere else and he came back more than 30 minutes later. So, imagine what time we were able to eat.
The drinks are also expensive, the 1.5L of coke itself was overpriced in the waterfalls area to 50. But you can buy one at the locals just before the bridge it will only cost P30. Luckily, we brought our water.
How to Get to Kawasan Falls
Kawasan Falls Itinerary
As I’ve mentioned to my Osmena Peak blog post, we did a traverse from Osmena Peak to Kawasan Falls. I’ll be sharing my itinerary for that day on another blog post, but for this if you just want to directly to Kawasan it’s ideal to follow this.8:00 am – Meet at South Bus Terminal
9:30 am – ETA in Matutinao, Badian
10:00 am – ETA in Kawasan Falls
3:00 pm – Leave Kawasan Falls
4:30 pm – ETA in Cebu City
It will take about 1 hour to travel from Cebu city south bus terminal to Badian, but I made a bit of allowance to the time since depending on the day and season you’re going or visiting the Kawasan Falls, there might be a bit of traffic. As for us, going back to the city took us more than an hour (if I am right it took us about 4 hours to get to the city) due to some stops made and the traffic.
Kawasan Falls Budget and Expenses
Up next of course, is to share with you guys the expenses I've made for this trip. Here are the Kawasan falls expenses and rates that I was able to gather.P 105/way - Bus Fare
P 20/head - Entrance Fee
P 300 - Cottage
P 200 - Food
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P730 - Total
The total expenses above are the only expenses I've made. Since I didn't swim, I wasn't able to make any expenses on life jackets or use the raft (which is for rent). Here are the other Kawasan rates you might be interested with.
P 300 - Raft Rent
P 50 - Life Jacket
Kawasan Falls Tour and Contact Person
As I've mentioned above, we did a traverse from Osmena Peak to Kawasan Falls, so sine I've never done this before we have someone tour us and our contact person for this is Janice. You can easily find her on WithLocals, and that's just through clicking the button below.Janice is a traveler too, so this kind of a gig is really great for her. Go ahead and check her out!
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