Pagsanjan Favorites

Favorite thing: Well, this is my first time in Manila, and I have been advised by fellow colleagues who had been to Manila before that I should go to Pagsanjan to see the waterfalls. Today I understood why.

An amazing ride through a river which is split between mountains of about 300 feet each provides a natural scenic beauty and reminds me of the movie "The Anaconda". While its all said and done, today the water level was high, so all we made it was till the "The little falls" which is point number 9.

The Boatmen are the class of their own and the dexterity they show is simply amazing. I had the previlige of having the 1st seat in the canoe. The icing on cake is that it was rainind today :-) and no sun at all. Overall to summarize, any one with a human heart would realize the beauty of mother nature and like a poet rightly said "All things bright and beautiful, the Lord God made them all"

Things to be known for other travellers who wish to see this natural beauty: -

1.) If you are alone, the best option will be either to take a Bus from Gil Puyat / EDSA LRT corner or to go through some package tour which will be around 3000 pesos including all the services.

2.) If you are close by CUBAO then HM service lines bus service can be availaed. (I dont know the exact location of the bus terminal in Cubao)

2.) The Bus transportation service is Green Star Bus Service. They have Buses every 20 minute interval. One will have to get down in a place called Santa Cruz. The first bus leaves Manila at 3:20am, and the last bus from Santa Cruz is at 7pm. I strongly suggest that travellers begin as early as possible, because the bad traffic can be avoided, and at the sametime, the Canoe ride can be done while the sun is not so hot. Just to give you a fair understanding, I started off at about 7:40am in the Bus and reached Manila back by 4pm the same day.

3.) The bus fare is 140 Pesos one way from Gil Puyat. The Buses are in good condition equipped with A/C and music system. There is no advance reservation available and the seats can be occupied on first-come-first-served basis.

4.) Get down at Santa Cruz bus terminal and in front of the same you will have Jeepeney's waiting which will drop us in front of the tourism office in Pagsanjan. The fare is 20 Pesos. the tourism office is right beside the Pagsanjan police station. The tourism officers will be wearing ID cards. Beware of boatment who will be outside and trying to offer you their services. I would recommend that you proceed into the tourism office and opt for the services of the boatman which will be assigned by the tourism officer only.

5.) The boat fare ride to the Falls is 1250 Pesos. This is as of 26th Dec 2011. There is a little catch in this and that is, 1250 pesos is the boat ride to the falls per person. Now if you are not in group of more than 1, and you wish to ride alone then they will ask you for 2500 Pesos. This I discovered today and it was informed to me by the tourism officer.

6.) The best option would be to tag along other individuals, thats what I did and I paid 1350 Pesos. The 100 pesos extra is including the locker fees to store your stuff while you are on a boat ride. The people can be trusted and they will guard your baggage truthfully. The 1350 pesos is all inclusive fare of the boat ride, toll fees and insurance cover and the raft ride into the falls. Nothing extra should be paid apart from this. Also the tourism officer will show you a map of the journey and inform you till what point of the journey in the boat can be made on that day as it depends on the water level of the river. Also at the terminus of the ride to the falls, all the boatmen will stop at the same point. While coming, you will be dropped off in your boat at the same point where you have been picked up.

7.) Once you decide how you want to ride, the tourism officer will guide you to the boatman available and the officer will also tell you from where you can get the boat. You can either walk or ride a tricycle for 10 -20 Pesos depending on the distance from the tourism office

8.) Do not think that you will not get wet or even if you get wet it will only be a little. NO!!..you will be drenched wet. I strongly advise you to carry your floaters and a pair of extra clothes with you. You can also hire a raincoat at your pick up point. I am not sure of the price as I did not require it. Also I suggest that you hire a helmet for sure as the journey will take place very very closely alongside huge rocks sub merged in the water and God forbid, if you are not lucky on that day you may get hurt.

9) Cameras - Be very careful if you are carrying a DSLR camera. there is a high scope that the water may splash on to the DSLR lens. I would advise not to carry DSLR camera unless you are highly confident that you can protect it from the splashing water. If you have a basic digital camera, you can carry it provided you have a case. Without a case do not even imagine to carry a camera at all. I carried my basic digital cam as it had a case.

10) Everyone from the boatman, and the intial guy assigned to you at the tourism office with the exception of the tourism officer will be expecting a tip from you. I would advise that the tip rightfully should be given only to the two people who row your boat and no one else. A tip of 500 pesos (250 pesos per head) should be good for both the boatmen. You can also buy them a coke or a juice at the end of the onward journey if you wish to.

11) Beware of the initial guy, he will be making you offers that for 1000 pesos he will take you to a picnic park with unlimited of time and from the picnic spot you can walk to the falls. I did not want to explore this option as nothing of this sort was informed to me by the tourism officer.