white water rafting davao

the time we were handed a paddle and the raft was set afloat, i knew the adventure has begun. i've been longing to do this and doing it here in Davao was special as i've heard that this river has a good number of rapids.

the first thing we did was to be trained how to pull one up when one falls down from the raft. each one has to do it, commanding us to jump and be pulled up by the person opposite your side. it was doable and was actually exciting to start it doing this. you get the feel of the water. it was cold and calm at the put-in area but you can hear the rapids from afar. the sound of adventure.

synchronization was important but knowing the commands and doing it correctly seemed to be challenging. simple commands like "easy forward", "forward right" and "forward left" became a bit complicated when the raft begins to hit the rapids.

we were laughing all the way as one misses the command because of the excitement of seeing the rapids coming. plain and calm waters comes after each exciting rapid giving us the chance to do drifting which was also our favorite.

to drift is just to jump out of the raft, position yourself in a lying form with your head at the back while your foot going ahead and just go with the flow. very similar when one does floating along a lazy river.

we encountered a lot of rapids which were just full fun but there were those notable ones like the "washing machine", which by its name itself, you know what to anticipate. the type that we were very excited to encounter. the photo below shows moments before the so called "washing machine". after each rapids conquered, we all raised our paddles and shout high five. a symbol of achievement and the experience of thrill.

though it is summer, when the water is low and the rapids are not as strong as it can be during the rainy seasons, the notable ones still brought a different excitement.

you will be rewarded with great views of high walls on the right side while its mostly flat on the other side. it is here when one can just take shots of the beautiful Davao river. the sun was up but we didn't quite felt the tanning heat, because of the cool environment.

as we went along, more rapids were ahead of us with one of our favorite dubbed as "kiss the wall". it's when the river gets narrower leading us no other way but to hit the rocky walls on our right. absolute fun!

the last part was to cross the rapids under a large bridge. it was at this point that we again turned 360 degrees while moving forward. best way to end a long wild river experience.

the hours of paddling and drifting was all fun with a great team of River One Adventure Davao. it is when an exciting experience of nature, along with really good friends, experienced and witty guides that makes this adventure most memorable.i highly recommend Davao's white water rafting as according to lawstude has more rapids than the ones in Cagayan de Oro. special thanks to River One Adventure for the photos here (with river one watemark) and also to travel buddy Jonee for his all-condition digital camera, which i used during the adventure.for updated rates, you can contact River One Adventure by email river01advetunre@yahoo.com or contact directly at 09153286857 or (082)-3057624.