"Cagayan De Oro - Extreme Adventures Haven!" Top 5 Page for this destination Cagayan de Oro City by anliz99

Cagayan de Oro is really the place for extreme adventures. It is not for the faint of heart. All activities here are adrenaline pumping and breathtaking. For those seeking a different adventure vacation, CDO is the place for you.

We tried the whitewater rafting western style and we had a great time. It was fun and scary at the same time especially if you are in the rapids and paddling your way to safety. There was even a time that we were holding on to the safety line and were suddenly told to paddle. Because we had to let go of the line to paddle and we got scared with the big wave, none of us paddled! We just screamed "Ayaw!!!" and continued to hold on to the safety line :) Of course, we nearly bumped into the wall cliff because of this. Good thing, we had a great guide in the person of Aris.

The next day, we decided to try also the "Pinoy Tubing" which is similar to the western rafting but instead of a raft, we were sitting on rubber tubes (much like a tire). There were 4 tied together. Since there were 6 of us, we were in two groups (with a guide each who paddles). Wow! Glad we tried this after the western rafting. Our 'scary' rapids experience with the western rafting is nothing compared to this! We felt each of the rapids because we're right in the middle of it, half submerged all the time. Our tubes even flipped twice!!!

Whitewater rafting! That's me in front :)

For our third day in CDO, we went to Mapawa Nature Park for the river trek/canyoneering adventure. For this trip, you will need to make an advance booking and payment (at least 3 days before). Aside from our group (6 of us), there was an entire family who joined us in the trip (2 parents with 4 children).

This is an adventure that I am also recommending to everyone. It's being face to face with your fears (especially heights and 'blind jumps') and at the end of the day congratulating yourself for being able to do all these!

First thing we did was ride their monstrous truck that will bring us to the jump off point. It was about 30-40 mins bumpy ride across streams, rainforest, cliff edge. The ride itself is an adventure.

At jump off point, we walked for another 25 mins going down to the waterfalls. The first challenge is to do a slide down a 20-ft waterfalls. It was quite exhilirating although a bit scary. After that, there were treacherous trek down the limestones, rocks and streams. Had to do body rappel, slide down ropes until we get to the 2nd challenge. This is the "JUMP". We had to jump from a 30-ft edge of a rock beside the waterfalls. Yes, this scared me a lot because it involves letting go and just jumping and trusting that someone below will save you from drowning. It took me about 12 seconds before I jumped. I think the longest in our group was 2 mins. Which is not bad at all because we heard that other groups took 1-1.5 hours before they decided to jump. The last challenge was rappelling down 65-ft beside a raging waterfalls. This was awesome! Kim Possible!!!

After this, we had a great lunch (included in the package) and then we went swimming in some of the watering holes. Then, a long trek up followed going up to where the truck is parked. This was more tiring I guess because it was quite hot and our energy is already sapped. Another bumpy truck ride, and we're done!

Just to close the adventure right, we also did the 100-meter zipline :)

Rappelling down the 65-ft wall

To cap our trip, we decided to spend our last night and day in Opol beach. About 30 mins from the city. We went swimming in the morning and visited this interesting island sandbar and their marine sanctuary. All in all, 4 days 3 nights was just enough. I think if we had two more days, maybe we'd have done caving also and the canopy walk in Claveria. Maybe next time :)

So, how much did it cost us? For the 4d/3n, it was about 7k per person excluding the plane fare. This is because each of the activities cost a bit (P1200 for pinoy tubing, P700 for rafting, P1050 for mapawa plus all the other expenses).

• Pros:Adventures Galore!
• Cons:Can be costly
• In a nutshell:Adventures Paradise of the Phils!