White Water Rafting - Cagayan De Oro

For the summer of 2011, my friend and I decided to visit Cagayan de Oro (CDO) and Camiguin. Located in Northern Mindanao, these places have a lot to offer to tourist.

In CDO, the main attraction would be the white water rafting along the Cagayan de Oro River. Several local companies offer their services for this adventure. Personally, I chose Bugsay because their price is reasonable and they were very accommodating during my inquiries. For Php700, we were off to try the rapids of the river.

Several courses are available for you to try. There is the Beginner's Course, which is about 3 hours of river run, consisting of 14 rapids. Advanced and Extreme courses are also offered which means starting off from the higher section of the river, thus, longer river run and wilder and more rapids. We chose the beginner's, but after the run, I admitted that I should have chosen the next higher course. Because really, it wasn't as frightening as it looked. Besides, before the run, a short orientation is given regarding what-to-do and what-not, plus tips to avoid injuries. If you just listen and follow directions, river rafting is going to be a very enjoyable experience. 

Since it was just me and my friend, Bugsay also arranged that we join other groups since a raft can accommodate about 8 persons. The idea was a welcome to us because it's also a chance to meet fellow travelers. The start off point is at Brgy. Mambuaya. This scared me at first, "buaya" being the local term for crocodiles, but our guide assured us that there are no crocodiles there only snakes. Great! Don't worry though, the snakes are on the mountains/cliffs, and the chance of them falling on sailing rafts is nil.

So, off we go! "Paddle Forward!!! Paddle Backward!!! High Five!!!" 

Well, how was our white water rafting adventure? Truly an adrenaline rush!!! I really enjoyed it that's why I wish I took the advanced course instead. I will surely try that next time. Davao also offers this kind of water activity but from what I've heard, CDO river is a better experience - longer river run and more challenging rapids. 

By the way, if any of you plan to experience this as well, you can contact me so I can refer you to our river guides. 

All noteworthy, CDO has a night cafe every Friday and Saturday nights. The streets of Plaza Divisoria turns into a street restaurant, with lots of caterers offering a variety of dishes but mainly consisting of "inihaw". Various entertainment are also present like mini-concerts, musical artists playing their choice of instruments, dance groups, fire dancers, etc. 

Trivia: CDO river is the boundary between CDO and Bukidnon.