Conquering the Cagayan de Oro River–Water Rafting

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The City of Cagayan de Oro is the provincial capital of the province of Misamis Oriental in the Philippines. It’s known to be the “City of Golden Friendship”. Its also noted to be the melting pot of Mindanao because of its accessibility, business growth, attractions and notable warmth and hospitality of the people. Also, known as the shopping capital of the northern Mindanao region. There are several shopping malls in the city and the notable ones include the following Ororama Chain of Stores, Limketkai Mall, SM City Cagayan de Oro, Robinsons Cagayan de Oro, Centrio, Paseo Mall, Gaisano City Malls. The Divisoria Night Market is set up on Friday and Saturday nights where people can buy great bargains from the nearby Night Market.
Cagayan de Oro is considered as one of the Tourist' spots in the Philippines. It is also a favorite among nature lovers and adventurers because of its famous whitewater rafting and kayaking. Whitewater rafting has been one of the tourism activities being promoted in the Cagayan de Oro River.
There were 3 major reasons why I want to got to Cagayan de Oro: First, I wanna experience the White Water Rafting, next is to Jump off to Camiguin and lastly to go to Dahilayan Adventure Park. I was able to cover 2 on my first visit but not the Dahilayan Adventure because of time constraints, nevertheless I find the experience very memorable, topping off that its my first escape to Mindanao provinces. I realized that there are more places to visit in Mindanao and Im eager to conquer them the soonest possible time.

Talk about the White Water Rafting, I had fun cruising the Cagayan de Oro River. I took a beginners course as im a bit hesitant to jump to extreme as this is my first time, but mind you guys, the beginners course is Boring. The rapids are not that exhilarating.. I wish I could’ve signed up for extreme as manong River Guide told us that are a lot who have tried the extreme courses even though its there first time.

I paid Php 700.00 for this course, value for money indeed because this includes pick up and drop off to and from the hotel plus the rafting itself. We were picked up around 8 AM and we arrived at the rafting site past 9 AM. We settled ourselves and geared up for the adventure. About 15 minutes of briefing were we learned about safety cruising and what to do in cases of emergency. After which, we headed to our rubber boats and start our adventure. Four things to remember: Paddle Forward, Paddle Backward, Stop and High Five. There were 9 paddlers and 1 river guide per rubber boat. A photographer carried by a single kayak rubber boat is responsible for checking the way and at the same time capturing moments while we paddle. The beginner’s course contains 14 rapids in a 12 kilometer stretch. It’s kind of funny because they named some of the rapids after a celebrity who falls during the ride. The 4^th rapid was known to be the Paolo Santos’ rapids.

While paddling and cruising the Cagayan de Oro river, I cant help but notice the rich landscape along the river banks, aside from that, you are actually cruising in between two places, CDO and Bukidnon. This may not be good for sight seers though coz the locals do their laundry and dry their clothes on the rocks along the rivers. I also noticed kids waving at us while were passing through, it puts a smile on my face. We got the chance to swim in still waters and experience a cool splash, I met new friends that makes this ride enjoyable and memorable for me.