Chasing the Pagsanjan Falls

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Going to Pagsanjan is perhaps one of the easiest day trips you can take when you’re looking for a respite from stress. You may also include it in your itinerary to Rizal and Batangas and other interesting places of Laguna such as Pangil, Liliw, Calamba, and Paete.

Getting There:

From Cubao, hop on any bus (Jam Transit, HM Liner, Grand Star) going to Sta. Cruz which is the capital of Laguna. Fare is P130 (air-cond) at the time of writing. Travel time is approximately 3 hours. You will pass by the municipalities of Calamba, Los Banos, and Pila. Get off at the rotunda of Sta. Cruz, then ride a tricycle going to Pagsanjan. Fare is P50 for this 5-minute drive. Getting back to Manila is very easy as there is a bus terminal near the rotonda.

Luckily when we got off the bus in Sta. Cruz, we were accosted by no less than a boatman himself who escorted us in the tricycle and brought us to Bonanza Resort. A few days before the trip, I’ve been looking for lodges thinking it might be necessary to check in and stay overnight lest the trip take our whole day and also because we originally planned to go to Munting Buhangin in Nasugbu, Batangas on Day 2. I checked with La Corona de Pagsanjan Hotel and the rate was (if I remember correctly) P2,200 for a standard room. Nah, we’re not taking that. We decided to go ahead and look for cheaper lodges upon arrival.

On the way, you will pass by a row of budget inns, many with signage in Korean. Bonanza Resort is actually just a simple structure with food store, lockers, basic shower and toilet area, and a registration table. It is owned by retired policeman and former Pagsanjan mayor, Abner Afuang. Gabby, our boatman, advised us not to rent a lodge anymore as the waterfalls trip will only take 1.5 hours. So we just rented a locker for P50.

The Trip

Shell out P660 per head for the boat ride, inclusive of tourism fee and life vest of course. Good thing they have life vests here, unlike in Hundred Islands, well good luck in your swimming skills if your boat capsizes. We started at 9:30. If you start early, traffic on the river is still light. At 10am traffic gets heavier specially in the rapids. Boats take turn in crossing the rapids since most of these areas are too narrow for a two-way traffic. On our way back, we met a row of boats with Korean tourists, imagine having to wait for 10 boats to finish in the rapids!

Nevertheless, watching the boatmen steer, pull, push, control the boat (they would’ve carried it if they should!), hopping like frogs on the slippery rocks is quite amazing! Not only the display of rippling muscles, but the sheer might in that task. Gabby has been a boatman for 21 years (lahat lumubog? I asked jokingly) so I was confident with his and his partner’s navigation.

I asked if I could train under him. Why not? Six months training, no pay though. Gabby’s number is 0910-2689223 if you want a boatman waiting for you when you get there.

At the end of the trip you ‘must’ give a tip to the boatmen. They will tell you foreigners give them $20 and it’s up to you if you want to give more or less. There were three of us, we shelled out P200 each. I computed how much they will earn in a day if they have xx number of boat trip in a day. And he said they would be lucky to get even one boat trip in a week because there are almost 3,000 licensed boatmen in Pagsanjan.

The whole length of Bumbungan River, because it is somewhat stagnant is murky green but surprisingly garbage-free. When the river meets the rocks, which they call rapids, the water gets clearer. Water runs at a varying depth of 20-30 feet. You can walk along the riverside but only up to a certain point near the “Welcome to Cavinti” signage. From there on, hiking on foot is impossible. You will feel as if you’re about to enter a different kingdom (ye, like Lord of the Rings) where two boulders rising about to a hundred meters height with rich vegetation and rock formations will totally isolate you from the rest of the Philippines. But yes, nasa Pinas ka pa din.

The first item in Gabby’s “watch out for list” is the stone frog. Then the monkeys which we never saw. We saw a beautiful bird with blue tail feathers. I forgot the name but we sure do have that in Manila, they sell P20 only, may orange and purple birds pa nga hehe.

Tabing-Ilog which used to air in ABS-CBN was shot in this river. Along with other movies which I don’t remember watching but Anna (my lakwatsa buddy) did such as The Boatman and Apocalypse Now. There are lots of mini-falls, some say about 19 but we sighted only five or six. I asked Gabby what are their names and he said “wag mong intindihin yan, may umiihi lang sa taas.”

Shown here is Talahib Falls and the “resto”. During rainy season if the river is swollen, the trip is only up to that area which also serves as a stopover. There is a food store that serves meals like grilled eggplant, barbecue, chicken adobo for P40 pesos up. We didn’t try them though. We bought canned soda for our two boatmen. Pricey, P40 each.

The major falls called Magdapio Falls or popularly known as Pagsanjan Falls is at the end of the river. To get to the exact waterfall drop and get inside the cave behind the falls, shell out another P90 per head to ride the raft. You have to shell out yet another tip to the two raft men. The Korean we shared the raft with didn’t give them a tip but we’re the kinder fellowmen so we gave them P200.

The water is murky brown. It was almost scary when you reach the falls. Imagine, it was about a 90-meter high waterfall and the sheer cascade dropping on your skull or the nape of you neck. This is your all-natural hydrotherapy spa baby! I felt like my skull will break into pieces but I couldn’t escape the drop lest I fall off the raft so I settle down by screaming my lungs out!!! Supah-fun!

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Thanks to my lakwatsa buddies – the sisters Anna and Shawna Salazar.

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Filed under Falls

Tags: Abner Afuang, Apocalypse Now, Bonanza Resort, Bumbungan River, Falls, La Corona de Pagsanjan, Laguna, Magdapio, Pagsanjan, Tabing Ilog, Talahib