My best bud and I had the most amazing time in Cebu when we embarked on this activity. The booking via Klook was extremely easy, and our hotel pickup details were emailed to us 2 days before the event.
We were assigned a private car and driver for the entire day, which surprised us. Our driver, Dennis, was the sweetest and nicest tito ever. He was always smiling, and never too shy engaging with us. Heck, we had hours of non-stop karaoke sessions in his car that kept us awake with energy during the long drives between locations. We were able to store our belongings safely in this car while we embarked on both the Oslohb whale shark and Badian canyoneering activity.
It is true: the whale shark activity is 3 hours driving, 3 hours waiting, and 30 minutes of actual snorkelling. On paper, that sounds too short. But in reality, every moment was an experience. The boat row out to sea felt like the calm before a storm—what was going to actually happen once we stopped? Turns out, the moment we dropped into the waters, we were barely a meter away from whale sharks of various sizes. In fact, we were even touched by some! The whale sharks were majestic, and being able to swim so up close to them was an experience of a lifetime.
After the whale shark activity, we had to take an almost 90 mins drive (with Dennis) to Badian for our Canyoneering activity. The activity started with a serious indemnity form signing, briefing, and another short drive to the start point. There, we met hundreds of other thrill seekers, and was given another briefing before choosing to take a hike to the start point, or the zip line. We picked the hike and got some of the most amazing mountain views.
The whole Canyoneering experience was nothing short of exhilarating fun!!! We will totally do it all over again. We were accompanied by the best guides ever—Jerome and his partner. They did not treat us like tourists—they treated us like their own pare (brothers) and took very good care of us, while making it fun all along the way. They guided and encouraged us to go through exciting routes, jumps, falls, and even served as our private photographers and videographers. Being experienced, they knew the best angles for all the shots.
Badian Canyoneering was 3 hours+ of non stop climbing, jumping, swimming, and hiking. It was an amazing adventure in nature.
All in all, no words can describe how enjoyable the whole day was. It was not just the activities, but also the company. We will remember the team who was with us, and hope we can visit them again.