Lake Sebu and Zipline above its Waterfalls

After breakfast on our second day at GenSan, we proceeded to Lake Sebu, the name of the town with many lakes and waterfalls. Its more than a 2-hour trip with lots of transfers, yet its all worth the time and effort.

From Amigotel, we rode a tricycle to Bulaong bus terminal to board an airconditioned Yellow Bus to Koronadal City (formerly known as Marbel). Fare is Php 75/person.

In Koronadal, we walked further from Yellow Bus terminal to the vans that has direct trip to Lake Sebu. However, it takes too long for the van below to get full, so we returned to the Yellow bus terminal to get to Surallah at Php 27/person. Anyway, that same van below was our ride back to Koronadal later that afternoon. :)

Arriving at Surallah, there was a week-long Lembohung Festival, so the town has that festive mood with tiangge, etc.

On their major rotunda, they have this larger-than-life "monument" of the town, carved by Kublai Millan. I took the photo below from our moving vehicle, so its blurred. It should have been a nice side trip possibility, if not for my son whom I don't want to awaken from his nap.

While waiting for our jeepney ride to Lake Sebu, I sampled this baked binangkan breads which are good.

The jeep has scheduled trips even if not full, so it left the Surallah transport terminal after about 15 minutes. Fare is 35 per person.

On Lake Sebu, we asked a habal-habal to take us to Punta Isla resort at Php 10/person. The same driver offered to bring us to the zipline and waterfalls at Php 100/head, of which we agreed after our lunch.

Since we have limited time, we opted to dine upstairs, and not at the floating restaurant below.

We ordered hototay, 2-pcs of grilled tilapia, 3 cups of rice, and soda drink each, for a total bill of Php 294. Prices are reasonable, considering their 4-pax portion sizes for most viands. Still a nice view of the lake from our dining area.

Then the trike driver Junjun (0916-1274562) got back to bring us the zipline and waterfalls #1. Entrance fee is Php 20/adult, but they waived my son's entrance fee.

Below are the photos of the block-style waterfalls. It creates a heavy mist, so its impossible not to get wet when approaching its base. The trail here is slippery because of the muddy soil, so we have to be very careful when taking photos.

They have a viewing bridge which also allows visitors to see the waterfalls from a nice angle.

The red arrow points to the people who are near the waterfalls #1.

After photo ops, we walked to the zipline staging point on the same compound. Since it was a weekday, I paid the lower rate. My wife and son rode the habal-habal to be at the endpoint.

They say its country's longest zipline, if we add the 2 zipline trips. It allows the rider to see not just one, but 4 waterfalls in both trips!

For Php 100, they will give you either 2 hard copies of your zipline photo, or 10 digital copies.

I was afraid to drop my camera phone while taking photos during the zipline trips. To give you an idea, the waterfall numbers 3-5 look like this, as borrowed from Marxtermind's blog:

Below are the photos I took from staging point no. 2, as well as at the endpoint of the zipline.

From the endpoint which is also the parking area, below is the view of waterfalls #2.

Not satisfied with distant view of the waterfalls, I decided to approach its base through a trail below the parking area. Junjun said it will take me 30 minutes to get there, but I made it in less than 15 minutes. As I got nearer, the sound of splashing water got louder, while the fine water mist creates a rainbow as sunlight hits it.

There are stores and a snack bar prior to reaching the waterfalls' base.

I was alone on the waterfalls, so getting a photo from my camphone is another challenge. :)

We went back to the jeep teminal before 4:30 pm, the last trip back to Surallah. We were able to board that same van above that took us straight to Koronadal, without doing the transfer at Surallah.