So, I have to admit. Our trip last week to Danao’s steadily rising eco-tourism superpower was totally unplanned. Here’s the original deal: My mom simply wanted to go to Carmen to visit the Monastery of the Benedictine Monks in Barangay Corte. It was supposed to be a short half-day trip which would end with an early lunch in Danao City before the short drive back home. That didn’t happen, however, because we saw a sign inviting us to check out the Danasan Eco Adventure Park. Well, what the hey, we’re already in Danao. We might as well take this chance to check the place out. Like my mom, I’ve heard a lot, and I mean A LOT, about this park. I follow their Facebook Page updates and I see tons and tons of smiling and satisfied customers posing for souvenir photos. Well, this park really must be something. So, to satisfy her curiosity and to quell my thirst for adventure, we both said: “Heck, why not?”
For this trip, Consolacion served as our starting point. By the way, they have this new McDonalds right in front of SM City Consolacion. The view from the restaurant is excellent.
SM City Consolacion looks great even in the early morning.
And am I happy to see this! Consolacion is finally fixing their roads! Rejoice!
About time don’t you think?
The national road in this part of Liloan is amazing, though!
Short stop in Liloan for some MASI!
We then dropped by Danao City to buy some lanzones. Here’s the back view of Gaisano Danao.
Our next stop was the Monastery of the Benedictine Monks in Carmen. Here is the giant statue of Sr. Santo Niño which stands on top of a hill.
We lit a few candles to give thanks and offer a few prayers.
The amazing staircase which leads to the giant statue and the chapel.
On our way back to Danao City, my mom reminded me about this sign that she saw.
This Way to Danao ECO Adventure Park. Too bad I didn’t clearly see that at the bottom of the sign, it says “27 KM.” Like seriously.
Before driving back to Danao, we had a light snack of lanzones, water, and masi. That’s more than enough, right? RIGHT?
The loooong drive begins.
We were thinking that the whole stretch would be good concrete road. We were very wrong.
View of the coast of Danao. Beautiful!
21 KM to the park. WAIT, WHAT? 21???????????
Getting to Danasan is no easy feat, you all must know. You basically travel 27 kilometers through different types of roads, terrains, and barangays. I’m guessing the difference in the quality of the roads depends on the political, financial, and economic standing of each barangay. I might be wrong, okay? It’s just my theory. Haha.
So, if you haven’t been to Danasan, expect to see awesome roads,
not so awesome roads,
horrible roads,
and deathly, traumatic roads.
This part almost introduced my face to some loose gravel. Mom was not pleased. Hahaha.
What? Still 16????????????????? We’ve been traveling nonstop for like forever!
Nice view. I hope we’re almost there. One important note: If you’re driving to Danasan and you’re taking your family with you and you’re the impatient type, it would be best to put your kids to sleep during the long drive. Chances are, they’re going to ask “Are we there yet?” a gazillion types before you actually reach the place. Trust me, I asked myself this a trillion times.
A very tough-looking footbridge over a very small river. At least Danao’s SK leaders are actually doing something.
I’m guessing this river rises dangerously high when it rains hard. Otherwise, this project is sooo Napoles-sed.
6 more. We can do it!
In fairness to the park, they have A LOT of road-side signs.
Short pee-break. Danao’s mountain ranges are gorgeous.
4 KM. So near yet so far!
Another horrible stretch. No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And finally, we saw this sign. Didn’t know DANASAN was a barangay.
Through more tall grasses.
And then, finally, this. Yeah!!!!!!!!
Purely basing on how the park is obviously designed to attract Classes C, B, and A, the main entrance looks a little, uhmm, surprising.
Entrance fee guys. After traveling 27 kilometers, they ask you to pay Php50 each. Great. Don’t mind the guy in green. He doesn’t do that to himself everytime a guest arrives. He was just looking for some change when I shot this.
Tickets. Here we go!
The beautiful beasts that we saw as soon as we entered the park. Nice!
ATVs!!! Cool!
This one is the souvenir shop, the zipline tower, and the restaurant. Right beside the souvenir shop is the main counter/lobby/reception area.
Rates!
These are the activities that they offer. There’s Tyrolean, Caving, Waterfalls Trekking
Horse Backriding, Wakeboarding, Rappelling
ATV, Zipline, Rope Course
Biking, Camping, and Off Road Trailing.
I saw this truck carrying a group of friends. I’m not sure if they’re going back to Danao or they’re going to the waterfalls.
The souvenir shop.
The wall-climbing facility. Honestly, it doesn’t look too hot.
I climbed up the zipline tower to see how the whole place looked from above. Those are some huts for rent. The red stuff under the mango tree is a tent. Also for rent. The campsite is pretty small. I was expecting at least a few thousand square meters considering how huge the place was.
These are their premium accommodations.
View of the veranda.
Foreign guests headed towards the camp site.
Zipline!
Two overly ecstatic girls giving the zipline a try.
A statue of Mother Mary near the camp site.
A trampoline. This one is still being fixed, though.
The water sports facility. Looking great from afar.
Sadly, there were no people around when we checked the place out. Bummer!
Restrooms near the wakeboarding pond.
The rope course. Doesn’t look too exciting. But I guess if we put in a couple of people in action here, this would look awesome.
The most exciting part of the whole place, for me, was probably this small infinity pool.
View of the pool and the cottages and camp site.
Imagine you’re swimming and enjoying this fantastic view.
Nice, ain’t it?
Changing rooms.
Kids enjoying the water.
Squint a little and you should see the crosses and statues on the other hill. Yes, they do have stations of the cross.
So, after a short tour of the place, we decided to hit the restaurant. We only ate lanzones and masi, remember? So, we were basically starving. Food prices though are a little steep. Maybe because the place is miles away from the nearest Jollibee. But we figured that we’d be having buffet meals with the same amount back in the city. So, we decided to suck it up and have lunch in the Danao proper instead.
So, overall, the place is okay. But we totally didn’t enjoy it. I mean, probably because I was expecting that we’d be able to see the waterfalls and the cave and all the other activities they frequently advertise (we were informed that the falls was another 7 km away and we’d have to rent an 8X8 to get there. LOL)
I was totally expecting that the place was already fully-developed considering the number of press releases and reviews that come out in the dailies. But based on our observation, the place still needs a lot of work. And I mean A LOT!
Here are a couple of things that I wish they’d improve.
The road network. I don’t mind the road going there. But the roads connecting their different facilities should be improved. Like, right away!
The camp site is too small.
Taking into consideration the size of their whole property, I think the pool is just too small.
Getting charged 50 pesos after traveling 30 kilometers from Danao City or around 60 kilometers from Cebu City is just horrible. But, well, I guess they need it to keep the specific target market.
I’m sure the place will see a lot of improvements in the next couple of months. But I’m not coming back anytime soon. The features that they offer can easily be enjoyed anywhere else at half the price. I’ll probably come back when everything is in place. And hopefully, with a vengeance, I’ll return with lots of moolah!
For now, I’ll let you decide. For the adventurous type, the drive to Danasan is already quite an adventure. I’m sure you’ll find something there that would please you. 🙂