Kan-Amno Falls: Boljoon’s Pride

Last week, I found myself exploring the sleepy little heritage town of Boljoon. If you think that the town is only about culture and history, you’re wrong. Boljoon also has amazing and unique natural gems that will surely make you keep coming back.

Now, finding Kan-Amno Falls is no easy feat. As soon as I reached Boljoon, I asked around for directions to the falls. But believe it or not, the first 5 people I asked didn’t even know it existed.  And the next five swore that they’d heard about it but they didn’t know where to find it.

This is going to be hard. Haha.

My lucky break came when I asked an old lady who was selling green mangoes by the road about it. She said that the waterfall is located in a barangay called Lower Becerril. To get there, she said that I’d have to turn right (going up, actually) after I cross the bridge near the town market.

The actual drive to the barangay was much longer than I expected. But I kept driving and kept asking for directions as often as possible. Finally, I stopped at a local sari-sari store and the kind old lady inside told me to keep driving until I see a small road-side chapel right next to another sari-sari store. She said that I could park my bike there.

True enough, I soon found a small chapel right next to a sari-sari store.

Fortunately, the people in Boljoon are so friendly and helpful. When the lady manning the store learned that I was looking for Kan-Amno, she personally told this one dude to take me there. The dude was going to descend to his farm which was only a few hundred meters from the falls. Cool!

He walks really fast I could hardly keep up.

Going down towards the sound of fresh flowing water.

A few minutes later, I could sense that we were almost there.

All of a sudden, a young boy appeared out of nowhere. The boy asked the dude where we were going. The dude replied that he was taking me to Kan-Amno. The boy gladly offered to take me and the dude was more than happy to get rid of me. Haha. Kidding.

The steep climb down towards the river bed. Pretty tricky.

My guide was pretty excited to show me around. I apologize for forgetting his name. I’m not sure if it’s RJ or Justin or something else. Hehe. But I think I remember that he’s around 14 years old and had only been to Cebu City once for a school contest.

If you can’t stand boulders and rock climbing, you’re going to find the ‘path’ to the waterfall a bit extreme.

According to my guide, the numerous recent typhoons that hit the province changed how the river system looked. Can you imagine just how massive the collapse was?

“Down there!” he excitedly told me.

Wait, how did you get off this huge rock again?

One giant rock to go before reaching the river bed below.

Here it is. Not very impressive I must admit. But my guide told me that the drop was much thicker years ago. Also, I must point out that this was exactly how Oslob’s Tumalog Falls looked like yeas ago. So, maybe in a few years, with the help of the shifting boulders on the river bed, this area will have a deep pool for swimming.

But it’s a pretty gorgeous outdoor shower, don’t you think?

You can see small drops and pools in various parts of the river bed. This was one of my favorites because it wasn’t very deep. Hehe.

This one, too!

My ultimate fave however was this nice little pool just beneath the drop. Beautiful!

Can you imagine just how high and strong the water must’ve been to carry such huge rocks?

This was where our exploration ended. The only way to reach the other side was by jumping into the pool below.

But a quick peak through the crack revealed just how beautiful the rocks were on the other side.

When I looked around, I realized that I was standing on a perfect spot. Boljoon’s hidden gem looks really stunning and inspiring from this angle. The spot highlighted the gorgeous drop as well as the rock right next to it.

Here is my guide enjoying a light shower near the drop.

And there he is in full canyoning mode.

Of course the trip would never be complete without a quick dip.

Here’s JR (or Justin)  waiting for me while I frolick in the pool like a kid. Hahaha.

According to Justin, another waterfall can be seen just a few hundred meters ahead. I wasn’t able to check it out because I was running out of time.

The climb up back to the chapel was a lot more difficult. And tiring.

Washing up at a wash area located along the trail on our way back.

After the adventure, I gave Justin a hundred pesos and a promise that I’d buy him lunch it he ever comes to the city. And  of cource or all his help. He smiled from ear to ear and happily skipped on his way home. 🙂 Salamat, Dong!

Visit Boljoon now!

GETTING THERE:

By Bus

1. Get on a Bato via Oslob Bus at the South Bus Terminal. Tell the driver or the conductor to drop you off at the Boljoon town market.
2. When you reach the town market, take a habal-habal to reach barangay Lower Becerril.
3. Tell the driver to drop you off at the road-side chapel near Kan-Amno Falls.
4. Travel time should be from 20-30 minutes.
5. From the chapel, trek down towards the river.
6. When you reach the river, trek through boulders and streams until you reach the waterfall.
7. Enjoy Kan-Amno!

By Motorbike / Private Vehicle

1. Drive all the way to the town of Boljoon.
[Carcar City > Sibonga > Argao > Dalaguete > Alcoy > Boljoon]
2. Right after the Boljoon town market, be on the look out for a bridge.
3. Right after the bridge, you will find a road leading up towards Boljoon’s mountain barangays.
4. Turn right and keep driving straight until you reach a small road-side chapel in Barangay Becerril.
5. The drive from the main road to the chapel should not be more than 30 minutes.
6. From the chapel, trek down towards the river.
7. When you reach the river, trek through boulders and streams until you reach the waterfall.
8. Enjoy Kan-Amno!