Two weeks ago, I decided to travel down south for an important assignment. See, I had to finish my “11 Cebu Waterfalls to Include in your Bucket List – Part 2” article on TheCebuano.com. The problem was, I still had only 10 waterfalls on my list. So, since I knew that the southern end of the island is a treasure chest of amazing waterfall systems, I decided to head south one Saturday morning.
I left the city really early to make sure that I had plenty of time to explore. My goal was to reach the town of Samboan by noon so I had plenty of time to ask around and locate the waterfall that I was going to add to my list.
However, like most plans, mine didn’t go very well. I ended up stopping along the way many times (because, seriously, why not? 🙂 )My very first stop was Jollibee Naga. Of course, I wouldn’t let a good day start without a serving of my favorite Breakfast Hotdog Meal. 😀 Now, the meal stop was understandable. That’s just 30 minutes off my schedule. Pretty manageable. However, as I was about to leave Jollibee, I remembered that the city had just recently opened the newly-completed Naga City Cebu Marine Boardwalk. Of course I had to see it with my own eyes!
I ended up staying for an hour at the boardwalk. Now I was 1.5 hours behind schedule!
I arrived in Oslob at around twelve-thirty. I had a quick lunch (and by quick I mean an hour. Haha!) before I left for Santander where I made another stop.
To take this photo.
Thirty minutes later I was at the Samboan town center. Along the way, I saw several road-side signs. All of them pointing to a specific waterfall. The first one that I picked was Balaygsawa Falls. Simply because it sounded so mysterious. And also because it was located closest to the heart of Samboan. For reference, the town’s other waterfalls like Dau, Binalayan, and Aguinid are all located near the Ginatilan border. Calasa, on the other hand is a lot closer to Santander.
The drive from the main road to the actual parking stop is short and quick. But with the absence of signs that point to the right direction, an hour would never be enough. I had already circled the area twice before I saw an old man who told me how to lcoate the Balaygsawa Falls. “Drive straight until you see the tourism center,” he instructed. Cool. That should be pretty easy!
So I drove straight and just kept an eye out for the tourism center along the road. However, fifteen minutes later, I still haven’t seen any tourism center. And the old guy had said it was just ‘up ahead.’ Still, I kept driving hoping that I’d see it a few hundred meters later. But eventually, the road became smaller. And soon, all I could see was one lane because the plants have completely taken over. So, I made a quick U-turn and headed for the main road. Luckily, I saw a kid along the way and he told me that the tourism center doesn’t exist yet. Can you believe it? It turns out that a small plot of land along the road was set aside for the center. And they’ve basically just started digging holes for the foundation of the tourism center. Haha.
So, after finally locating the ‘tourism center,’ I parked my bike and began my short trek to Balaygsawa Falls.
This turned out quite harder than expected. Hehe.
And actually, it wasn’t a short trek at all.
And since the foot path hasn’t been cleared, it was pretty difficult to know exactly where I was headed.
Sometimes, there was no path at all. All you could do was keep walking and hope that you’re on the right track.
The trek was quite dangerous, too. If you make one wrong step, you’ll definitely find yourself rolling down the hill. And it won’t be a pretty sight.
The railings are obviously not well-maintained, too. So, I have a feeling people no longer come here.
If the trek towards the waterfall was tiring, think about the trek back up!
A few minutes later, I finally reached the waterfall.
Ladies and gentlemen, check out Balaygsawa Falls of Samboan Cebu.
For those of you who don’t speak Cebua, the name of the waterfall basically comes from three words. Balay ug Sawa. Literally, it means “python’s house.” Know the meaning of the name, you’d basically think twice before diving into that little pool over there. Hehe.
The drop is quite small and the pool is not that big, especially in photos. But the place looks really gorgeous in person.
I really wanted to stay longer but it was just so eerily quiet. I’m normally the ‘brave’ kind but this time, I was just a bit creeped out. Hehe.
So after taking a couple of photos and videos, I rested for a few minutes and then immediately began my trek back to the ‘tourism center’ where my motorbike was parked. 🙂
Here is a video of Balaygsawa Falls in Samboan, Cebu.
I’d definitely love to come back next time and spend more time here. Hopefully with more people. 🙂 I’d love to swim, too, if I have enough time.
Have you been to Balaygsawa Falls? Let me know about your experience in the comments below! 🙂
