This photo showcases the beauty of the waterfall and the area around it. But sadly, there is a part on the right side that I purposely excluded from the photo. There were about three cottage-tables (unsure how to call them) and an abandoned toilet. That area looked very sad and dirty and has been clearly neglected. There were a lot of trash everywhere, it was a shame to see something like that just beside something so beautiful as this.
For the first leg of our adventure, we boarded a bus at Ceres terminal around 10am. The trip lasted for 2 hours. Upon arrival, we searched for our lodging house, SN Pension Inn. It was very near the Bayawan bus terminal, we walked about two blocks away.
I like our stay at SN Pension Inn. We got a family room, there were two double-sized beds, there was cable tv, a private bath (albeit small, it was clean and enough to get things done). Their staff was friendly and their rooms are affordable. Overall, we had a pleasing stay. I would recommend it if you stay in Bayawan.
View of SN Pension Inn from the road
We reached Dawis after an hour. We enjoyed beautiful landscape views during the ride that I wish I had taken photos but thought it wasn't safe to be fiddling with my phone while on a motorcyle. So it was an opportunity to just appreciate the beauty in front of me without taking any photos.
From the highway, we reached a small path that branched out from the main road.
Our habal-habal rides at the entrance to the waterfall vicinity. From my research, entrance was free but when we got there, an old man greeted us who implied that he was the "bantay" so we paid him some money as entrance fee. We gave him Php150 for the three of us which I regretted afterwards when we saw the current condition of the waterfall area. It wasn't even maintained and cleaned regularly. Tsk.
My companions. We were taking a photo of our feet with matching sandals.
The waterfalls in sight!
A friendly reminder.
We camped out by some bushes and big rocks.
On rainy days, there is more water coming down from the waterfall. At the time we visited, it was a clear summer day. The river from above had minimal current.
Here's a photo of scale so you can see that this is a wide waterfall. If you look closely above the people on the rocks, just a bit to the right, you'll see my friend right there! So tiny!
Plus, there's a mini rainbow near the water, see? It's always a joy to see a rainbow.
The river from the waterfall was actually quite stagnant. The rocks were slippery with brownish moss and was greenish brown. It wasn't safe to walk or step on. So we just managed to stay by the riverbank where it was safe to walk around.
We fooled around a bit with our photos, which by the way took forever to shoot because we brought a pocket tripod, plus the rocks were a bit difficult to walk on given only the ten-second timer.
The path going back up the entrance.
We spent about an hour and a half and decided to go back. Overall, it was a good to see the waterfall in person. It is really a great waterfall worth seeing but so little care is given to it. I hope they would clean up the place and regularly keep an eye on people who visit and leave trash. When we went there, nobody was looking out so anyone could do just about anything there, good or bad. I mean that it should be regulated and monitored but still maintaining its pristine and non-commercialized non-touristy feel.
We arrived back in Bayawan just before sunset, which we were also looking forward to because there we can really see wonderful sunsets.
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