The Rapids of Magdalena and A Visit to St. Mary Magdalene Church

The month of August has a promising long weekend for everybody. August 21 – 25 was declared holiday to give way for Ninoy Aquino Day and National Heroes Day.

For adventure seekers, these days are blessings as you can go as far as you want without worrying about work.  With a promising water experience, I personally chose the water rafting adventure in Magdalena Laguna.  This may be somewhat new to your ears as the most popular destination for water rafting is in Cagayan De Oro.

Magdalena Water Rafting is a 3-hour drive from Manila and can only be done in a day.

How to go there?

Get a bus bound to Sta. Cruz and alight at the terminal. From the terminal get a jeep bound to either Liliw or Magdalena and alight at the Town Proper where the St. Mary Magdalene Church is located.  From there, Tito Raf (Owner of Magdalena) will pick you up and bring you to their office for a short orientation and preparation.

This trip is a pre-celebration for my birthday. I had planned it the day before the exact date of my day. So, I have reserved 2 raft that can accommodate 12 people.

The orientation will be done at the office.  This will give you a heads up about the dos and don’ts while doing the activity.  The orientation will also give you a quick history of the place and tips on how you will be able to survive the waves of the water.  The river is Grade II level and 7 km long.

Note: Here’s a link for a summary of river classifications: ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Scale_of_River_Difficulty )

There is a group who went ahead of us, so we waited and decided to take our early lunch.

When Tito Raf announced that the first group has returned, we immediately aboard the jeepney going to the jump-off of the river.  It will only take 15 minutes to reach the place from the office.

We started wearing our vest and gears. And started going down to the side of the river where the raft is waiting.

From Left:  Raymond, yours truly, Lyka, Richmond

My co-workers from left:  yours truly, Mona, Vanessa and Richard

My sisters: Jenny, Joan and yours truly

My Best friend and I

I wouldn’t sugar coat what really transpired in our adventure. The rapids aren’t heavy enough to make our rafts move from side to side.  The river is too quiet to give us a real fear.

The only positive side of it is to finish the rafting activity safe and sound.

At Km 5, we were asked to go down on to our boat and experience the body tubing.

At the end of the course, is a man-made dam where you can slide.

Some of us tried the terrifying cliff diving.  It is available at 15 and 25 feet.  There were kiddos whose living in the area, actually enjoying the diving activity. – not for me please.

We head back to the office and feed our hungry stomach while the others are cleaning and packing up.

Before we totally bid goodbye to the place, we head to the nearby historical church located in the town plaza across the municipal town hall of Magdalena –  St. Mary Magdalene Church

Tito Raf mentioned that there were few local movies that were taken in the place. Aside from the showbiz chismis, the church has its history.  It was constructed in 1851 -1871 built in sandstone and bricks.  He mentioned that multiple eggs were used to paste each bricks of the church.

I have to commend the staff of Magdalena for a very warm welcome and for keeping us safe during the activity.  Thank you!

For Reservation and any other concerns regarding the activity, contact Sir Raf Bueno in this number: 0928-2585554 / 0916-5906424

For River Rafting Package:
Fee: P750.00
Inclusions:
Use of Gears and Equipment
Cottage
Raft Guide
Transportation (From Magdalena Town Proper to Rafting area and back)

Itinerary:
6:00am Meet up at DLTB Bus Station Buendia
6:30am Take a bus bound to Sta. Cruz
9:30am ETA Sta. Cruz Terminal, Take a jeepney bound to Magdalena Town Proper
10:00 ETA Emilio Jacinto Church/Park
10:30 ETA Magdalena Office
11:00am Orientation/Preparation/Photo Ops/Early Lunch
12:00pm Start of Adventure (River Rafting, Body Tubing, Cliff Diving)
2:30pm End of Magdalena Adventure
3:00pm Snacks/Socials/Clean up/Prep going Home
5:00pm Bus bound to Buendia
8:00pm ETA Manila

Expenses:
Bus bound to Sta. Cruz – P140.00/each
Jeepney from Sta. Cruz to Magdalena Town Proper – P17.00/each
Magdalena Fee – P750/each
Food – Depends on the # of people sharing. For a hassle free food concerns, you can just add P150 at the top of your Magdalena fee and they’ll be the one to take care of it for you.
Pictures – You can hire a photographer for only P350 good for everybody having a shot while rafting. Just make sure to bring an SD Card or USB to get the copies as CD burning isn’t safe.

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Photo Credits: Magdalena Photographer, Da Vince, Uod Poh, Joan S. and Richard C.

 

Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment, follow or like this article.  Thank you!

This Trip happened August 23, 2014