Disclaimer: This is mostly a positive post about CWC so don't be turned off by the seemingly unflattering title.

The thing about having low expectations is that there's less room for frustration. Because there's nothing to meet and almost nothing to lose, you just try and go for it without worrying about finding the whole thing a complete waste of time or money. With such mindset, you're predisposed to see the negative side so you're quite surprised when you experience something delightful.

That's more or less the case with my Camsur Watersports Complex (CWC) experience. You see, I wasn't really psyched to try wakeboarding. Not exactly sure why, I guess it just didn't tickle my fancy. Or perhaps it's too mainstream for my taste and me having a tendency to be little anti-populist sometimes kind of saw it rather unappealing. Other than the fact that CWC attracts a lot of tourists and that it features an exciting activity called wakeboarding, I knew so little about this cable park.

More concerned with the possibility of being touted as a buzzkill for skipping wakeboarding, I kept my personal opinion about CWC to myself. My friends' excitement was too palpable I was afraid I'd ruin their mood if I rained on their parade.

The side trip at CWC was second to the last item in our Caramoan itinerary (dinner at Bigg's being the last one). We particularly saved half a day for it so we they could make the most of it. The trip from Sabang to the complex via a rented van was bump-free, figuratively and literally speaking so we got there on time.

Vibe and Crowd
Even though it's off-peak, we were still expecting an impossibly long queue of people who were waiting for their turn. It was a weekend anyway, and CWC has undeniably turned into a famous attraction so we didn't rule out the possibility that the whole place would be swarming with wake-boarding enthusiasts.

But we were (fortunately) wrong. We could practically count the number of people near the reception area adjacent the lake where professional wakeboarders showed off their skills.

"O, wala naman palang tao ah," I said to no one in particular. "Hindi dito ang pang-beginners," someone replied.

After paying Php665 (500 for deposit which is refundable; 165 for the hourly wakeboard rental) at the counter and changing into a more comfortable outfit, we carried our things and strolled in a leisure pace to the beginners' lake located about 500 meters from the reception area.


Turned out that we were the only group to wakeboard that time. The beginners' lake was virtually visitors-free. Sweet! It only meant one awesome thing - no need to wait an hour for our turn. Without wasting time, we formed a line at the platform on one end of the lake and started the fun.

Small Lake, Murky Water
The beginners' lake is way smaller than the pro's. It looks like more of a big pond than a lake. Most of us were not concerned about being able to actually stand on board, we were more preoccupied with the disconcerting possibility of falling down the murky pond which they say is filthy. True enough, we all felt the presence of moss on our feet when we fell down. More worrisome was the fact that we all inevitably gulped some water.

Fun Experience

Our wakeboarding experience was satisfying and immensely fun. Because we were the only group that time, we all each had at least 5-6 turns. The first few tries were kind of disappointing for most of us but we eventually got the hang of it, although some didn't manage to advance more than 5 feet from the platform.
"Don't pull the handle, just glide along, bend your knees!" Our instructors kept on reminding us, yelling and encouraging as we were concentrating on how to do it properly. One of them showed the right way to do it. The impressive stunt inspired us to do better. Most of us did. A few were able to get to the other end of the lake in one go. Others, after several futile attempts, simply quit trying.

A number of people started joining the queue as we were in our last 20 minutes. Since we were all having fun, we considered extending our time but we were worried that we couldn't make it to the last bus trip to Manila. We decided to continue the fun some other day instead (Lago, or Nuvali).

Shooting the Breeze, Enjoying the View

CWC is a semi-high end sports and water complex sprawled across a vast field with a picturesque view of Mt. Isarog in the background. It's basically a resort and a sports complex rolled in one. With the variety of activities it offers, guests can choose the type of fun they fancy. Fun pretty much comes in different forms.
Since we got an hour to spare, we took a refreshing dip in the gorgeous pool (free of charge). The whole complex had this easy-going and calming vibe.


Needless to say, wakeboarding at CWC was a perfect way to cap off our CamSur adventure.