Tech. Trek. Talk.

Part I

I can’t get enough of my summer fun activities so I went to Samal Island to experience the unique Tarpaulin Slide at Aqua-fun Adventure Maxima. Indeed! I had maximum level of fun with their aqua-fun activities!

First, we tried the 40 meters long, 1 meter wide tarpaulin slide. There are 3 people who assisted us. One guy helped us wear our life vest, the other one is giving out instructions and the other guy is waiting for us around 2 meters below the edge of the tarpaulin slide. He is the one that signals the lead guide to let the second glider to slide as soon as the first one reached the port steps.

When sliding, you need to keep your hand crossed on your chest to prevent you from constantly changing your gliding position. Also, you need to keep your feet together so that you’ll get the perfect splash and won’t hurt yourself. You can perform different dives though soon as you get used to it.

You need to take a shower first before sliding for you not to create friction with the tarpaulin. Wait until the tarpaulin gets wet and never slide without the signal from the lead guide to avoid accident.

The edge of the giant slide is 5ft above sea water if it is high tide, but it could reach up to 12ft if it’s low tide so it is more challenging. If you want to try dropping with longer extent then you might as well go there around 4pm. The sea water is 120ft deep but there’s nothing to fret because your life vest will help you float up in less than 5 seconds. Exciting? Experience it yourself and post your comments here :)

Part II

After we satisfy our itch for tarpaulin slide adventure, we rented sets of snorkeling gadget. The area where the giant slide was mounted is also a good area for snorkeling because they don’t allow fishing that can destroy the corals and fishes on that area.

There are bunch of beautiful hard corals with different shapes and sizes and the fishes are plenty too! So don’t miss the snorkeling activity at Aqua Fun Adventure Maxima! It’s worth trying…

Part III

After the snorkeling activity we went straight to Maxima – The home above the sea. It is owned by the Dizon family and out of their kindness they share one of their most valued properties to the public. It is their objective to share the same feeling of serenity, pleasure, and fun that they experienced every time they spend a holiday at maxima.

Maxima cottage has 3 bedrooms that can accommodate up to 10 persons. There are several activities that you can enjoy at maxima at the price you can absolutely afford! You can use the supplied life vest to go snorkeling and witness the beauty of the fish sanctuary right below Maxima Cottage.

You can also cook your own food as they intentionally set a kitchen so that you can decide the best meal for your family, friends or loved ones. What’s so amazing is that you can also use the cottage speedboat and get entertained at Maxima billiard hall!

The first time I heard about Zip city is from my friend but I saw the real video when I watched the program Sports Unlimited. I was thrilled.

Of course I just don’t let the excitement fade away without even trying it. So there you go… We went to Hill Top Davao where the famous Zip City can be found. It’s just around hundred meters away from Dencio’s Restaurant so it’s really simple to locate even if it’s your first time to go there. It’s fairly accessible!

When we get to their reception area, they collect 200Php from us for the zip then they help us wear our safety harness and helmet. They will let you choose if you will zip alone or go with a partner. We decided to embrace the challenge single-handedly. So I climb up to their spiral stairs and bear the fear and excitement myself while I’m on my way to get on to their zip panel.

The edge stander is waiting for me. He clipped a secure hook in my body harness and checked all the details of my safety gear to ensure that I will land on their unloading panel and not on the ground which is 120ft. under. Hahaha!

They set my expectation that I will only glide for approximately 35sec. and traverse through zip cable which is 320 meters long. So I gather all my strengths and jump from the edge of the panel at the count of three and woooohhhhhooooooooooo!!!! It feels like heaven!

It’s different from my first zip above water experience because the panorama is the entire Davao City. Though it’s more risky, it’s really worth trying because the flying sensation over trees and cliff is truly magnificent!