Baga Falls: A Challenging Waterfall Experience with My Newfound Travel Buddies

When Zamboanga del Norte was declared to be classified under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ), the residents have been traveling and discovering new destinations within the province while still strictly following the health protocols mandated by the task force officials.

Exploring my home province’s less explored spots, every destination that I went to just keeps on getting better and even more beautiful. The serene beauty is honestly unexplainable. No words can ever describe the wonder of nature and the experience that it has given me. My home province is so much blessed. From green mountains standing tall to long stretch of white sand beaches. And now, this waterfall in Polanco, Zamboanga del Norte.

Baga Falls as locals call it is a waterfall situated in a woodland of San Pedro, Polanco. This isn’t declared by the provincial tourism as a tourist destination yet, so I’m telling you as early as now that you must travel at your own risk and always be a responsible traveler wherever you may go. Gather as many useful information about the place before scheduling your trip.

The excitement that I felt about this adventure was really inexpressible because aside that it was my first waterfall experience in the province, I know that I’ll also get to meet new people. Even though I wasn’t able to prepare much for the trip, it was something that I genuinely looked forward to.

So, I tried looking for photos online to give myself a heads up of what it looks like but nothing that I’ve seen really satisfies me. Nevertheless, I was so damn excited.

Call time was 5AM and after a few hi and hellos with my newfound travel acquaintances, we traveled at exactly 5:30 in the morning from the Pagsalabuk Circle of Dipolog City going to the municipality of Polanco. It was a 1 hour travel or more…I guess. We even got to see the sunrise along the way and it was beautiful! The way the sun touches your skin in a cold, foggy morning roadtrip is just what it feels to be living.

How To Reach Baga Falls?

From Dipolog City, take a private vehicle going to San Pedro Polanco, Zamboanga del Norte. For first timers, I highly suggest that you take a private ride going there because it’ll take an hour or more of road travel and I’m not sure if there are public transportation available. Don’t worry, there are locals that you can ask on where to take turns going to the mountain resort where the trek starts.

The road going into the mountain resort is passable by a two and four wheeler vehicles especially if it isn’t muddy.

When we arrived in the mountain resort, we were asked by the person in-charge to log our names in the guest book before we started hiking. I was told that the hike will be easy and will only take around 5 minutes so I’m like, “Okay! This is easy peasy!”.

Difficulty of Trek

It is a moderate trek that any healthy person can do like it’s 2 to almost 9 real quick.

Just a few minutes below the mountain resort, we quickly reached the crystal-clear river which I immediately thought we’re almost there so I rate it as 2. That’s why we got even more excited to move further to see what’s in store.

But the trail going down to the base of Baga Falls is steep as hell and this is where the rate of 9 comes in. Your life could be in stake here with just a single mistake so you really have to be extra careful where you step.

Hey, I’m not exaggerating this! It was really slippery at that time that we have to take a grip on long roots of the trees just so we can go down.

After a stiff hike of about 10minutes, we reached the base of Baga Falls. What a beautiful sight it was!

The Baga Falls View

It was a great spot for a hot cup of coffee, listening to the soothing sound of the waterfall and just being grateful for being alive.

Nothing much to do here, but it was a great spot where one can literally sit back and just meditate.

With nothing to pack on this trip and just a bottle of water in my small backpack, my fellow travelers started to setup their picnic blanket and laid out their packed food for breakfast.

Some of them were even looking for a good spot with a nice view of the waterfall to prepare brewed coffee. I was in that moment where I realized how much I really miss this kind of lifestyle and I’m determined of not forgetting it ever again!

NOW IT IS TIME FOR SWIMMING! 🙂

I wanted to fully maximized the experience so I swam and build rock towers. The best thing that I ever did was to jump on the water from the rock formation alongside the waterfall.

Just like any adventure that I went to, of course I did overthink. I thought that I might slipped and bumped my head or won’t be able to swim back up. I don’t know…that’s just me.

But I did it anyways so, I do not recommend you guys doing it. It’s pretty dangerous. But if you’ll insist, please jump at your own risk.

After swimming and building friendship over a steaming hot cup of coffee and instant noodles and capturing the place with our eyes and cameras (the memories of which will last forever), we started our journey back. We literally wanted to stay back for long without having to worry about anything. However, we had to get back because some of us have personal stuff arranged.

Soon I was back at home and enjoy browsing through the photos and videos of the beautiful Baga Falls in Polanco. The calmness of the river at the top of the waterfall, the slippery experience of trail, the newfound travel acquaintances (now travel buddies), and the heavy fall of water have this power of making me feel blissful.

Things To Keep In Mind

• Please research about the weather before scheduling your trip because the base of the waterfall is deep. The water has a tendency to overflow during heavy rain so it’s dangerous.
• Carry a water bottle and something to eat.
• Make sure to have someone with you who really knows the trail.
• Best time to go there is morning because of the cold weather.

To sum it up, this is a recommended adventure for responsible travelers looking to take a break away from the hustle and bustle of the city just to recharge and rejuvenate themselves in the laps of nature.