My friends are more active traveller types and so their recent hobbies include mountain climbing near Manila. I, on the other hand, would rather be on the bum side and do slow stuff like taking pictures, walking scenic routes, staring out into lala land and talking to guides. While they were doing their Mt. Pamitinan trek (they left early morning) and caving adventure, I was en route with J to meet them at the Wawa Dam and took my time (got there by 4 p.m.) haha.
We got there by car and it took us around an hour (parking fee P20, entrance P2 per person). Other sources for commute show that there's an FX from Cubao (Farmers) to Rodriguez at P50 per head. Go down at Montalban Station then ride a tricy or jeepney to Wawa Village.
Just go straight and stick to the left.
The road will lead you uphill with a view of the water and boulders to your right.
Then you cross a rickety bridge to get to the dam.
This is the way up to the upper reservoir (above the waterfall). I went here first to look for my friends (no signal everywhere here) and to get an idea of the cleanliness of the water.
It's pretty calm up here with rentable bamboo rafts.
The water flows down here to these picnic huts where I stayed.
To get to the huts, you must pass an old metal walkway with holes.
There are people living near the banks.
I preferred the area with the manmade falls and to get there, you have to carefully climb down a bit.
There's a makeshift CR in between one of the boulders BTW..
It's said that the Wawa Dam, a gravity dam built by the Americans in 1909, used to be the water source for Manila before the La Mesa-Angat Dam. This was my front view
and this to the back.
There's nothing in there haha.
I heard it costs around P150 for a cottage.
My friends had fun sliding down the falls, esp. after their long trek. I would recommend slippers or shoes and being careful with the slippery algae if you want to go into the water. Do be careful though, esp. of strong currents.
Other activities here include going up that abandoned observation deck with views of the gorge, visiting the Pamitinan cave where it was believed that Andres Bonifacio fled and other caves where Japanese forces retreated during the final days of WWII and looking for the two rocks related to the legend of the giant Bernardo Carpio. I'm sure you can ask help from the Montalban Tourism and DENR office. You can also ask Kuya Ronie Ferrer to take you hiking and to show you around ;) His number is +63-907-2395042.
On our way back to the car, my friends stopped over there to change clothes.
No sweat, just a bit of sunshine and dry except for my feet. Happy and relaxing times! Haha.
