Travel Guide to Asik Asik Falls for Less Than P1,000 (Day Tour)

Asik-asik Falls in Alamada, North Cotabato

I've been to many waterfalls already but Asik-asik falls is unique. It does not come from a river but from a spring. The water is gushing through the stone cracks of the mountain. The wall is covered with thick greenery which adds to the unique appearance of the waterfalls.

Asik-asik falls is located at Upper Dado, Alamada, North Cotabato. Be prepared for a very long travel just to get to this waterfall. And I really mean it!

Davao to Midsayap Terminal (5 hours) plus another one hour from Midsayap to Asik-asik Falls (Habal2x)

It took us 6 hours to reach Asik-asik falls! Be sure to bring some movies (Game of Thrones Episodes) to kill time. The bus stops for a while at every bus terminal, which contributed to the long travel time. But since we left very early (and you should too), we just slept inside the bus. Van transport is faster, but we took a much safer alternative and that is to travel by bus.

How to get there:

Bus to Cotabato: Very clean and air-conditioned.

Take a bus from Ecoland Terminal (Mindanao Star Bus Transport) going to Cotabato. We took the 4AM trip which I believe is the first trip to Cotabato. P285 is the standard fare but if you are a student, it will only be P227. I was able to avail of a student discount since I brought with me my graduate school ID.

Arrival at Midsayap Terminal: (9:00AM)

On our way to Asik-asik Falls

There are many habal-habal drivers that you can hire near the entrance of the terminal. They initially charged us P1,200 for a round trip per motorcycle! This is very expensive. After some negotiation, we finally agreed for a price of P800 round trip per motorcycle. Since we were 5 in the group, we needed 3 motorcycles. One motorcycle can only carry a maximum of three including the driver. We divided the fare for P480 each (P2,400/5).

Since this is a day tour, riding a double-tired jeep (which is cheaper) is not an option since the jeep will not depart unless it's full (full means there are 20 people sitting at the roof with sacks of vegetables!). The average waiting time for this kind of transport is 2 hours which does not include yet the travel time of almost 2 hours plus another habal-habal ride since the jeep can no longer cross the muddy sections of the road. You certainly cannot go back to Davao City if you choose this method.

Taking breaks while our drivers refuel their motorcycles.

You might want to bring shades or glasses since bugs will most certainly come across your face and the wind will dry your eyes. Some parts of the road are also dusty! The habal-habal ride is very rough but I can say it's really manageable.

Some parts of the road are paved.

Traveling on a motorcycle at 70kph.

Registration Area:

After traveling for almost 2 hours, we finally arrived at Asik-asik falls drop off point.

Registration area: A fee of P30 is collected per head (Entrance).

Pizza shaped Kutsina.

Trying out the Portrait mode of my iPhone 7 Plus.

The stairs leading to the falls.

A 15 minute walk is all you need to get to the falls (it's not even a hike). Going down is relatively easy. But going up may challenge those who are not accustomed to walking on an incline.

Asik-asik Falls:

The alluring Asik-asik falls. Notice the crowd?

The water curtain

Panoramic Shot

The clear water of Asik-asik falls.

The water is super cold!

One last group photo before departing.

We left Asik-asik falls at around 1:30PM. We need to get on board the 4PM trip to Davao City. Unfortunately we met some unforeseen circumstances. Rain fell so hard and we all got wet.

We were left stranded because of the heavy rain. One of our habal-habal even got its tire punctured.

Arrival at Midsayap Terminal:

We arrived completely dripping of rain. We missed the 4PM bus going to Davao City, fortunately there are buses up to 7PM according to the locals. We road the next bus at 5PM.

A long way home

We left the terminal at around 5PM. We arrived at Davao City 6 hours later. A day tour to Asik-asik falls is very tiring as it involves a lot of traveling. Maybe next time, an overnight would be a more viable option.

Expenses:

Student (P954) P227+P480+P247
Non-Student (P1,075) P285+P480+P310

Things to bring:

Packed lunch
Water
Clothes
Go Pro / Camera


Planning to go? I'll say, go ahead. It would be a worthwhile experience!

*All photos are shot using the iPhone 7 Plus.