wakeboarding at lago de oro

There are times when you just have to let go. No matter how hard you want to hold on and keep on going, the circumstances just won't permit it. No, I'm not talking about breaking up with your boyfriend or girlfriend. I'm talking about our wakeboarding experience last Sunday at Lago de Oro. Here are some photos that will help you understand what I'm saying:

Lago de Oro is a recreational facility located 115 south west of Metro Manila on the shore of the South China Sea. It's main attraction is its cable ski park on a 4-hectare man made lake. Here's a map on how to get there.

The half-day wakeboarding ticket costs 900 Pesos. The morning session we availed was from 9:30 am to 1 pm. It is inclusive of the wakeboard/kneeboard and vest. But if you don't want to line-up a lot (which we actually did at the start when people were still energetic), you can bring your own equipment. But if you're the "die-hard" type, you'd probably be taking turns with less that 10 people at the last hour of the session, so don't feel so bad when you have to line-up a lot at the start.

Before starting the actual wakeboarding, the on-site instructor will provide instructions and tips to newbies. For starters, they recommend using the kneeboard first. But as it ends up, most of first-timers only become successful in the kneeboard (including myself). When they go to the next level (using the actual wakeboard), launching from the dock becomes an insurmountable and frustrating task. But I am quite happy that I was able to wakeboard for ~2-4 seconds. As for the kneeboard, I was able to circle the loop three times before my arms gave in and I had to let go intentionally.

Stretching and warming up is a must. This would probably reduce the amount of body pain you will have a day or two after the experience. Excited as we were to try out the sport, we did not perform stretching activities. And up to this day (that's 4 days after), a part of my back, upper abdominals and arm still hurts a bit. Wearing sunblock also helps. After the activity, you'll notice that your arms got a little bigger. And if you weren't wearing any sun block, you'll observe that your arms are quite darker than your torso and other parts covered by the vest.

Overall, the activity we had was fun. The 1500 pesos we spent including transpo from Manila and food was worth it. We will be coming back to Lago de Oro very soon.