Jump & Splash @ Carmen Resort

Merry Christmas everyone! The holidays are here, its time to spread the Christmas cheer and positivity throughout the land. ~kekeke

As for our team (Team Ariane), our work performance is a little bit down in this season - I guess its because everyone is feeling a bit down heading out to work in a bad-bed weather and working at night, instead of spending holiday parties with friends and families. Thus, we all went for a well deserved break as a team, to gather our wits and release all the negativity and just have fun in a very much needed team building / Christmas party.

Carmen Resort is located in Baguio District, Calinan in Davao City - its a bit far from the metro and it takes about 45 minutes to almost an hour from downtown to get to this place but its definitely worth the trip. From buildings in the metro you slowly get a fantastic view of flora and fauna and the air gets cleaner and cooler as you travel by, you can already feel yourself relaxing even if your still on the car.

Arriving at the place, it seemed as if we're atop of a valley and its long way down to the resort but you can already hear the rushing water - that and the view in this place would definitely keep one's senses off the fact that you have 220 steps to go down to ~kekeke.  

The river is so clean and clear but  it actually took a lot of courage (for my part I guess) to fully submerge ourselves in the BITING COLD rushing water. True, the cascades are man made but it doesn't make it less fun. It actually makes one feel safer to jump and swim over the ledge knowing that  it was designed both for fun and safety of the visitors.

Honestly, I don't really indulge in adventurous things, coward that I am, but the water here is so inviting (after you get a bit used to the cold) that my teammates and I really have to jump over the ledge. It was my first time doing so making this a really memorable place and experience for me. 

The swimming pool uses the flowing water from the river so just expect for it to be real cold too. I just adore where slide was placed because it was surrounded by small and colorful flowers and the slide itself it short which would definitely result to big whoppin' splashes for anyone who would use it.

There are several huts and tables available in Carmen Resort and their policy is First Come First Serve. The huts and tables are free of charge and no reservations can be placed for them except for their rooms which costs P500 per day.  They only have two rooms for now and unfortunately,when we were there we weren't able to get reservations to the room so we have to spend the very freezing night on a open hut.   

I've been to several outings but this is the first time that I have to sleep fully swathed with clothes - donned my jacket, jogging pants, my sneakers and bundled by my dry towel and malong - but I was still shivering. It was not a nice experience trying to sleep while my teeth was chattering but looking back at it now, it was a fun moment since we just sang and ate our way through night trying to forget (in a useless effort if I might add) the cold.

Selecting a place during this time of the year is so hard because most places are packed and even have pending reservations in place, so its definitely a good thing that Jann (a teammate of mine) was able to suggest this amazing but a bit of a secretive place proving once more the beauty of Davao City.

Resort Details:

1. Entrance Fee - P20 Daytour / P50 Overnight 

Inclusive of:

*tables & chairs / huts

*pool and river access

*Grill and use of electricity

2. Videoke and a small store is available in the resort

3. Rooms - P500 per day/night

4. You can bring in a tent, but there is only one spot can be used to set it up

**Upon arriving into the resort, the only thing we paid for was P50 overnight fee and that was it. Cheap but such a wondrous place, the only main concern would be going to the area. It is somewhat hidden so if you don't have a car, you can rent a jeep or stop by Calinan central and ride a motorcycle to the place.

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