A “Fun-tastic” Day Tour at Maxima Aquafun
What really excites me the most to visit Davao is because of Maxima Aquafun. With activities like slides taking you down to the open sea, as an adrenaline junkie as I am who wouldn’t want to experience such thrilling ride.
Maxima Aquafun is a resort located in Peñaplata, Samal island which is an hour and half away of sea and land travel from Davao City. Samal Island which is also known as IGACOS (Island Garden City of Samal) has an amazingly fine and beautiful beaches and surrounding islands. But because of the enticing activities that Maxima Aquafun offers, I chose to visit the resort over the fine beach resorts in the island.
How to go to Maxima Aquafun?
Getting to Maxima Aquafun is made convenient by the resort by providing a direct ferry shuttle, MV Maxima IV, from Sta. Ana Wharf in Davao City to Maxima Aquafun Resort. The ferry is available from Friday to Monday. It departs at Sta. Ana Wharf at 9:00 AM and leaves at the resort at 4:00 PM. The fare is PHP 150 per head round trip.
But if you feel that the ferry schedule is too early or too late for you to get in or get out of the resort, then you may ride a bus from Sasa wharf to Peñaplata for PHP 30. From there, take a motorcycle (habal-habal) from to Maxima Aquafun for PHP 20.
An Afternoon at Maxima Aquafun
After a refreshing visit to Hagimit Falls, me and my friend, Jessa, have decided to go to Maxima Aquafun and spend the rest of our day there.
Entrance fee per person for day tour costs PHP 200 which includes free use of tables and chairs, free use of life vest, unlimited use of water slides, trampoline and diving board. The resort also offers canopy tours, adventure course, para sailing, billiards and other water activities for a separate fee. They also offer room and tent rentals good for overnight stay.
It was already lunchtime when we arrived at the resort so after paying our entrance fee; the first thing we’ve done is to have our lunch in their resident restaurant.
Food was surprisingly good; meals are also affordable despite that it’s situated inside the resort.
The resort provides separate areas for food and non food bringer which I find very convenient for everyone. Corkage fee applies for food bringer.
One can enjoy snorkeling without even getting into the middle of the sea as the underwater scenery on this area of Samal Island is surprisingly nice. The underwater world is abundant of colorful corals and fish. Unluckily, I was too excited to capture the colorful underwater sea that I forgot that my Coolpix underwater camera battery container was not that fully locked yet. My camera got flooded inside which turned the exciting time into a worrying moment for me. I got saddened on what happened to my camera, what’s worse is when I brought it to Nikon Service Center few days after they quoted PHP 17,000 for me to get my underwater camera done. Then, that’s it; good-bye to my 6-months old underwater camera. Lesson learned, always check your underwater gadget before getting into the water.
But I don’t let that moment eat up my fun time in the resort. I set aside the incident; and had myself enjoy the best of Maxima Aquafun.
Adventures at Maxima Aquafun
The diving boards and slides are the best. I played like a kid; I jumped and slid many times that I didn’t feel getting tired at all. It’s amazing to conquer some of my little fears and having some of the things that I’d love to try since then.
What I just don’t like about these activities is the resort doesn’t allow anyone to try these thrilling rides out without a life vest on. Don’t they know that it feels a little rough jumping into the sea from the board with a life vest on? Well, I think they just like everyone to get safe; and that’s the most important thing after all.
We spent our remaining time in the resort by swimming and snorkeling. The resort is perfect to those who want to have a taste of sea adventures. It would be perfect if there’s a beach in the resort where we can enjoy the sand. Nevertheless, we had fun; and had a fantastic Sunday afternoon spent in the resort. I hope I could spend a little more time in the resort and try their activities; or better yet spend a night in the resort to fully explore its greatest fun activities.
Since the ferry-boat back from the resort to Sta. Ana Wharf was already full that day; we opted to go back to the city through habal-habal. There are motorcycles available outside the resort which can take you to the port area. From there we ride a ferry that loads passengers and vehicles bound to Davao City.
Maxima Aquafun and Canopy Tours
Peñaplata, 8119 Samal
Davao
Phone: (082) 286 1054 / 09236593725
Email: booking@davaocrocodilepark.com
www.maximaaquafun.com/index.php
