Life is Better at the Beach. Wait. What? Wakeboarding at Pampanga!

July 10, 2014

Life is Better at the Beach. Wait. What? Wakeboarding at Pampanga!

During rainy season (July - December), many promos are available in the internet for water activities. Since our summer vacation this year is until July 13, we (yes, we, me and my college friends) were able to avail one of it. The incoming academic year will also be our last year in our beloved alma mater (hopefully), that is why this is YOLO!! And we are going to try one of the extreme water sport, WAKEBOARDING!!

Our class president, who lives in Angeles City, Pampanga, was the one who initiated this trip. He invited the whole batch in our degree, and as soon as I was informed about this trip, I immediately asked my parents for approval to join them, and luckily, they allowed me. At first, many of my batchmates really wants to join this trip, but only seven of us were able to avail the promo at groupon, and only six of us were able to go at Clark. The other one wasn't able to join us, because she is suffering from body pains. Her body pains were also from wakeboarding (at Nuvali) which she tried two days before our scheduled trip.

One of the things that made me excited about this trip is the feeling that I will be trying an extreme water sport for the first time while someone riding in a speedboat is hauling me. I might also ride a speedboat for the first time that made my excitement increase more. After I bought my voucher, I had a chance to talk to my father through a phone call, and he asked me where in Pampanga will we be having our wakeboarding, I wasn't able to tell him before that it will be on Clark, that is why when he knew that we will be having our wakeboarding on Clark, he said "Are you serious? I don't think that there are beaches in Clark, you might end up wakeboarding at a river" ("Sigurado ka? Parang wala namang dagat sa Clark, baka sa ilog kayo mag-wakeboard niyan"). Sad to say, yeah, he's right, we are not going into a beach. My batchmates told me that subdivision owners in Pampanga, put some attractions in their subdivisions to captivate the interest of the buyers. One of the known attraction in a subdivision in Pampanga is the Sandbox at Alviera in Porac. And we are going to Deca Homes, which is known for their man made wakeboarding lake. And I never knew that it was "known" haha. however, it doesn't bother me anyway. My excitement never loses, I am still excited to try wakeboarding for the first time.

One day before our scheduled trip to Clark, at around 6:00 PM, one of our batchmates told us that she won't be able to join on our trip the next day, as stated on the first paragraph. She will just use her vouchers anytime sooner instead. Knowing that thing makes us feel sad, but life goes on, we should still continue our trip. We set our departure time at 7:00 AM, because we can only use our voucher 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM, but the one who set the departure time came at 7:45 AM, and his reason is, "The bus will depart at around 8:00 AM, I just said that we should be here by 7:00 AM so you won't be late", and we was like "OKAAAYYYYY" hahahahaha. We arrive at SM Clark at around 9:00 AM and we bought the things that we need. Also in SM Clark is where we will meet one of our batchmate, she is from Tarlac that is why we met her at SM Clark. Luckily, she brought a car which we used to travel from SM Clark to Deca Homes. But wait, there's more haha, one of our classmate, who is practicing his driving skills, and doesn't have any driving license yet, tried to drive the car inside the parking area of SM Clark up to it's exit gate. But we are near the SCTEX tollgate, and he is still the on who's driving, and he doesn't even wear a seatbelt, and he was still able to say to us to act normal hahahaha. Good thing, they (he and my classmate who brought the car) were able to change seats before we passed by the tollgate.

We arrived at Deca Homes at lunch time, so we decided to eat first. We ate the lunch that we bought from SM Clark, and just after we eat, we saw the sign saying "No bringing of outside food and drinks", so we immediately dispose the things were we ate. After we eat, we didn't bother ourselves to rest first, we immediately register our names to them and start the fun! Fun? Yeah! It was a whole lot of fun! and Pain! haha. Though it looks like its easy to do, it wasn't called an extreme sport for nothing, because it wasn't really easy, or should I say that it wasn't easy at all. But I promise that you'll enjoy it, especially if you learn how to balance the board. Don't worry, the operators of the machine that will haul you will guide you on how to ride the board correctly, they will also give you tips on how to do wakeboarding.

About the place, it is very cozy, there were no establishment around the area, and you'll really feel that you are away from the noise and pollution of intricate cities. They also have their own shop where you can buy clothes, wakeboarding equipments, etc. But you won't like to buy clothes on their shop, it seems that the fabric used on those clothes are mixed with gold, haha kidding. But if you plan to go there, make sure that you bring enough clothes with you, because your clothes might ripped off due to the impact of water when you fell on to it. About the lake, there were two areas were you can do wakeboarding, the beginners area, and the professional wakeboarders area. The water in both areas were not clear, ofcourse the first picture in this post was edited, you can view unedited photos on the bottom of this post, but based on the stories I've heard from other man made wakeboarding park, I can say that the water of Deca Homes Wake Park is much cleaner than other wakeboarding parks, I've heard that some wakeboarding parks have frogs swimming with you haha. Both areas are also full of moss underwater that makes it slippery and gives you hard time to get up from water, so make sure you have plans on how to get up on water easily. The two main differences of the two areas were: (1) the water in the beginners area is very shallow that allows you to stand underwater, while the water in the pro area is a way too deep, and (2) the begginers area is much smaller than the pro area where there are ramps for exhibition of professional wakeboarders. Aside from wakeboarding, they also have kneeboarding which you can try on the pro area, kneeboards are much easier to balance than wakeboards, you just need to have a great grip on the rope that is hauling you. After doing the fun activities on water, you may need to take a bath to clean your body and change your attire. The comfort rooms and shower rooms are available in the area which are located besides the shop. These rooms were very clean that will make you really comfortable when using it. And I call it a day, bye! Oh wait! If you also want to go here, you can read some of my tips to make your trip worth it without having too much expenses.

Tips From The "Not" Expert

Plan ahead of time
There are many promos available in the internet if you avail it ahead of time. You may check Beeconomic (Groupon), Ensogo, and Metrodeals for more details. The regular price of whole day pass is PHP 1000.00, we are able avail it at groupon for only PHP 600.00.

Reserve
Don't forget to make reservation, you may end up going at Clark for nothing. We didn't reserve on the day that we went there, good thing their slots on that day were not yet full.

Print your voucher
Printed vouchers are required to register your name to them.

Don't be late
The whole day pass is only available from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM, whatever time you came there, you must stop by 5:30 PM, the machine that is hauling you will also be turned off by 5:30 PM. However, if you have some extra money with you, you can pay for the night pass that will start at 6:00 PM (I think).

If you have Driver's License, bring it
If you will bring your own car, ofcourse you should bring your driver's license. But if you are planning to commute and you have a driver's license, you should bring it with you. Borrowing of wakeboarding equipments needs a deposit of PHP 500.00 per person, though it will be given back to you after you return the equipments, bringing a driver's license will allow you to bring lesser pocket money, especially if you are going there in a big group.

Limber up
Like in zombieland, you should stretch out a little, you'll really feel the pain after you do wakeboarding. Limbering up before wakeboarding may help to decrease the pain afterwards.

Kneeboarding before wakeboarding
While your hand is not yet hurting because of holding on the cable too much, you must try kneeboarding first. Kneeboarding is a way much easier than wakeboarding, but you need a great grip when doing this. Kneeboarding at Deca Homes Wake Park could be found at the pro area.

Bring extra clothes
I know you will pack clothes that you will use after wakeboarding, but bringing just one extra shirt and short is not enough. Your clothes might rip off due to the strong impact of water when you fall on to it. If you do not bring extra clothes, you will be forced to buy on their shop. Items in their shop are as expensive as gold.

Listen carefully
Keep in your mind all the things that the instructor/operator told you, it is for your own sake, they are there to help us.

If you think you'll fall, you'll really fall
If you think you are going to fall, prepare yourself to fall, don't force yourself to keep your hands on the cable, it will just hurt you.

Wear your gears
Lifevest and helmet are not just for formality. It might save your life, especially on the pro area where the water is very deep. Helmet also decreases the pain when falling to the water. Lifevest also protects your body from feeling cold especially when the weather is windy.

Know your way out
Another rule from zombieland. Because nothing is worse than a poorly planned escape. For sure, it is dark when you are going to depart Deca Homes. You might end up being a hobo if you don't know how to leave there. But before finding a solution on how to depart Deca Homes, knowing how to get there must be solved first.

Bring your friends
Who wants to travel alone? Are you having fun alone? Ofcourse not. We all wants to be accompanied by people who are close to us when we are doing activities like this. Because "the more, the merrier". One more thing, no one will take your photos while wakeboarding when you are alone.

Here are some of our photos taken at Deca Homes Wake Park.

These photos are owned by Stephanie Faith Feliciano.

The beginners area

Don't flirt with him, he has an attachment problems
joke he's just doing some tricks, the backflip fly away trick huehue, this is just a proof that it's not that easy!