Chico River Whitewater Rafting

Class III–IV rapids on the Chico, the best whitewater run in the Philippines

The Chico is the wildest navigable river in the Philippines. Half- and full-day rafting trips run from Tabuk through a series of Class III and IV rapids — the "Surprise," "Roller Coaster," and "Wall" sections are the named ones, though the best stretches change year to year as the river shifts.

Trips are organised by local outfitters in Tabuk; the usual season runs from about June through January when the water is high. Rafts seat six plus a guide; expect to be soaked and to swim at least once if the level is up. The scenery — limestone walls, dense forest, occasional rice terraces — is as much of the attraction as the rapids themselves.

things to do sight
A story
The river the rafts now run on was nearly dammed in the 1970s. The Marcos regime proposed four hydroelectric dams along the Chico that would have drowned dozens of Kalinga and Bontoc villages. The Kalinga resistance, organised through traditional *bodong* peace pacts, blocked the project — at enormous cost, including the assassination of the leader Macli-ing Dulag in 1980. The cancellation of the Chico Dam project is still cited as one of the defining victories of indigenous activism in Asia.