Camarines Sur (a.k.a. Camsur), located in the Bicol Peninsula, is accessible via all modes of transportation — air, land or sea.

Camsur boasts of its cultural sites, white sand beaches, rainforests, majestic mountains with caves and waterfalls, atbp.

But now, Camsur has something new to offer— the Camarines Sur Water Sports Complex (CWC) in Cadlan, Pili.

CWC, the first world–class watersports complex in the Philippines and in Asia, was the brain child of Bicol Gov. Luis Raymund "Ray" Villafuerte.

"My sons, who love wakeboarding, dared me to try it. I liked it very much and have been wakeboarding ever since. This inspired me to build a water complex in Camsur," related Gov. Ray.

The six hectare complex, with its man–made lake and 6–point cable ski system, already attracts both local and foreign tourists.

Famous international wakeboarders like Scott Byerley, Pinoy wakeboarder Dan Saraza, and local celebs Aga Muhlach and Bayani Agbayani often come to wakeboard in CWC.

"We started building CWC in January 2006 and we finished in April that same year. We finished the lake and the cranes in a span of four months. Our expectations have already been exceeded. Foreigners are calling CWC the best extreme watersports facility in the world!" exclaimed Gov. Ray.

When we arrived at CWC, my colleagues couldn’t hide their excitement. They immediately dressed up and headed for the lake.

We were welcomed by Reuben Buchanan, an Australian wakeboarder who works as the watersports instructor in CWC.

Reuben learned to wakeboard in Australia when he was 19 years old. He has been wakeboarding for 11 years joining numerous competitions in different countries. Even his daughter and wife are into the sport.

In 2006, he came to Camsur and was impressed with the facilities. He decided to stay in Camsur with his family.

"The coolest thing for me is to see my daughter, Takiah Lani, wakeboard. At the age of three, she is probably the youngest wakeboarder in the world," bragged Reuben.

Wakeboarding is not as easy as it looks. But it helps if the rider has tried surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding or any sport similar to it.

For first-timers, there are stages to undergo before trying the sport itself. It is advisable to start with kneeboarding, where the rider sits on the board in a kneeling position. The second stage is water skiing.

"You should lean forward and stay as low as possible. Do not sit up straight, or else you’ll fall. Keep in mind that you shouldn’t lean back. Hold the cable firmly and balance your weight," instructed Reuben.

Soon, everyone picked up their gear and headed for the water. Everyone was ready except for one person… me.

For someone who doesn’t know how to swim, any watersport would be a nightmare. But Reuben said, "My daughter Takiah Lani can wakeboard. If a three-year-old can do it, I’m sure you can, too."

That was a challenge, so I joined the rest of the group. Reuben gave me one-on-one lessons and after three trials, I was able to kneeboard alone!

Accommodations within walking distance from CWC are available for guests. The Ecovillage, Mansion Suites, Villa Del Rey Cabanas, Suites and Trailers are just a stone’s away from the cable park.

The rooms are spacious and equipped with TV sets, DVD players, air-conditioning, and hot/cold showers. But the best thing is guests can surf the Internet because Wi–Fi capability is available in the area.

The following day was a blast! We toured the old churches in Camsur (Naga Metropolitan Cathedral, Basilica Minore, and Nuestra Señora de Angustia), museum, pili factory and the deer farm, where we met Chokoy, the "friendly" deer.

The deer farm is funded by the government. From 60 deers, there are now 300 deers in the farm.

According to Edgardo Nacario, caretaker of the farm, Chokoy unlike the other deers, is not afraid of humans. Kids play with him and he even posed for us when he saw our cameras!

Unfortunately, the weather was getting worse, so we weren’t able to go to Caramoan Island, which (according to Gov.) is like Boracay and Palawan combined.

A trip to Bicol would not be complete without eating authentic Bicol food. It was a gastronomic feast as they served Bicol express, laing, laing pizza, tinapa rolls, etc.

The taste of ‘gata’ and ‘sili’ was so hard to resist, that every time we ate, we would order the same food. It is simply not the place for dieters.

To shed the pounds we gained from all that eating, the group decided to do another round of wakeboarding. After crashing and falling off our boards a few times, everyone felt tired and frustrated.

"If you really want to learn the sport, you should never give up. Just listen to the instructor and eventually, you will get it," said Reuben.

Nevertheless, we all had fun and agreed to go back to CWC for the Wakeboard Olympics which is slated on July 2008, and the 2nd Philippine Cable Wakeboard Nationals on Oct.26-28.