Sandbox Pampanga: What to expect from a Manila Day Trip Adventure

Sandbox Pampanga is an adventure spot perfect for those adrenaline junkies. The best part? It’s simply a ~1-1.5 hour drive from Manila so it’s perfect accessible to everyone. Despite not being very well-marketed, Sandbox actually has a ton of activities for you to choose from:

• Giant Swing: apparently the tallest in the country, as of this writing, at 10 meters above the ground
• Aerial Walk Challenge: a high rope adventure course that’s sure to test your balance, agility, flexibility AND strategy
• Avatar One: the first ever roller coaster zip line in Asia. Unlike the traditional zipline where you zip straight down, this one has twist and turns and dips. Super thrilling!
• Adventure Tower: 15 meters tall – this gives you unparalleled views of Alviera. It’s also the venue for you to try your hand at rappelling, wall climbing, and free falling.
• The Splash Tub: a 1200 sqm water obstacle course similar to Wipe Out
• City Kart Racing: Essentially go-kart in this really beautiful state-of-the-art facility
• ATV or UTV ride
• Outdoor Archery

Given the wide slew of activities, there are a ton of packages for you to choose from. We opted to go with Package A since it was the most comprehensive. I really wanted to try The Splash Tub actually but everyone was feeling lazy to shower after. Plus, it was really hot out, so that gave me a bit of a pause as well. In the end, it was good we didn’t do it, because after we had finished all the activities in our package, I was FAMISHED, and there’s nowhere to eat near Sandbox so we headed out after – alas no more time for The Splash Tub.

So without further ado, let me walk you through our jampacked day of adventure at Sandbox.

Ticket Buying

Sandbox doesn’t allow for pre-purchase it seems, so we ended up just buying once we arrived. Initially, I was a bit worried that Sandbox might be closed because there was ZERO people. We arrived at 9:15 (Sandbox opens at 9AM) and we were literally their first and only customers. Come 9:30, some more customers started trickling in. Gosh, I hope more people go here. It would be pretty sad if they close down, because there really aren’t any adventure spots near Manila (that’s not a theme park).

Anyway, the ticket buying process was smooth. We just informed them how many people we were buying for, and the Package we wanted. They made us all sign release forms releasing Sandbox from any legal damages in case of injuries sustained etc, we paid (they only accept cash), we got a stamp as proof of payment, and off we went!

Picture Taking

First stop, of course we had to take a picture with the iconic Sandbox signage first (while we still look pretty fresh!). Very iconic look, and everyone was still full of energy to pose – this would change after we did the Aerial Walk hahaha

Aerial Walk

OK, time for the first challenge. The Aerial Walk doesn’t look challenging to be honest. It’s pretty low on the ground (I’ve been to Aerial Walks where you really have to crane your head just to see the pathway) so at least I wasn’t really worried about dying from an untimely fall.

To start, we were all fitted out in gears – gloves for our hands, helmets for our heads, and a harness with two safety hooks that’s literally what will keep us from going splat on the floor. The safety hooks are really good too – one won’t open, unless the other one is locked. Very nice design – feels sturdy.

Anyway, there are actually two ways for you to go through the course – there’s an easier path and a harder path. Of course, we decided, we should do the harder path! I don’t know if we regret it later on, but there’s really a sense of accomplishment in finishing the course, even if the only reason we finished it is because once you start, there’s really no way to quit midway.

We started off with an improvised lateral wall climb which was alright, until I got to a tricky rock foothold and couldn’t progress. Gosh, first station and already I’m stuck. Thankfully, I managed to power my way through and it was time to check out the swinging ropes. This was a true test in balance actually (something I may or may not lack), but phew, that was that. To be honest, I thought the first two challenges were the most difficult, and everything else could be strategized.

The fun part was really the three ziplines at the tail end of the course. You literally hook yourself up and off you go! Truly an adrenaline rush in part because it’s self-induced. I had to tug my safety hooks several times to assure myself that it will hold before I jumped out into the abyss.

At last, the aerial walk was done. Overall, it took us 1.5 hours to complete, but if you were quick about it, 30 minutes should be more than enough. On our end, we took 3x as long because we were a pretty large group (14 pax) and some moved slower than others (not me! #guilty hahaha)

It really is a blessing though that we were the only one around. I bet this would’ve taken a lot longer if there was a queue before us. Also, the poor people behind us would have to wait SO long before their turn arrived

Rappelling

Next up, we tried our hand at Rappelling. Honestly, we wanted to try Wall Climbing first – get all the hard ones out of the way right? But, we were told we had to do Rappelling first, because part of the Wall Climbing challenge included Rappelling (as that’s how you would get down after). Makes sense.

Rappelling is fine. It’s like you’re just walking down the wall, but instead of a horizontal surface, it’s a vertical surface. I feel like Spiderman now woohoo!

Wall Climbing

Ugh my hatest activity. I don’t know. I think it’s a combination of poor arm and leg strength, an unwillingness to let go of a safe rock to move on to the next rock hold, a poor strategy? I don’t know. All I know is I didn’t even make it up halfway. Huhu sad. At least I’m good at rappelling?

Free Fall

Next was the Free Fall. So nice. I literally just have to step out into thin air. This was not as thrilling as you think it might be, because your fall isn’t really decided by gravity. The harness is connected to a motor mechanism that controls your fall. So it was fun, but not THAT fun. See my face LOL

Avatar One: Roller Coaster Zipline

Love the dips here! Really cool how they use your own momentum to swing your body up and down as needed. The boys didn’t enjoy as much because some of their unmentionable body parts got squished, but I really like it. The thrill of a rollercoaster without all that hardware getting in the way between you and air. And yes, if you didn’t know by now, I am an adrenaline junkie!

Giant Swing

MY FAVORITE ACTIVITY. So fun! It’s like Anchors Away but better, because you’re literally suspended mid-air then swoosh! Down you go. My boyfriend though (who’s afraid of falling) was literally screaming his head off – but I’m sure he enjoyed too hahahaha!

And that’s it! After all that, we were famished!!! My suggestion for Sandbox would be adding a small food concessionaire or sari-sari store so people can buy snacks while waiting for activities. Wasted moneymaking opportunity right there!

But, since they weren’t offering any food, we decided to go to Café Dia for a heavy lunch.

Anyway, Café Dia is super pretty aesthetically and their pizzas were pretty good and great value for money too. I particularly liked their mango yogurt smoothie and would definitely come back here to hang out with friends if ever I’m in the area again.