Sun, fun and goodness in Camsur

One Saturday night, as the party began to heat up, Rica King took to the stage. "It’s really worth doing this. This is so much fun!" she said. By "this," she must have meant a sport that had her and celebrities like Marc Nelson and Angel Locsin roughing it up earlier on. And by fun, she meant staying for four glorious days in Camsur as we celebrated sunshine goodness with Nivea.

Nivea has been the leading brand in skincare worldwide for decades. Since 1911, they have committed themselves to developing products that can protect, moisturize and rejuvenate the skin. Especially during the hot summer days, you can count on Nivea’s Sun Line for the ultimate sun protection. Choose whatever suits you best. There’s Nivea’s Maximum Protection Sun Lotion, Whitening Sun Block Lotion, Children’s Sun Lotion, Sun Oil, After Sun Spray and Lipcare. They’ve also recently introduced the Nivea Sun Non-Sticky Lotion. According to Nivea Sun brand manager Joan Tan, this latest product from Nivea protects you from UVA and UVB rays without leaving your skin dry and sticky. It also has vitamin E that keeps your skin moisturized throughout the day. And so with much- needed sun protection available to us, we went on to do what we do best — have fun!

You, too, can have extraordinary fun this summer, something along the lines of water sport thrills and spills. The place to be is Camarines Sur, a.k.a. Camsur. And once here, head out to the Camsur Watersports Complex.

CWC is spread over hectares and hectares of verdant land. A vision of Camarines Sur Governor Luis "L-Ray" Villafuerte, this area has got just about everything, from cabanas to soon-to-open villas and even lodgings made from insulated shipping containers. It also has an onsite call center and animation company. And soon, it will reportedly have a shooting range, golf course and spa. Meanwhile, its main attraction is housed in a six-hectare complex and a man-made lake. From afar, one can already catch sight of a six-point cable ski system that lends itself to CWC’s water sporting pride, wakeboarding.

Wakeboarding is one of the fastest- growing water sports in the world. And similarly, Camsur is also fast becoming the wakeboarding capital of Asia. This sport involves a number of water skiing, snowboarding, and surfing techniques. It’s quite a challenge to learn, but once you have, you’ll find yourself on the board day and night. That won’t be a problem in CWC. In fact, you can get lessons from the pros here as well as load up on some wakeboarding gear.

The celebrities and media all loaded up on gear as well as action here last February 15 to 18. Among them were Angel Locsin, Angelu de Leon, Mylene Dizon, Say Alonzo, Bettina Carlos, Michelle Madrigal, Jackie Castillejo, Dyan Castillejo, Anna Leah Javier, Wendell Ramos, Ryan and Geoff Eigenmann, Marc Nelson, Bernard Palanca, John Estrada, Marco Alcaraz, Joey Marquez, Jake Roxas, Paolo Paraiso, Antonio Aquitania, Andrew Wolfe, JM Rodriguez and Bianca King. Media participants included YStyle’s JR Isaac as well as former Amazing Race contestants Jeena Lopez and Ernie Lopez. In no time, all had become wakeboarding enthusiasts, going at it over and over again all day long. Soon, this turned into a small competition and all proceeded to strut their stuff for the whole afternoon.

Just for show, wakeboard world champions took to the water first. These included Justin Booney from Canada, Emil Tsolov from Bulgaria along with Sjoerd Compier, Mike Kentellaper, Dennie Slcrur and Maxine Sapulette, who all hail from the Netherlands.

Inspired by what they had just witnessed, all were ready to get it on. There were five teams in all, each made up of eight members and a coach. Coaches Jemir Blanco, Ian Dy, and Mumph Ruiz of Stoked, Inc. mentored the teams of Nivea Lip Care, Nivea Body, and Nivea for Men, respectively. Meanwhile, team Nivea Sun landed Julio Villafuerte as their coach while Nivea Visage had Miguel Villafuerte. After a number of practice sessions, the players were finally ready to show what they had for two successive rounds.

After a hard-fought battle, team Nivea Sun, which was led by Marc Nelson, claimed victory. The team included Joan Tan, Bianca King, Bettina Carlos, Jojo Manlongat, Wendell Ramos, Bianca Consunji and Crissha Pineda. They each took home some cash and CK watches. Meanwhile, coming in at a close second place was team Nivea Lip Care with Nivea Visage in the third spot; Nivea Body was fourth; and Nivea for Men finished fifth.

As enjoyable as wakeboarding was, everyone also took time out to have a relaxing one-hour massage. Wakeboards were traded in for a pair of comfy Crocs sandals, something we all wore as we headed out to the small and restful Aguirangan Island. Here, one can snorkel, kayak or simply lie down under the sun.

Back in the CWC, we also partied throughout the night. There was some good music, good food and an overflow of drinks brought to us by Jagermeister, Amarula, Skyy Vodka and Midori by Premier Wines and Sprits. It kicked off with an R&B party with DJ Marcelo Miranda, followed by a Chill-Out set by DJ Juno Oebanda and finally, the Celebrate Sunshine Goodness party to bring a grand end to it all. Indeed, never had things been this good. Then again, never had it been so much fun to be under the sun!

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Visit Camsur Watersports Complex at www.camsurwatersportscomplex.com or e-mail camsurinfo@gmail.com.

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E-mail the author at ravin.facts@yahoo.com.