Philippines

[Rude_Beef]

Ok so I've all but decided im going to the philippiners for my next adventure (aside from NZ next week hehe)

Theres a few things that inspire me. Firstly that insane wave on the youtube vid, then theres the rum my mate bought back, and finally I have this perchant to find an amazing wave, buy the island, and retire.

Has anyone surfed much throughout the philippines? I've heard stories of alot of potential, what about consistancy etc.

Right now im looking at travelling between dec and feb, thoughts?

Any help would be much appreciated.

[Revolution]

Only really heard about cloud 9 and all ive heard is when waves are on its good but when there arnt any it can get very boring.

I wouldnt really want to go there unless i knew a swell was coming. Plus getting there is meant to be a mission.

[LONGINUS]

I was there in October during the SW monsoon and would recommend it as the time to go. The first North Pacific swells have started to fall down and its glassy all day. Later you go, more swell but the winds get up earlier. I wouldn't go any later than November to be honest - onshores all day

I wouldn't bother with Crowd 9. Siargao is a great island with about a dozen other breaks. There is potential north and south but the island is in Mindanao which is the Muslim lower third of the country. Siargao is right at the top so quite safe but westerners were being kidnapped further south when we were there.

From sydney it took 3 days to get there. Flight Sydney to Manilla. Manilla to Suriago then local ferry to the island of Siargao. I's getting better though. They only do it few times per month but you can fly direct from Cebu to Siargao now I believe.

So many islands just like Siargao all around the region. There are some great discoveries to come out of the Phillipines, small surfing season window though.

[steve shearer]

Rude, I spent a few months tramping through the Phillos.
There's 2 seasons : SW monsoon/typhoon season and Amihan or NE monsoon.

You're plans put you in the amihan and as such most of the Phillos name breaks will be onshore. There's a lot of swell from cold fronts and precursor lows sweeping off the Siberian land mass.

Don't know what kind of human you are : we searched through the north of the Phillos and didn't see another whitey let alone surfers but there is ZERO tourist infrastructure. You'll be rocking up to places and starting from scratch; staying with a vilager, organising a boat ,looking for surf.
We found at least a dozen waves, including a world class left, and I believe there are many more to be found. There are no surfers there and no western facilities.
You'll need to be self-sufficient and preferably have a travelling companion you can trust to save your life in a jam.
The people are dirt poor, friendly but very well armed and communist insurgencies still exist. Don't make a prick of yourself or you might get shot.

The food is shitt. You need to be able to sing and drink......they drink rum in the south and gin in the north. The blokes sit around in small circles and drink it straight until they're blind......if your in isolated areas you'll be expected to sit with them and join in.
Learn some tagalog.
Their is a supermodel in every rice paddy.
Start in Ilocos Norte for the amihan or NW Samar.

[LONGINUS]

^^^^^^^^Steve, did you stay at General Luna at all?

[steve shearer]

Passed through there several times.
Stayed at Burgos (northern siargao).
was very underwhelmed by crowd 9 and surrounding area.

[smw1]

I have travelled there several times and surfed quite a bit of the west coast of Luzon. Haven't yet made it to Siargao.

Phils may just be one of the handful of substantially undiscovered surfing venues left on earth. Sure there are some better-known breaks that people have heard of (Cloud 9 being the obvious example), but to put it in context, the Philippines comprises 7,107 different islands (add 3 at low tide..!). You can be sure there are plenty of classic set ups out there just waiting.

There's just one slight problem. Outside of the main tourist spots (and I wouldn't really classify the current known surf destinations as tourist areas), the Phils is fairly raw by Western standards and not for the faint hearted. As a broad guide, various different guerilla groups are active in the north and are particularly fond of kidnapping white faces for ransom, and the Abu Sayyaf and other Islamic groups are engaged in an ongoing war with the Government in the south, including on Mindanao which offers some of the most promising surf locations. Infrastructure is not what us spoiled westerners are used to. Don't expect to call the police or an ambulance and for people to come help you out if you get into a scrape. This is a "developing" country after all.

As a result, local knowledge is essential and you would be well-advised to take security seriously, particularly if you want to go off the beaten track.

Some westerners have already tried to set up surf camps, with mixed results. There was a story not so long ago of an Aussie surf camp owner who was shot by some rebels in the north.

Having said all that, the Filipinos are some of the most genuine, kind and generous people you will ever meet. There's plenty of ex-pats and travellers (Japanese, Yanks, Aussies, S. Koreans) about in many of the beach resorts, and there are a number of non-surf destinations that are on the global backpacker trail as well as world-class luxury resorts and islands.

If you are genuinely up for a Filipino surf adventure, you could do worse than get in touch with the dedicated and enthusiastic local surf community for where you want to go. Some have online forums - try Google.

SMW

[LONGINUS]

On a positive note, this thread has generated some nice google ads on Filipina Mail Order Brides.

God bless you google bot...god bless you

[sixfootstix]

not meaning to hijack this thread but i'd also be interested in some advise on surfing Philippines. My missus will be working in Manila for several weeks and i will be heading over to visit her for a week. So i will be looking for somewhere relatively easy to get to and maybe even girlfriend friendly (evn if only for a weekend) Will be there in October.

[steve shearer]

Coupla options : up the south china sea side to La Union.
Mostly soft mal style waves.
Pacific side at Baler.
Good waves around including beachbreaks.
Both driving distance from Manila.
Crossing the central Cordillera to get to Baler is fcuking hairy though....I'd hire a local driver if you've got the coin.
Baler has local surfers but their cool if your cool.

[brendo]

hey steve, wasnt it that area they filmed the surf scenes foe apocalypis now?

ive been to cloud 9 twice mid to late 90s, in the space of 2yrs the place turned into a farken circus, id hate to see it now. some insane waves over there, but later than oct and its all over. if your single, lots of hot biatches around....i went in the contest over there, the local mayor asked us to fark the local girls,in front of a thousand people, so they could pop out a champion phillo surfer

if u like perfect righthand barrels...then book a ticket...but watchya back when ya in surigao