Photos From Philippines And Some Surfing Tips From My Trip
Mow
Kid jumped from the boat in Santa Fe
Yes…all the wiring in Philippines looks like this.
Kid jumped from the boat in Santa Fe
A fat pig in Santa Fe
Even more candles.
This is Philippine taxi. A motorbike with a chassis.
Bamboo Garden, Pacifico, Siargao
On the boat you share the deck with a bunch of chickens.
Yep, it’s Cebu port by night.
And yes…this is a karaoke bar.
I had to go through 6 different airports to get home. Guess which ones :)
Waiting for the boat tickets at the Cebu port.
First we took a van, then we took a bus, then we took a tricycle, then we took a plane, then we took another taxi, then we took a boat…this is how traveling in Philippines looks like.
Just a cute dog hat greeted us in San Jose.
We went to an internet caffee in Daet and this add seemed interesting.
Downtime billiards in Pacifico, Siargao
This is my room at the Patrick on the beach near General Luna
When the low tide hits the boats are left on almost dry beach.
You could easily get lost in the mangroves if you don’t know the way.
Kids have to work from early age.
We rented a motorbike and drove around
Surf spots like Cemeteries lie on the reef that is 30 min paddle from the beach.
Cebu is supposed to be famous for their guitars. Not sure why. But nice colors :).
More candles
This is the original cross that Magellan erected on the beach when he landed on Philippines.
No Red Bull, just some other interesting drinks.
Downtime darts at Bamboo Garden, Pacifico
A look from our hotel towards the sea.
This was the starting point for our lagoon boat trip.
Well not really, he was in charge of paddling the boat when needed.
It’s funny, people of Philippines enjoy having the picture taken. Sometimes they are at the other side of the lens.
Cave near Burgos, Siargao
This little spider was a guest in my room in Pacifico.
It is all over in like 5 seconds. The put sharp knifes on the cocks feet so after a blow or two the injured opponent is finished for ever and probably goes to chicken curry.
Almost every house has a pig tied to a palm tree…
And sandy beach. And some more palm trees.
Our Canadian friend in the hammock.
Philippine kid gets ready to jump.
When the night falls these little creatures crawl out.
This is the “big” store in Pilar, Siargao.
And a lady with a guitar.
If you go to Particks on the beach you can rent a tree house.
I dont like it :)
As I said – there is a basketball court everywhere you look.
Rhibull is what we called this animal because it looked like a rhino from the back and a bull from the front.
This is how my nipa hut at General Luna looked like. Nice place.
This mahi mahi was too big to fit in the fridge.
You can buy thin colorful candles and leave them below the Magellans cross.
We met a nice surfer who invited us to cock fights. Here people are madly betting on which cock will win the fight.
A picture of Bisto the dog.
Was a big failure and the most expensive thing during the trip. No, we didn’t see any.
Since he had trouble using his arms he only controlled gas, brake and clutch. The 10 year old kid shifted the gears and handled the steering. How cool is that? And we in the back with freshly cooked crabs.
The portions are quite small, this was the only time I was full from one meal. Yummy.
Palm trees and smoke.
This is how Philippines look from the above. Sooo sick. Hundreds of small islands lying in the blue ocean.
Bamboo Garden is the nicest place to stay in Siargao. This is Tom and the coldest beer in the island.
If you go to north of Siargao try Bamboo Garden in Pacifico
This Legazpi church was buried by the volcano while people were hiding in it. Sadly they all died.
It was an interesting place, far away from anything.
While we were surfing our ride left without telling us. So when we came out of water we were like WTF?! Then this older gentlemen comes and says he will drive us, our friends arranged it for us.
I liked the contrast between the colorful balloons and the old buildings of Cebu city.
Buying 100 candy for the local kids.
It’s the most famous and photographed volcano in the Philippines because it is a perfect cone.
This is the way to travel from one island to another. And yes – there is some karaoke on the plane.
This was sooo weird. We reserved the tickets in advance but at the end we were lucky to get them at all. An the office looked more like the are selling drugs, not boat tickets.
Their favorite toys are empty tire and a sandal. And they are always happy.
Driving through the Siargao jungle.
This church was destroyed by the volcano eruption.
A while after we got there rain started to come down hard.
As soon as they notice the camera they start posing. Sooo funny.
Friends on a truck
Another Bagasbas photo that I like..
We asked for a cab, what we got was some local surfers driving us to the San Jose surf break. So funny :)
Burned jungle in Philippines
Dako is a cool surf spot near an island with the same name near General Luna at Siargao.
We went looking for shells but this beach is actually famous for the pools in the lagoon where you can swim.
If you buy a tourist ticket this is where you sleep – bunk beds.
When you seat at the table near the beach for the dinner these little crabs start running around you.
Almost 6kg of fresh tuna. Om nom nom :)
Last eruption of this famous volcano was in 2006 and the house on this photo was destroyed in it.
Dapa is the “main” city in Siargao
This is what happens if you have too much time on your hands while waiting for your flight.
These kids were hiding under the concrete fence to escape the occasional raindrop. El Carmen, Siargao.
Just hanging around Cebu while waiting for the boat.
The waves at Cloud9 sucked but some local kids were enjoying the warm water
There is a hidden lagoon somewhere in the Siargao.
Camera? Thumbs up!
Toilet window on the Cebu to Surigao boat.
They love to have their picture taken.
Cebu – Srigao boat.
One of the ferries similar to ours.
Another air photo of the Philippines.
A little crab trying to get out of the seashell
Lucky for us Jo felt bad and took us home for lunch and then showed us around the Legazpi. Thanks!
Jeepneys are THE transport in Philippines. Very cheap and always interesting to look at.
I think this is the oldest church in Legazpi… not completely sure.
Basketball in the no.1 sport in Philippines. There are basketball courts everywhere you look.
Mahi-mahi fish did not stand a chance after a long surf session
It was typhoon season
I love the colors of the water.
When you are surfed out, sun burned, full and dead tired it’s time for some local rum.
Philippines. Hm :). This time my surf travels have taken me a little further. I felt like I was stuck in the same surf spots and countries. Portugal, Bali – Indonesia… these places are GREAT, don’t get me wrong, it’s some of the best surfing you can find anywhere! But after a while I start to miss the thrill of unknown, the excitement of discovery, the adrenalin of going out of your comfort zone. Your experiences are more intense, there is more for your brain to process – different country, different nature, different people, animals, smells, traffic, food, waves, prices, bargains, habits, locals… almost an overload for your senses and nerves. This is why, when you go somewhere new (at last for me) – it feels like I was there longer. I stayed and surfed in Philippines for 3 weeks, it felt like 2 months.
So why would you go surfing to Philippines? I did some research, went through s few surfing books and guides, checked out a few websites…looking for an out of the beaten track surf destination with warm water, friendly people and ridiculously low prices. Well…it’s not that simple. All those exotic far away islands in the middle of the Pacific ocean are 1) really really had and expensive to get to, has to do something with the fact that they are far far away from anything 2) are not that cheap when you get there since most of the stuff you find there has to be brought there from…well..far far away and 3) I know that surf guides exaggerate and you can easily surf some so called gnarly pros and kamikazes only surf spots even if you are not a pro surfer but “no easy spots” does not sound that inviting when you are choosing your surf destination.
So the idea of Philippines came up. And I went. A few weeks before departure I started to check the forecasts for waves and that f…ing thing was never above 3ft/1m. What the hell? I was quite depressed going there, I was sure it’s going to be flat. Well…the forecast stayed in the 3ft range the whole time there and I surfed every day waves from chest to overhead high. So why go to Philippines?
Warm water: Water in October/November was ridiculously warm, warmest water I’ve ever been into. It was so warm that my GoPro fogged in 10 minutes and was the reason that this surf trip gallery has no surfing photos.
Friendly people: Philippines are some of the friendliest people out there. Except from the ports and airports where it would be weird not to be hassled a little bit, everybody was sooo nice. Kids smiling and saying hello, adults giving you thumbs up…it’s really cool.
No crowds: Except for the Cloud9 that is also called Crowd9 there are no crowds. There will be at most 5 people in the water, even more often you will be alone.
It’s cheap: It’s not Indo cheap but it’s cheap. A room will cost you from 6$ on a meal will set you back from 2$ on…etc.
Surfing In Philippines
Although surfing in Philippines is not new and the most famous spot Cloud9 is well known in the international surfing community surfing in Philippines is not that popular. There are a few locals everywhere you go and some traveling surfers but apart from Cloud9 the lineups are more or less empty. The center of surfing is Siargao island where the famous Cloud9 spot is located. Even here most of the people hang around the General Luna (GL) and Cloud9. This is the “tourist” part of the island, but it’s still easy going and laid back. Other parts of the island like further up north are almost empty of surfers and other tourists.
The other surf destination in Philippines that we checked out was a small surf town in the Luzon island called Bagasbas. Bagasbas is a beachbreak which means its quite consistent but a bit tricky and it has to be calm or offshore to be really good. While I was there water was not that clean at least compared to Siargao. There are a few other spots in the area like San Jose and Mercedes that you can check out if Bagasbas is to windy and blown out. Anyway – Bagasbas is a really nice town, you should check it out :).
Now these were all the pluses of surfing in the Philippines. What about the downs?
Waves. Sadly :) Don’t get me wrong, surfing is quite good bit still its not in the same league with places like Indonesia. Even though there is almost like endless ocean east of the Philippine islands real groundswells are not that common and quality waves consistent. Luckily there is lots of windswell so you have waves almost every day. Another thing – I couldn’t figure out what is the best season for surfing here. And neither could the locals. Some said September was the best, some said typhoon season which is somewhere from September to December, some said April – May is best. I guess all these times have their ups and downs when it comes to consistency, wind conditions and wave quality.
Anyway . You should go, you won’t be sorry. For me it was a really memorable trip, hope you enjoy the photos:
I might write a longer post about traveling and surfing in Philippines but till then – if you have any questions I’ll gladly answer them. Just put them in the comments.
