Photos From Philippines And Some Surfing Tips From My Trip

This little spider was a guest in my room in Pacifico.

Fish in the fridge — This mahi mahi was too big to fit in the fridge.

Toilet window on the Cebu to Surigao boat.

Their favorite toys are empty tire and a sandal. And they are always happy.

This is the “big” store in Pilar, Siargao.

This is how my nipa hut at General Luna looked like. Nice place.

Dapa is the "main" city in Siargao — Dapa is the “main” city in Siargao

The portions are quite small, this was the only time I was full from one meal. Yummy.

If you go to north of Siargao try Bamboo Garden in Pacifico

This is the way to travel from one island to another. And yes – there is some karaoke on the plane.

Last eruption of this famous volcano was in 2006 and the house on this photo was destroyed in it.

This is my room at the Patrick on the beach near General Luna

And sandy beach. And some more palm trees.

Well not really, he was in charge of paddling the boat when needed.

No Red Bull, just some other interesting drinks.

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.

A while after we got there rain started to come down hard.

This is Philippine taxi. A motorbike with a chassis.

Yes…all the wiring in Philippines looks like this.

We met a nice surfer who invited us to cock fights. Here people are madly betting on which cock will win the fight.

Bamboo Garden is the nicest place to stay in Siargao. This is Tom and the coldest beer in the island.

You can buy thin colorful candles and leave them below the Magellans cross.

We asked for a cab, what we got was some local surfers driving us to the San Jose surf break. So funny :)

The waves at Cloud9 sucked but some local kids were enjoying the warm water

I liked the contrast between the colorful balloons and the old buildings of Cebu city.

When you seat at the table near the beach for the dinner these little crabs start running around you.

When the night falls these little creatures crawl out.

There is a hidden lagoon somewhere in the Siargao.

We went to an internet caffee in Daet and this add seemed interesting.

Mahi-mahi fish did not stand a chance after a long surf session

I had to go through 6 different airports to get home. Guess which ones :)

A pig i called baboy in philippines — A fat pig in Santa Fe

Just a cute dog hat greeted us in San Jose.

It’s the most famous and photographed volcano in the Philippines because it is a perfect cone.

When you are surfed out, sun burned, full and dead tired it’s time for some local rum.

A little crab trying to get out of the seashell

When the low tide hits the boats are left on almost dry beach.

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.

I think this is the oldest church in Legazpi… not completely sure.

As I said – there is a basketball court everywhere you look.

Was a big failure and the most expensive thing during the trip. No, we didn’t see any.

As soon as they notice the camera they start posing. Sooo funny.

This is what happens if you have too much time on your hands while waiting for your flight.

Jeepneys are THE transport in Philippines. Very cheap and always interesting to look at.

This church was destroyed by the volcano eruption.

It was an interesting place, far away from anything.

Dako is a cool surf spot near an island with the same name near General Luna at Siargao.

You could easily get lost in the mangroves if you don’t know the way.

On the boat you share the deck with a bunch of chickens.

Lucky for us Jo felt bad and took us home for lunch and then showed us around the Legazpi. Thanks!

If you buy a tourist ticket this is where you sleep – bunk beds.

This Legazpi church was buried by the volcano while people were hiding in it. Sadly they all died.

Surf spots like Cemeteries lie on the reef that is 30 min paddle from the beach.

These kids were hiding under the concrete fence to escape the occasional raindrop. El Carmen, Siargao.

Almost every house has a pig tied to a palm tree…

Rhibull is what we called this animal because it looked like a rhino from the back and a bull from the front.

Downtime Darts at Bamboo Garden, Pacifico — Downtime darts at Bamboo Garden, Pacifico

Basketball in the no.1 sport in Philippines. There are basketball courts everywhere you look.

If you go to Particks on the beach you can rent a tree house.

Just hanging around Cebu while waiting for the boat.

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.

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.

This was the starting point for our lagoon boat trip.

This is how Philippines look from the above. Sooo sick. Hundreds of small islands lying in the blue ocean.

Cebu is supposed to be famous for their guitars. Not sure why. But nice colors :).

This is the original cross that Magellan erected on the beach when he landed on Philippines.

We went looking for shells but this beach is actually famous for the pools in the lagoon where you can swim.

Palm trees and smoke.

It’s funny, people of Philippines enjoy having the picture taken. Sometimes they are at the other side of the lens.

Waiting for the boat tickets at the Cebu port.

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.

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.