Biggest typhoon of the WestPac season - a freaking monster. Offshore wiinds from mid-Mindanao south. Serious chargers, psychos, get on out there!

The biggest and baddest supertyphoon in the westpac for quite some time - 26W. The swell is going to be HUGE.

putang, you're right, major monster swell! biggest swell i've experienced since my '98 salt-water baptism.

checked out aurora saturday morning with an "old friend of yours"-- cemento was maxing out! solid 8-10ft, surprisingly offshore in the mornings but even at high tide, the reef couldn't handle it anymore. so much water moving, it's impossible. charlie's was bigger, since it's more out in the open! banks weren't perfectly lined up so and the current was killer. but still offshore-- imagine the dilemma we were in? and the sabang beachbreak was going berzerk! serious, waves were breaking just below the horizon, i say solid 12ft up.

no one could surf during the weekend. but yesterday (monday), cemento was solid! as the locals would say, it's "horror cemento", typical wedging, sucking backless signatures were on display. set waves would even double suck, making high tide still seem like it was bone dry. insane putang, insane.. your friend "captain aloha" was charging the peak. he gives his regards-- was wondering where you were for 26W

word is it's still solid until now. smaller, yeah, but not exclusively for psychos anymore. still for the gun-ho though.

damn, doesnt sound like a happy go jolly surf session. must be hairraising huh?  

actually al, it was jolly. why shouldn't it be? we all dream about big waves right? might not be our stong suit, but it is what most surfers long for in the end. might not be for everybody's skill level but still makes for a great time in the water.

although it was still hair-raising, i admit. but you know? maybe it was that exactly which made the sessions better! we can't just keep surfing playful and crumbling waves at our favorite friendly beahcbreaks all the time. there are times when we have to push ourselves past our comfort bubble. it's big, too big perhaps, but that's what we were sent, so might as well surf it. paddle under a heaving lip even if common sense tells you to paddle out past the breakers, then takeoff late even if every cell in our body is screaming stop and bail, then pull in and hope for the best.. that's the only way we'll surf better. we all have to do it one day right? that's what i think. we can always manage to surf these heavy conditions without compromising personal safety if we all play it smart. there's no other way of playing it anyway.    

Yep - 26W registered 190kt winds and 49ft seas at it's peak, so that is the biggest typhoon in the westpac region in quite awhile.

Good to hear Turtles got over to Baler, he is famous in the Philippines so it is hard for him to get away for a sesh - meetings with GMA and all.

Would be nice to hear from others who got waves off this monster typhoon; give up the lowdown, y'all - no need to mention spots if they are "secret" -

i can imagine, the fear will always be there, its just how you deal with it