will probably go with a friend to quezon tomorrow am, anyone interested in joining?

havent surfed quezon yet but hopefully will find some good waves and claim the discovery of some secret spots for ourselves  

Hey Al if there is swell around you will find some waves. Good to see your looking on the good side of the PI.
Hope its pumping.

we found waves alright! but conditions suck! it was windy, raining, the water was all brown from the downpour, the waves were crappy! but we spotted some promising spots already, and guess what its barely 3 hours from metro manila!!!! yahoo!!!!!!!

you would need a good vehicle to look for some of the spots though, road conditions are quite scary when the weathers bad, our pickup fell into a small pit of rainwater and it took a lot of efforts to pulled it up, damn it was an adventure that im not looking forward to experiencing again soon hehehe

Hey Al good to see you have finally become a surf pioneer. Pity the surf wasnt up to it but hey wasnt the trip worthwhile. Next time you should catch the bus and ride on trikes you will really get the true spirit of adventure. Next time if you have a few days to spare try the Polilio Islands Im sure you wont be disappointed. Keep the dream alive
Cheers

how about balesin island, has anybody here surfed that tiny island? (facing pacific)

i dont think id wanna go through the hassle of riding buses and trikes just for a short weekend trip, i think thats much better if i have like a month or so of traveling, around samar perhaps

ellloooo!!!

are ANY of you guys going to be around Davao in December?...I was thinking of hitting the eastern side of Mindanao...stearing clear of Siargao cos I know that about a billion people from Oz are going there this Christmas...slight exaggeration,but I just don't want to be in with the crowd of touro surfers...no offense ok!cos I am one too,but yah..get what I mean!!??I just want to go rough it,search and surf for one month before getting into the routine of the schooling system!..OR!I was thinking of just heading to Samar,Cantanduanes or Camarines...just bloody need an adventure/surfing fix!!! if anybody is keen,hit me back ok! I have no definate plans cos I don't like organised travel,but I do want to surf and it doesnt bother me how we get to where there may be surf.

have any of you guys been to Camarines?I've heard a little about it,but I'm still curious.

sorry al for butting into your post!

Mil....I'm heading to Surigao Del Sur this last week of Nov. I'll tell you if I've found any spots to surf and stay....

heya zidd!

cheers for that too...I hope you find some good surf and keep in contact k!

hmm...Surigao del Sur...thats where JELLY POINT is isnt it?

cheers,
millie

Millie I wouldnt suggest going to Catanduanes in December. Except for the slight possibility of getting waves in Virac or Twin Rocks the winds are going to be onshore on the East coast which rules out waves at Majestics unless you wanna surf it onshore. Camarines area has plenty of waves but thats probably onshore as well. Samar is possibly your best choice or then again you could surf Lanuza or Jelly Point.
Al theres no problem tripping around using the local means of travel. Most of the time you get there just as quick and at least you have a local driving you around who probably has more of a clue to where the waves are. I have found a few places with the help of a local trike driver
Cheers.

Mark,

Now that your talking about Lanuza....   do you know any place to stay in that area? I might try also Cagwait on the other side of Surigao del Sur...Any info about place to stay in Lanuza area?

thanks for the info mark

I'm still not too sure where I'm going to go....most probably just catch up with the boys from Mati and then head to Siargao or surigao del sur and just...WAIT...hahaha.

true true..in regards to taxi drivers!I was talking to this taxi driver who picked us up from a niteclub in Davao and he was originally from Mati.He's the one who told me about the surf there,he didnt know anything about surfing,but he said that he saw some germans who were surfing there maybe 10 years ago!He gave me some EXTREMELY VAGUE directions.Some friends and I bused,triked,walked and ended up finding some really amazing hard to reach breaks totally away from civilisation and hooked up with the small crew from around mati who know where ALL the good spots are..and the easier-legal-less chance of getting shot at route! ....

ALSO!!The local fishermen in any area thats got..a COASTLINE!!the guys who just live in the ocean!The old guys who have lived there their entire lives,they've got some good insight into the areas that pick up and handle swell.Just listen and be polite!

Millie...surigao del sur is nice.....at least majority of the breaks are accessible from the highway. No need to have a car....tricycle is find..

hey all

i'm going out to work in Davao, hopefully, in a couple of months for maybe a couple of years. Sounds like there a small crew down around Mati. So - whats the story with accessing surf from Davao? Is there a few spots around Mati...and far is that from Davao - 3 hrs?

any word appreciated and respected

shmeck

hey shmeck,

Mati is about 2-3 hours from Davao.

and yep,there's a small group of surfers who live there.There's also some of the boys who live in Davao that get their crew together and frequent Mati at least 2/3 times a month.I can get you in contact with them if you'd like?They're only young guys,but they love surfing....

There isnt massive amounts of swell action around Davao,only if there's a typhoon you'll see waves right near Davao,Mati is probably the closest.Siargao Is. is about 6/8 hours north by bus if you're keen.

I hope this helps you out a little bit...

enjoy Davao! if you're ever stuck,I have about 50million reletives scattered around Davao that are always willing to lend a hand.I might even see you there some day!

cheers,
millie

schmek-apo?

hey millie u been to mati?
bad news though.. i just heard that the situations not that good in the area. lots of MILF rebs. shit i was also planning on going to mati for a week or two.
but if its infested with these maggots, id rather wait till the peace and orders restored.

Onats,

Get yourself a good map of eastern Mindanao. There so many places you can go. Just explore and you will be rewarded.

The best way to do it, is look for Beach Resorts and explore the beaches around that area.

Hope this will help.

ZiDD

yep,been surfing in,around Mati-LOOK ABOVE!

one of my uncles said it's pretty tense around that area at the moment,but some of guys in Davao just went to Mati maybe about 2/3 weeks ago and said it was fine

If your going to wait for peace and order to be restored you are going to be waiting a long time. It hasnt happened in the 20 years I have been ascociated with the country so I cant see it improving now. Keep your wits about you and enjoy it otherwise dont go. Everywhere in the world is dangerous at some time or other. Mind your business and just go surfing and I am sure you will be OK.

info...

     I wanna correct the details regarding the MILF in mati,I guess that was the NPA's who recently burned the bus in pantukan bcoz of unpaid revolutionary taxes,situation in mati is not actually critical.But tension is getting high here in davao city eventually bcoz of the ambush in SaSA,the ARANcon family of pantukan and ummm,bombing in the airport.PIKIT is 9hrs from mati.hehe

hey kurdec...is this ondi!!??

I hope you're safe there in Davao...

take care aight!

Millie

cheer for the insight, and if i make it, i'll be sure to drop you a line. Things have taking a turn for the worse out there, messy old world really...

I am suspose to be going to work on conservation project on the Davao River, but we will have to see how things unfold over the next couple of months thought. what is the feeling on the ground?

on a brighter note...i have started keeping an eye on the WAM charts for over there...looks like ye have had rocken swell on that eastern coast all week?

while my coast here in ireland, has gone flat for paddys weekend...ah well

hey shmeck,

I'm actually not in Davao,but my family and friends there said everything is still tense,but...pretty much back to normal,more or less.Nothing really BAD has happened in Davao for a LOOOONG time,so I guess....it's a bit of a shock to the system.But the locals are strong and they won't let shit like that bring them down

and yep...I've heard some good reports from the boys about the swell on the eastern side...

don't worry you're not alone,it's hasnt been too nice on this piece of coastline either

well...I hope you do end up going to Davao shmeck,despite what happened....it's still a beautiful place

hey schmeck,

  i live in mati,we'll swells here are good definitely until june-july,we're planning tis april for a week.

what kind of breaks are in Mati? shore/beach break, point, reef?

sandy bottom?

bout mati?its lyk a reef,the break starts farther from the shore,sometimes inconsistent,but pretty good anyway...

hey kurdec,

how tricks?

i am still undecided if i am going to Davao, what with the security and everthing, last week i had decided i would defer until september and see if things settle down and this morning i received word from the organisation (VSO/ CRS) in Davao...that really, yes there has been bombs but things arent real that bad on the ground...so we'll see...

but what do you think about travel between Davao and Mati? for westerns do think this would be a safe (ish) route? as if this route is a bit dodgy how on earth would i get surf...a grave concern..

anyway we been getting loads of surf here in Ireland...but i am working half the time ...ah well

shmeck

what about checking samar instead of mindanao? less chances of encountering islamic separatists in the visayas.  im not saying that these guys are all around mindanao. theyre mostly confined to the western part of the region but then again its just one big island. though i think youd be better off traveling the road to mati than loitering around in davao city

hey shmeck,

I'll be going to Mati in a couple of months,from Davao.I think it'd be safe going from dvo to mati.They only seem to be targetting places where theres a high density of people.I can let you know how things are when I get there,and if theres any swell pushing through