I did it! I can surf! It wasn't pretty, in fact I'm sure it was quite ugly to watch, but I actually managed to ride a wave standing up. Wahoo! It feels good to put in the effort and be able to accomplish what I set out to accomplish. I'm a long way off from hitting the waves in Santa Cruz or Huntington Beach, but give me a nice beginner's wave and I'll tear it up! Here's out it all played out:
From Vigan I arrived in Urbiztando, described by the guidebook as "the cradle of surfer-dude culture in the Philippines". They weren't mistaken. Surf bums everywhere. After booking into a room at Monaliza Surf Lodge I inquired about lessons. Antony, a local surfer and brother of the lodge owner, said he'd take care of me and to be ready at 9am the next morning. The rest of the evening I was nervous, alternatively thinking about how I could be a natural surfing bad-ass or how I could make a complete fool out of myself while breaking a limb. The nervousness, combined with the hot and muggy weather, made for some poor quality sleep. I woke up in the morning feeling not too rested, rolled out of bed, and headed for the cafe next door. I stuffed myself with eggs, toast, and coffee, then realized it was probably a bad idea to eat that much and regretted it. Antony came by later, accompanied by a short, slender man whom he introduced as Larry. Apparently Larry was going to be my instructor. I was assured that Larry was a talented surfer and would show me all I needed to know. We picked out a beginner's board and walked down the beach.
In hindsight, I should have watched some youtube videos or something in an effort to familiarize myself with the learning material. After a brief onshore lesson about paddling, standing up, and balance, Larry led me out into the surf. We started with me laying down on the board and him holding the tail end to keep me straight and stable. Then, when a suitable wave was approaching, Larry instructed me to paddle, at which point I followed his instructions, felt the wave come under me, and attempted to stand up. The next step in the sequence usually involved me losing my balance right away and falling into the water. However, thanks to Larry's onshore lesson, I knew to fall backward while protecting my head with my arms. After about five attempts I was finally able to get to my feet and stay there for a few seconds. Repeated attempts saw me successfully stand up on every fifth wave or so.
(side note: these two girls, about five and eight years old, are standing right behind me looking over my shoulder at the screen. They've been doing it for about 20 minutes. It's annoying and I'm about to ask them to go away.)
Anyway...the hour long lesson was a mixed bag of success. While I technically did manage to surf a few small waves, Larry's idea of constructive criticism was to give me a thumbs up if I was able to stand and shake his head and smile if I wiped out. It was up to me to provide my own criticism of my mistakes. I was pretty disappointed that the lesson wasn't more in-depth. Let's just say Larry won't be nominated for teacher-of-the-year. I spent the evening online watching instructional videos and getting a better understanding of how to properly paddle and stand up. The next morning I was out there again, this time without Larry. I spied a group of locals and tried to hang near them. A few attempts to catch a wave had me wishing Larry was there to hold the board straight and level. It was so much easier with him around. I couldn't even catch a wave, let alone stand up. After several failures I was beginning to get nervous, paranoid that the locals around me were irritated that a greenhorn was spoiling their waves with his unique style which could only be described as "drunken surfing". It was then that I spied another white person, a young woman, who didn't look like she was fairing much better than me. It also looked like the local male surfers were giving her some tips. I decided to set up near her so that I wouldn't look so bad and maybe I could learn something new. After a while I introduced myself. She said her name was Patricia and she was from Canada. Judging by the accent I'd say French-Canadian. The more I surfed around her and the locals, the more comfortable I became. Soon locals started giving me pointers as well, even though I wasn't wearing a bikini like Patricia. One of them told me I wasn't paddling hard enough to catch a wave. I changed my tactic and paddled like a mad man whenever a good wave came up. That was the trick. After that I was able to catch each wave and could concentrate on the standing up part. I kept at it, getting a little better and riding a little longer with each wave.
The board rental price was P200 for one hour, so at the hour mark I called it quits, but mainly because my arms couldn't take anymore paddling. I hit the shower, ate some lunch, and headed for an internet cafe. The next morning I planned on surfing, checking out of the hotel, and busing to Baguio. However, my plan was foiled when I saw the surf. The conditions were ugly. Only a few experienced surfers were out. Antony came up while I was sitting and waiting for things to calm down. He said there was good beginners surf about 5 km down the coast and that he could drive me there. After some hemming and hawing I said to myself "what the hell, probably not going to get another crack at this for a long time". So, Antony, the surfboard, and I piled onto a small mo-ped and cruised on down the highway, arriving at a place called "Jesus Beach" (so named because of a huge statue of Jesus on the shore). I paddled out into the surf while Antony gave confusing hand signals about exactly where to paddle and setup. In the hour I was out there I caught a few good waves and had a great time on my own. Every time I got thrashed by the surf I climbed back onto the board and headed out again. It was great. The only downside was instead of sand on the seafloor, it was covered in coral. I received a few cuts and scrapes from wiping out, but it was worth it. About an hour into it my arms were dead tired, so I headed back for the beach, happy that I could call my first surfing experience a success. The locals made it look effortless. I think I made it look like it wasn't worth the effort. Hopefully, though, I'll get to surf again in the future.
Now I'm in Baguio enjoying the cool mountain air and, more importantly, getting some laundry done. I have to say that I'm pretty sore from surfing. When I arrived at the hostel the first thing I did was promptly take a long nap. In a few days I'll head north, farther into the mountains to a small town called Sagada. Only 20 more days until Jema and I meet up. Sweet-as!
That's all for now. I hope everyone is doing well in other parts of the world. Take care!
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