Catanduanes Surfing

A glance at a map of the 7,107 islands of the Philippines could leave you feeling dizzy over the apparent possibilities this country offers to surfers. Located just off the Bicol region of South Luzon, (the main island), Catanduanes island juts out into the Pacific and appears to be an ideal swell magnet for the NE typhoon swells. It was this that caused the first Philippino surf explorers to rush here in the mid 80?s. In 1988 Surfer magazine published the story of a trip to this Island showing pictures of a palm fringed, white sand beach with a barrelling righthander just offshore. This was Majestics, and it put the Philippines under the surf world's spotlight. However the pictures were deceiving, not showing how quickly the wave breaks or how Inconsistent it is. Many surfers have been drawn here by the pictures and ended up spending weeks waiting around for Majestics to do its thing. This Inconsistency has led surfers to explore other areas, most notably Samar, Camarines, Siargao and the main Island of Luzon, which has the highest number of known surf spots. On Luzon, Charlie's point In Aurora province is the most well known wave, having been made famous through the film Apocalypse Now. Potentially the best Luzon spots are found on the W coast around La Union close to San Fernando, this is the South China Sea, and it produces reliable wind swells during the NE monsoon from Nov to April.