Surfing For Lumpia

I like the ocean, but first and foremost, I respect the ocean. I’m a decent swimmer, and I enjoy a little snorkeling from time to time. I even tried scuba diving for the first- and probably last time earlier this year. I’ve never tried surfing though.

So when I finally made my way to Siargao, a small island that is the surf capital of the Philippines, I just had to try surfing, right?

Wrong, I didn’t surf at all.

I had an overnight flight from Vietnam to Siargao, with a layover in Manila (by far one of the worst airports, avoid at all costs). I arrived at my hotel way too early for check in, had not slept, was grumpy, hot, and sweaty. So the first day was a wash.

The next day, I did head over to Cloud 9 beach, the famous surf break. Bypassing all the friendly locals offering surf lessons I walked out onto the pier and caught a glimpse of experienced surfers and students catching some waves.

I decided that if I was not going to surf, I needed to experience something while I was there, so the next day I hopped on an island tour.

The island tour was pretty chill. We visited a few different islands in the area, had a really good lunch buffet on the beach, and visited the so-called Naked Island. The island gets its name not from some hippie nudist colony, but from the fact that there is no life or vegetation on the naturally formed island. It is literally just an tiny island of sand in the middle of the Philippine Sea. We also got to do a little bit of snorkeling and saw some fish, nice coral, and a few eels.

I did score some stellar lumpia in Siargao, and a couple of solid lunches at a spot called Kurvada. It’s similar to some local soul food spots in LA where you tell the lady behind the counter what you want, and they charge you by item. You get your food, take a picture of your plate, eat, and show the picture to the cashier to total up your bill. The grilled fish was particularly good here.

I also had a few meals at Bravo, a stylish beachfront tapas restaurant. I had a classic spanish tortilla and some delicious toast with Spanish ham, truffle sauce, and cheese.

Siargao is a real islandy type of island. I’m talking one or two main roads throughout the island, thousands and thousands of palm trees, no sidewalks, lots of motorbikes with racks to hold surfboards, unbridled sunshine, fresh coconuts, a fuck ton of mosquitos who enjoyed dining on the rare and exotic treat that is my succulent chocolate skin, sunburnt bohemian hipster chicks with tattoos and dreadlocks and questions about your astral chart, iffy wifi, secret jungle raves during the full moon, lizards, free roaming dogs that sit by your table waiting for a scrap of food to fall off of your plate, and more palm trees.

If you want a real island experience, or if you love to surf, or just want to experience something like Tulum probably was 15 years ago, visit Siargao now while it still has some rustic charm.