A swell ride at the 4th La Union Surfing Break

By Joanna Lei, Contributor Photos courtesy of DoT

11/19/2009

La Union is hailed as the Surfing Capital of the North with waves coming in all year round non-stop. Among the three other well-known surf sites in the Philippines — Siargao, Baler and Daet — La Union is the most accessible for those coming from Mega Manila, a short five- to six-hour drive, or an easy commute via an Ilocos-bound bus.

Aside from accessibility, La Union also boasts of its impeccable security.

“We have more than 100 policemen at any given time ready and waiting for you to make a mistake,” says Region I Director Martin Valera.

And so it was that we found ourselves on our way to La Union, courtesy of the Department of Tourism (DoT). The tourism team Martin Valera, Evangeline Dadat from Region I, Rose Reyes from the Manila office took us under their wing from the moment we arrived at Sebay Resort (owned by Rodolfo Yabes, who was also the La Union Surfing Break 4 chairman), to our food, transportation and day trip activities.

Despite the threat of another typhoon, the 4th La Union Surfing Break at Urbiztondo Beach, San Juan, La Union, brought in an estimated 200 surfers a day, including day-trippers, students, sports buffs and adventurers out for some sun, fun and adventure, and an estimated 4,000 party people — local and foreign alike — during the packed after-sundown parties in the three-day event that ran from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1.

Activities catered to the creative (surf board design competition, S.I.L.I.P. Photography contest); to the adventurous, sporty types (mountain bike race competition, beach volleyball competition, Amazing Race challenge); and to the just plain fun (fire dance clinics, sand castle building contest, Oktoberfest, sunset beach parties and a surfing bodies bikini challenge).

The highlight of the event was, of course, surfing and the much-awaited surfing competition on the third day.

As they say, when in La Union, do as the surfers do. Watching the surfers on the water is one thing, but getting out there and riding the waves is another. It took the team almost 12 hours from the time we arrived to muster up enough courage to get out there. Of course, it may also have been due to the fact that we slept like babies after a hearty lunch, the lullaby of the ocean waves lulling us to sleep. But what eventually got us out there was when the fear of the waters and of getting whacked on the head by a board was replaced with an even bigger fear of not having something surf-worthy to write about if we didn’t get our butts out there.

Would you believe anything we had to say about surfing if we didn’t try it out ourselves? We thought not. Of course, for most beginners such as myself, paddling, balancing and getting to stand on the board took up most of the one-hour lesson, which cost P200 per hour for board rental plus P200 per hour for surfing lessons. In addition, we received a nice event souvenir shirt and a SIM card with load from one of the mobile telecom sponsors for the event.

No one from the team surfed as well as the Silver Surfer, but we did get up close with the real pros.

The surf pros

Having surfed for 42 years non-stop, 62-year-old Kazuo Akinaga worked initially as a surfboard shaper for 15 years in Tokyo, Japan, and lived in Hawaii for some time before a chance peek at an American surfing magazine featuring La Union drew him to the Philippines. It was love at first sight, and he’s never looked back since.

He is credited for starting the first La Union surfing association and surfing school. Having taught locals initially, Akinaga helped many local boys earn extra income by giving them surfboards and enabling them to teach on their own. In addition, he’s set up several surfing competitions. The invaluable support of President Gloria Arroyo, the DoT and media personalities have all helped put La Union on the map.

His hair the color of lemon, and skin the color of sand and sun, Felimon “Lemon” Dines is not your usual coat and tie president. As surf instructor and president of the La Union Surf Club since 1999, the man knows his craft well and speaks of it with a passion. The club now has 80 members, ranging from kids that start young at eight years old, to surfers aged 40 and up. The waves, after all, beckon to everyone from all ages.

Surf’s up, everyone!

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