First of Summer: Surfing at San Juan

After attending the planning session of our group at Subic last Thursday and Friday, and facilitating the entertainment for Friday night, my colleagues decided to drive up to La Union and try surfing.

Haha… they had me and another colleague on a leash for this spontaneous trip because we were basically passengers in the carpool. Although I’m partial against trying anything in open water, I’m willing to try anything once.

So after checking out at Subic International Hotel on Saturday morning, we headed off to San Juan, La Union.

All it took was less than an hour’s session. The instructors will teach you how to lie on the board, how to paddle out, how to get up on the board, and lastly, how to stay on the board. I got to stand on the board after 6 attempts. Among our group, ako ‘yung late bloomer, hahaha.. I think Jay got it on his first attempt, followed by Bai (second attempt), and then Chewy (on her fourth or fifth attempt).


Note to beginners: Do stretching of your neck muscles beforehand. I’m nursing a stiff neck today.

For particulars:

Stayed at Se-Bay surf resort at San Juan. Room for 4 was 1600 Php/night. Strong airconditioning and clean toilet. Meals at the in-house restaurant ranged from 150-200 Php per dish, although the waiting time is a bit long (we had to wait for about 40 minutes before our orders were served). Breakfast at the nearby Lola Nanny’s is ~100 Php per pax.

The resident instructor and operator of the place, Badz, is friendly. He’s got a good crew of instructors. Surfing lessons are 400 Php/hour (inclusive of 1 hour of surfboard rental), strictly on a 1:1 basis.

The area is friendly for non-swimmers-who-want-to-try-surfing: water depth at the launch area is 6 feet max (if you don’t know how to swim, you can ask your instructor to launch you at a shallower depth), but do add 3-4 feet for the waves that you’ll come across.

Other things to do: ultimate frisbee. The sand is very fine, and great for playing frisbee on the beach. I had a good time diving for the disc. At nighttime, an area of the beachfront is well-lighted (stadium-quality lights!) which allows for night games. We managed to invite a few people to try out ultimate frisbee and play a friendly game for about an hour.

How to get there: Take NLEX + SCTEX, exit at Tarlac. From Tarlac, pass through Pangasinan and then La Union. At La Union province, the sequence of towns will be Rosario >> Agoo >> San Fernando >> San Juan. Travel-time from La Union/Baguio junction to San Juan is approximately 2+ hours.

Many thanks to Carmela and Kath for providing me quick tips for this spontaneous trip. Much appreciated!

Summer’s officially started!


Photos:
Top -- Chewy
Middle -- Bai
Bottom -- Jay

... and as usual, no photos of me since I was the one taking the photos.