Surfing San Juan! La Union's Surfing Pride

On my birthday weekend, I decided to surf and experience the South China Sea waves. The first I tried it was in Baler, and the Pacific Ocean waves.

Urbiztondo is known to be the surfing area in San Juan, La Union. Another resort I visited in the same “coast” is Flotsam and Jetsam.

Read about our Baler surfing experience here.

San Juan Surf School was fully booked for Saturday because they were hosting the Billabong All-Girls Surfing Competition (Friday and Saturday) that’s why I had to spend the night in Baguio, which wasn’t too bad for a second choice.

This resort / surf camp is owned and managed by Aussie-Fil world-renowned surfer and endorser Luke Landrigan.

From Baguio, it took me about 2.5 hours to get to San Juan, via a regular air-conditioned Partas bus heading to Vigan.

I booked the deluxe room which is really cheap for PhP2280. Standard Rooms were available at PhP1800 and fan rooms at a much lower price. For more information, visit their website at www.sanjuansurfschool.com.ph

The place was not too crowded when I got there, considering that it was a Sunday.

This dinner cost PhP 600. It could probably be shared among 3 people, depending on the appetite. It consisted of grilled tuna belly, pork adobo, steamed eggplant, 2 servings of rice, tomato and onion and 2 glasses of iced tea.

In the morning, when I strolled the shore, I marveled at the play of colors in the eastern sky as the sun tried to rise up behind the hill.

I had breakfast at 7am, which in hindsight, should have been done after surfing since the waves were higher at this time that when we actually surfed. They served the usual Filipino or American breakfast like tocino and scrambled egg, boneless bangus (I already had Vigan longganisa while in Baguio), etc.

This time I did more than just being told to stand on the board. And I will blog separately about surfing 101 for beginners and wannabe’s.

You should see, there were even dogs surfing with their humans. It was so cool. Dogs actually swam!

The surfing with instructor is a little bit more expensive here than in Baler. It is PhP400 per hour with instructor and PhP 200 per hour for boards only. In Baler it is PhP 350 per hour with instructor, PhP 400 for the board half a day and PhP 200 per hour for board only. But it is all worth it. You would even see Luke around his resort, or sipping a beer, or playing with his dog. On my birthday, I saw him but were too shy to ask for a photograph with him.

The sand is gray, the and the bottom of the sea is not filled with rocks, so it’s safe to fall off the board if you’re still learning.

I started packing my things less than an hour before check out, and I did so with a heavy heart. I felt like it was too short a vacation, just 2 nights. Bitin.

Just outside the resort, buses going all the way to Cubao or Avenida would pass by in intervals. Only that it took me 7.5 hours to get to Cubao because of the many bus stops.

**Added: They will host the soul surf event on Oct 24-27, 2013**