The problem with tropical typhoons is that they sneak up on you. A low pressure area can develop into a massive signal #3 typhoon in just 48 hrs! And that’s exactly what happened to us in Catanduanes! 5 Gubat Bay Surfers plus a Daet surfer and 3 guys and a lady surfer from Manila got stuck in the most awesome surf spot, Majestics in Catanduanes!
We headed to Tabaco Port from Sorsogon (Surfsogon) early morn of September 23 excited at the forecast of surfing Majestics when it was just 2-3 ft. We arrived in Brgy Puraran in Baras, Catanduanes at noontime, waves then were so perfect and just a little overhead that our lunch could wait (it did wait for 2 hrs). September 24 saw the same kind of swell and guys were getting barreled all the time.
Sunday or September 25 was our departure date, but the Philippine Coast Guard cancelled all ferry trips due to choppy seas. So back to Puting Baybay beach resort where the owner Maa’m Celia Soria was kind enough to let us stay for free since we were stranded! September 26 saw huge waves and the sorm went signal #3 in the entire island of Catanduanes. No one was surfing, even the locals, except a very brave soul (or a very stupid guy) from Sorsogon. After several huge wipeouts he had enough and paddled back in. Thankfully all of us got back to mainland Luzon on September 28 safe and sound. Puraran is an excellent place to surf, and Majestics whether its 1-2 ft or 10-15 feet is always lives up to its name.
*Words and photos by Bidge Villaroya. Session before, during and after Typhoon Pedring.
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above: Jeffrey caressing ...
[...] the awesome Stranded in Paradise blog entry we posted last year? Well it now has a video and it’s much much more awesome. There’s a [...]
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