Noel “Engineer” Tolentino | one of the early Baler surfers
Here’s an analogy. If Baler is Hawaii, then the “Classics” are the Gerry Lopez and the Derek Ho’s of the surfing community. Sure, there’s the John John Florence and the Jamie O’Brien’s of today, but without these group of surf pioneers it’ll be difficult to pin point where modern surfers got their influence from let alone the aspiration to surf.
The history of Baler surfing, as told countless times and celebrated in many forms, was led by Edwin Namoro and his friends such as Noel Tolentino and was then passed on to the next generation. Decades went by and now we see a high flying, highly competitive batch of young Baler surfers. The “Classics”,well, they are still around holding local surf competitions and faithfully keeping watch of developments happening in their home break.
The Baler beach and reef breaks do get crowded from time to time and when that happens, the Classics know exactly where to go. Here is an outstanding video of a recent Classics surfari in Aurora, a video that is entirely a classic on its own.
The Classics old and new
*very special thanks to Reno for the video. thanks to Jeric Valle, Kuya Mac Ritual and Jason Amatorio of Hakab. Definitely awaiting Part 1.
A Day in the Life of Wilson “Saddam” Faraon Saddam is living aloha. Not only is he a surf dynamo turning heads and winning places in recent National competitions, this 19 year old of Baler does exactly what kids of his age should be doing -- learning and staying in school. Watch the Alohaboardsports team rider in the video ... video: Summer Cruisin’ surf x skate in BALER Spent the Holy Week in Baler and it was an incredible weekend. What's more awesome is we got to spend it with the guys and girls of the Choco Banana Crew. And thanks to our friend Dindi here is a video of that weekend which is one of the best ...
video: Elims and Finals Highlights at the 7th Aurora Surfing Challenge Didn't see the action that happened in Baler during the 7th Aurora Surfing Challenge? Watch the videos below. Presented by VANS ph and Blunt Magazine.
ELIMINATION highlights
FINALS highlights
Jeff, Bad Boy, Balat and Pakits
powered by: WONASOLUTIONS
sponsored by:
VANS ph
Blunt Magazine
Tourism Aurora
Kahea's Beach Resort
Aliya Surf Camp
and many others...
film and edit by: John Che + ...
Winners of the 6th Aurora Surfing Challenge of Baler
finals at the reef: Judge's deck at Cemento. photo by Jane Regala.
6th Aurora Surfing Challenge Results
O P E N division
Champion: Jefferson Dela Torre (Baler)
1st: Rommel "okoy" Rojo (Baler)
2nd: JR Esquivel (La Union)
3rd: Edito "piso" alcala (Siargao)
W A H I N E division
Champion: Nilvie Blancada (Siargao)
1st: Daisy Valdez (La Union)
2nd: Mickey ...
Time to Hang: A Fun Longboarding Competition for Kids Here's something to look forward to this weekend, coz you know good Longboarding is in La Union:
"La Union is known to be the home of the best longboarders in the Philippines. From progressive to classic stylists, you can find most of them here. In an effort to promote longboard surfing amongst ...
Nice video. I wish I could learn how to surf that way despite being 36.
Oh 36 isn’t old. some even started surfing at age over 40!
How long have you been surfing? I hope you can also check our surfer Lui Tortuya http://www.juice.ph/blogs/buhaypinoy/in-the-metro-small-business-is-huge
been surfing for quite some time now. yep, I know Lui personally
Wow. This is so near my province and I wasn’t even aware of this. Thanks for sharing this.
cool. you’re from Aurora?
Thanks for uploading this. Stumbled onto it as I’m looking for surfing sites near Tarlac. Family’s planning on learning how to surf. The place and waves look ideal for learners like us but with our 87 y/o mom in tow… Ah well, guess I’d better keep on searching. Thanks again, “Engineer”! Btw, fantastic background music!