It’s too hard to find the words to entice you dear readers to watch this video after seeing it. My jaw dropped and I’m kinda stupefied. Bayogyog, a skimboarder from the land of high flying skimmers aka Mati in Davao Oriental, jumped over a banca with his skimboard and did a little flip on the [...]

Been meaning to surf in Daet for the longest time. All my friends have been there but I don’t know, for some reason all my plans to head down south to Camarines Norte didn’t push thru. And one place I also badly wanted to visit there is the Calaguas Islands. Been seeing pictures and hearing [...]

Nilvie being celebrated after her win – photo by Lu Ganda Ali Sumaylo 19 year old Siargao local Nilbie Blancada took down Australian past world tour surfer Kim Wooldridge today in a tightly contested 30 minute final to the delight and cheers of the excited Filipino spectators gathered in the iconic Cloud 9 tower. On [...]

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 [...]

  The Golden Week, Philippines (GWPH) is a yearly TENT/CAMPING tourism project in support of positive developments for San Jose Beach, Talisay, Camarines Norte, Philippines. This is done with the aid of different subculture lifestyles with Surfing at San Jose Beach as the starting point. It also features Skimboarding, Downhill skating, and street skating among [...]

UPDATED FAQ’s on Bagasbas Beach How do we get there? Which is better, to take a public transporation or take our own cars? Frankly, we feel it’s too long for a drive and we’d rather sit back and relax. Is there a public transpo that we can take from Manila? If so, where and how [...]

Thanks to Hurley Philippines, we were able to try the Hurley Phantom 60 during our surf trip last weekend at San Antonio, Zambales. It was  a perfect time to test the multi awarded Phantom series because as you know conditions in Zambales are always changing. The sun may be out in the morning but rain [...]

Mark Cristino is a sports photographer from Manila who is no stranger to the surf and skate scene. He is part of the awesome Blunt Magazine and can be regularly seen at surf spots with his huge lens capturing rad moments of the day’s session. Last month, Mark was able to be part of the [...]

People the heat of summer is upon us! And when summer strikes there’s this usual place we go to to cool off – the beach! Yeah yeah yeah. Same old same old. But don’t you think you oughta try something else this year? How about surfing? Yes, surfing. In the summer. How’s that for a [...]

The just concluded 7th MSA Cup held in La Union was very successful in showcasing wave riding talent from Manila and in unifying and strengthening camaraderie between city based surfers.  We’re still hungover from the weekend – watching the competition go down to the wire, soaking up the summer sun, partying at night and of [...]

So I constantly find myself getting landlocked plenty of times. Oh the pains of being a surfer from Manila. Work, family and many other things refrain you from getting out there. And aside from being surf starved, one thing that really sucks from getting stuck in the city is the fact that you do get [...]

INTRODUCTION The Philippine surfing bug hasn’t bitten anyone locally more harder than those who live in Metro Manila. These city based surfers come from all sorts of background – college students, doctors, musicians, lawyers, call center agents, bums, celebrities, young professionals, old professionals – and they all devote time, money and effort to surf different [...]

Sometimes at home I wear my boardshorts to sleep because well, you never know, I do go on surf trips in my dreams from time to time. Also, life’s just better in boardshorts. But watch below Billabong’s treat for everyone, the free short film Life’s Better in Boardshorts, and let Taj, Parko, Rasta and the [...]

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 [...]

Created by Envirosurfer: Eco-friendly Wetsuits & Surf Clothing. We won’t pretend to be champions of the environment but we find the information above surprising and important that’s why we are sharing it. Who would know sunscreen threatens coral reefs below? Yeah. Hope you guys share it too. Infographic by EnviroSurfer –  an eco friendly online [...]

Ok. Honestly, we don’t know much about kiteboarding. Well there’s Boracay and those airborne kiteboarders at Bulabog beach, but that’s about it. What we do know however, is someone who kitesurf and surfs depending on what kind of day it is in the unpredictable world of Philippine surfing. MG Ebro is a friend of ours, [...]

With the stoked American accent I say, “DuDe wAnnA SURF?!” A friend said it sounds stupid (thanks to the movie Dumb and Dumber) but then, to appreciate something, you have to look into it deeper. As early as six in the morning my alarm goes off and the routine starts, work-gym-work-work and more work. I [...]

Now on its 14th year the La Union Longboard Open is slated this coming weekend Feb 3, 4 and 5 at the Monaliza Point in Urbiztondo, San Juan, La Union. The event is the biggest show of Logging/Longboarding excellence in the country and it draws the best of the best longboarders from all over as [...]

Skateboarding was born out of surfing – or the lack of it. And this mini cruiser of mine is an absolute source of stoke whenever I couldn’t go out for a weekend surf. That’s why I’ve been hitting concrete almost every other day. Totally addicting. I mean I’m no awesome skate/longboarder but yeah. It’s great. [...]

Our friend surfer/skater Peter James Villarta has always been the artistic one in the group. One of his creative pastimes is painting art on surfboards using Posca markers. He’s been doing it for a while as a hobby – turning dull surfboards into cool vibrant wave sticks. But as of late, he’s been getting paying [...]

Here’s a local showdown down South now that’s an awesome poster The Lanuza Cupid’s Surf Contest is a surf event for the locals. Surf will be held in what is said to be the PIPELINE of the Philippines – Punta Left. Come watch and enjoy Lanuzas best surfers rip, shred and get barreled! Event is presented [...]

While we were slicing ham at home, the Philippine’s best surfers Okoy, Jeff and Pete Pete were launching airs and throwing sprays at the bowl at Cemento Reef in Baler. Damn these Aloha boys are sick. Gotta be at the 6th Aurora Surfing Challenge to catch them all. *video by Anton Lagmay

Remember 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 series of Go Pro footage revealing the gorgeous reef below glassy peeling Majestic waves, some travel shots and pictures of what definitely is an epic surf trip for this [...]

PREPARE FOR THE FIRST NATIONAL SURF COMPETITION OF THE YEAR Happening on Feb 9 to 12 that’s Thursday to Sunday, the competition will be held at the Sabang beach break for the eliminations while the semis and finals are to be held at Cemento Reef as conditions will permit.  This ‘shortboard’ only competition will see [...]

Dropped off the last relief goods the Manila Surfers Association has received from its donation drive to the Red Cross Pasig office over the weekend. Aside from tons of used clothes, shoes and bags, we were able to give boxes of canned goods, ready to eat ulam packs, instant noodles and gallons of purified water [...]

Surigao del Sur has Lanuza – a municipality with epic breaks home to the Lanuza Surfing Festival. We’ve written about one of its spots before, the dreamlike Punta and its natural mystic. But yet another paradise unearthed, the reef breaks of Hinatuan is again a natural wonder that could also be one of the province’s [...]

Never too early to start planning your weekends for surf trips. Also, this list will come in handy to prepare for those “sunod-sunod” na Surf Competitions and Festivals. There’s about 18 holidays and 9 long weekends this 2012 (I think). But you know us here at LokalSoul, everyday is a holiday! (we wish). Happy New [...]

2011 was a great year for Philippine competitive surfing. We’ve seen standout performances from various National competitions from Cabugao to Siargao. Although we haven’t pretty much covered the entire surface of profiling our very own local surfers, there is one guy who’s basically a standout at surf contests. If he ain’t winning 1st, his name [...]

Batch 1 of the relief goods sent by the Manila Surfers Association as a collective effort. Pictures sent by Kay Panganiban and Spencer TY of the JandS surf shop in Makati. Here they are sending 4 1/2 boxes of donations filled with medicines, toiletries, and clothes/shoes to LBC which will be shipped to CDO Red [...]

When competition happens at your doorstep, you gotta go represent. This year’s Zambapalooza saw exactly just that. Zambales surfers, although not regulars on National competitions, came out strong and competitive against the best and experienced surf comp regulars. And my how they came out with all guns blazing. Liw-liwa surfer “Gorz” floats all out during [...]