When everyone is talking about Baler, all I can hear from them is SURFING. Well, Baler is the surfing capital of the Philippines. Yeah. Indeed. Those who are looking for travel adventures and some adrenaline rush, they know where to go. Baler well, fits among those thrill seekers and everyone who choose to have a break from the hectic stuffs back in Manila. But there are more things beyond this surfing capital of the Philippines. Let's find out..
I have never been to Baler. And yes I did think too that everything about Baler is merely surfing. And later on was surprised about everything in there. Baler, Aurora is a butt numbing ride away from Manila. Lol, Seriously, it would take you 5-6 hours to get there. But I think our travel time was just about 5 hours or so. But those 5 hours is seriously not boring, as you can see from the picture above the scenery going to Aurora is damn so beautiful. At this point pa lang, you can enjoy the vast scenery going to the heart of Aurora. So be sure not to sleep while on the road, cause I bet you cannot sleep sound because of the zigzag road! :)
We arrived at Aurora at around 11am, its nearly lunch and we're hungry so we decided to take our lunch first at this famous Gerry Shan's Restaurant! We had a good buffet for lunch and an unlimited drinks for the unbeatable price of P185! What a steal! You can read our foodtrip about Gerry Shan's Restaurant on a seperate post. Click HERE.
We haven't reserved an accommodation yet because every contact numbers from the lodges on the net are telling us they were already on full reservations. So we called another lodge and surprisingly there were still available rooms for rent, but the location of the place is quite far from the beach area so we chanced upon walking around Sabang and found a good lodge that offers affordable room for those who are on a budget.
For travellers you can find numerous lodges offering at a good price, but this lodge offered us a fan room for just P800 per night for a maximum of 4 persons. It is mainly located at the beachfront already so it was such a great sweet deal. You can view my post about this humble lodge at this LINK.
We were lucky enough to have a beachfront room at a low price. It offers a nice view, and you can see on the other side some people surfing. It was noontime when we finally settled and started preparing ourselves to ride the waves. It wasn't too hot that time so we perfectly thought that it was a great time to try surfinggggg!
By this time, Mr. Sun is spreading its rays around. My friends were really excited to try out surfing right away, but what I'm busy doing up there on our room was you know preparing my skin to be sunkissed later on. I did bring my own rashguard so I put on my sunblock and immediately changed clothes. Little did I know, they were already negotiating with the surfers down there.
Beach Break Surfing School offers surfing session for an hour with board and instructor and free use of rashguard for only 350 pesos. And for those who knows already how to surf and confidently don't need an instructor already, well then they can rent just the surfboard and free use of rashguard for just 200 pesos per hour. I did not mind the free use of rashguard since I did bring my own, but for those who forgot to bring, its a way good package.
What I'm being surprised was that we were offered P300 for a surfboard with instructor and all that jazz. I don't know how did my friends came up with the discounted price from P350 to P300. Huh. They already acquired my talent called Haggling Skills hmmmm! :p I never taught them! Hihi :) But yes, I will also do the same as what they did. I was just a bit surprised that they were able to do negotiation without me(I am always the one who haggles and ask for discounts for me and my travel buddies), knowing that P350 well, is the standard price of almost every surfing school spreads around the beachfront.
So first they did teach us and demonstrate to us how to sleep with the surfing board, nahhhh just kidding. Well, they introduce to us the good practices and ways to keep intact with your own surfboard. What to do when the waves comes in, what foot position you would do to get ready and how to keep your balance while riding. Most importantly, don't panic. Just keep it calm and simple and just ride the waves.
Well, teaching us on the sand and trying it out on the board looks a bit simple and easy. But don't you dare underestimate the waters and the waves. It is really a different one when on the spot you know.
The surfer wanna be! Yeees that's me! :) Sorry for the loose rashguard I know that it should be fitted. I don't wanna wear fitted tops cause my belly fats will come out LMAO! :)))
Okay so lets start the surfing sesh! Well I don't did pretty good at first. I was contemplating about my balance and the waves and the aftermath that I would drown lol. The water isn't that much deep, I can stand my feet on the sand there. But the waves is really huge I can't even handle it the way I wanted to. I was taught to just hold on tight in the upper sides of my board, and whenever the waves are coming my instructor always on support at the foot of my surfboard. We did have a hard time finding a good waves. I guess my instructor don't wanna practice me on a middle size waves, but rather on the huge waves right away.
After 2 to 3 tries of feeling the waves and searching for the right spot on my balance, I did standing on my surf board finally! It was a whooooooping feeling and I scream out and shout out as loud as I can! :p I did get to ride the waves and stand on my surf board for about 3 times. And too bad, the one holding my camera, did not capture my finally waited moment. I feel so envious! I had lotsa photos of my friends standing on their surfboard and makes me wanna delete it! Hahaha! Lol. Its my camera!!!! Why I didn't have any momentum photos!!!! Whyyyyy?! :)) Okay lets move on.
I'm almost standing!! You crappy photographer! You did not capture my shine bright like a diamond moment!!! >.< Hehe. Oh well there's always a next time. At the last few moments of my sesh, I was tired already battling the huge waves and I feel like I'm almost drank :)) I have taken so much saltwater ehhhh. I can also feel my body aches. Also, one of my friend, Erik, have hit me with his surfboard.. Ouch..
contact beach break surfing school for more info
After the surfing session, we don't have anything to do. So I think it would be the best time to explore the nearby areas. This Baler Surfer Grill is one the famous spot there. Obviously because of their car griller style. It was cute by the way and sizzling hot. It's also near our lodge so yeah.
We started walking further towards east side of the beach(from our lodge) and found this Costa Pacifica Resort. Its on the expensive side, and it would'nt fit our budget even to just stay for a night. So yeah, always on a tight budget but you know we were still happy with our lodge, minus the swimming pool and the cutie seats.
cute seats outside costa pacifica
We go back to our lodge and started taking a good refreshing bath. The me time and the laid back time before we head to the nearby destination to take our dinner.
Since Erik wanted to have dinner at the Rolling Store, we pushed it through. I was intrigued by this ever famous rolling store of Baler. It was just mainly eateries piled up along the street. It wasn't a good timing cause I wanted to blog this rolling store but since we were here for dinner, I didn't have a good lighting to capture everything. But we did managed to go back on the following day. And you can view my detailed post on the link HERE.
We had some barbecues and adobong pusit! :) It was a sumptuous dinner by the way. Not to mention its cheap! I spend below 50 pesos. :)
After dinner we had a good chitchats and stories back in the lodge before going to bed. It didn't took us long. We did hit the bed before 12 midnight cause we have to wake up early for the next day for our daytripping around Aurora.
Beach Break Surfing School
Contact #: 09183556739
Look for Boodeck Sotero
Board w/ instructor - P350/hr
Surfboard only - P200/hr
Baler adventure links:
- Where to eat in Baler
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