Community and Camaraderie on the Filipino Surf Island of Siargao

15.11.2024 - 12:41 / cntraveler.com / Byron Bay

On an early June morning off the southeastern shore of Siargao, pro surfer Ikit Agudo skillfully maneuvers her board through the waves. This teardrop-shaped island in the Philippines, long a domestic secret but on the verge of becoming a hot spot, has always been home for Agudo, who was born and raised on Siargao, in a community she describes as uniformly friendly and thoughtful. During the morning we spend out on the sea, I see friends and strangers saluting one another on the lineups. Experts guide amateurs; fellow surfers extend invitations to break bread together after the session. All paddle out together to face the ocean as one.

A relaxation nook at Nay Palad Hideaway

Agudo’s brother, Balong, in the lineup

Surf culture is an integral part of Siargao, where palm-flanked roads are lined with hammock-strung hostels and scrappy board shops. Local surfers, as well as folks from Manila, Cebu, and points farther afield, can be spotted everywhere from the white-sand beaches and brilliant blue lagoons to Catangnan Bridge, an 1,145-foot span on the island’s eastern side where they ride skateboards among the food stalls that pop up at sunset each evening. Siargao used to be quiet, Agudo says, “a simple-lifestyle island” whose primary economic activities were fishing and farming. Then, in the 1980s, Western surfers came through and began spreading the word about a now legendary break called Cloud 9 (named after a Filipino chocolate bar). Since then, Siargao has claimed a place on the global surf circuit and produced a homegrown crop of legends. Stars like Manuel “Wilmar” Melindo and Rudy Figuron, and now Agudo and her sister Aping, have flown the flag of the Philippines at competitions in places like El Salvador and Byron Bay. Even with her bona fides, Agudo says that in Siargao’s surf scene everyone is equal, part of one community: “We all ride the same waves. Rich or poor, male or female, the ocean doesn’t discriminate. The power of Mother Nature is the greatest equalizer.”

A motorized tricycle ride through Siargao

Pro surfer Ikit Agudo rides a wave

This truth has become even more evident since December 2021, when Super Typhoon Odette struck the southeastern Philippines, leveling much of Siargao. Everyone here has memories of weathering the storm—how palm trees snapped like toothpicks, how they hid under mattresses in concrete rooms for safety, how the devastation afterward seemed insurmountable. “Everything was so bleak,” recalls Kara Rosas, cofounder of Siargao-based NGO Lokal Lab, which explores solutions to issues like land degradation, pollution, and poverty. “We thought we needed years for Siargao to rise again.” But the community moved fast. Agudo collected relief funds with the help of her