Believed to be a World First, Cloud 9, Siargao, will be open for night surfing, 365 days a year, from October, 2010. Philippine Vice President Jejomar C. Binay has confirmed that he will break a ceremonial surfboard at the venue to publicize the Cloud 9 Night Surfing project.

Construction of a lifeguard & floodlight tower commenced this week along the reef and is scheduled for completion before the end of October. Every night, nine thousand watts of floodlighting will illuminate the World famous surf break at Cloud 9 to allow for safe surfing under the watchful eye of lifeguards. It is also planned to install an Internet connected IP camera at the site, so if you can’t get there you will be able to watch those who do.

Image courtesy Asian Bird Fair

The 1st Asian Bird Fair will be held in Davao City later this year in conjunction with birdwatching clubs from: Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, China and Singapore. The plan is to promote birdwatching as a eco-adventure, recreational sport and to: encourage international friendship, collaboration and the exchange of experience & best practices among the birdwatching clubs of Asia; foster bird-watching as an eco-tourism activity; highlight bird festivals, bird fairs and bird races in the Asia region; and, promote the host cities/countries – their natural beauty, eco-adventure activities, wild bird conservation and cultural heritage.

In conjunction with the 1st Asian Bird Fair, a birdwatching adventure tour will take place in the forests and wetlands of the provinces of Bukidnon and Surigao del Sur, to the North & West of Davao City.

Image courtesy Rodney Hegerty

Game fishing tournaments in the Philippines are monthly affairs organized by various angling groups around the country. To find out about what is going on and who to talk to about getting involved is a challenging. Characteristic of the sport no doubt, even when you find “the right person” you need to apply constant prodding to finally gaff and disgorge the desired information.

Despite the obstacles, we have finally obtained the schedule of the Philippine Game Fishing Foundation’s (PGFF) calendar for this year, albeit a little late. The 2010 game fishing tournament schedule was published a couple of weeks ago on MyCam-Asia.tv’s website under the Game Fishing In The Philippines section.

Photo courtesy Martyn Willes

The first ever Kayak Explore Anvaya Cove / Subic Bay 25 Km Kayaking Marathon event will be held here this May, to highlight the natural beauty of the entire Subic Bay area. This kayak marathon event is the latest in the Philippine Kayaking Series, which has already taken kayaking enthusiasts to One Hundred Islands, Corregidor Island, Cebu & Bohol.

In addition to the 25 Km marathon event, there will also be: novice races, kayaking clinics (to train first time kayakers) and presentations on the creatures that frequent the beaches of Subic Bay, including the Pawikan (Sea Turtle), which regularly use the Subic Bay’s beaches as places to lay their eggs.

Photo courtesy Joanne Booker - S/Y Pied A Mer

A long awaited cruising yacht rally, that aims to span BIMP-EAGA and the newly defined Equator Asia, was disclosed during a meeting in Davao City on Saturday, 13th March, when BIMP-EAGA members met at the Apo View Hotel in downtown Davao City.

The main impetus to this series of BIMP-EAGA tourism sailing events was an impromptu yacht rally, where cruising yachts sailed from Borneo to Palawan, during February and March, 2010. A series of sailing events now follow, aiming to bring groups of up to 15 cruising yachts at a time, under sail, from their traditional watering-holes in Thailand and Peninsula Malaysia, to Australia.

Photo courtesy Aware Aventures

Across the Internet there are a lot of websites promoting adventure holidays / adventure vacations but there are actually very few companies focusing on Philippine adventure holidays, and even fewer that offer more than a couple of adventure sports within a given package tour, so Australian based Aware Adventures is somewhat unique and deserves a mention.

Aware Adventures offer Philippine adventure holidays, starting in the heart of the Visayas, and take adventurers from Cebu to Bohol Island to Camiguin Island to Cagayan de Oro and back to Cebu. Over a period of twelve days adventure sports included: white water rafting, ziplining, rappelling, climbing, swimming, trekking, camping, caving, abseiling, kayaking, mountain biking and snorkeling.

Photo courtesy Martyn Willes

The training of caving guides in San Isidro, Davao del Norte, is well underway ahead of the 10th National Caving Congress, Davao, in April. Experienced trekkers and caving / spelunking enthusiasts from Barangay Dacudao, San Isidro, last weekend had their caving guide skills honed under a training program initiated jointly by the: Davao Speleological Society, the Davao del Norte Provincial Tourism and with financial support from the Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR) Region XI.

Next weekend, further caving guide training (in advance of the National Caving Congress, Davao) will be offered for caving / spelunking enthusiasts in Barangay Igangon, San Isidro.

Image courtesy www.samal-island.com

UPDATED 27/03/2010

Dive Davao Festival 2010 is the latest in a series of annual scuba diving events designed to promote the superb scuba diving and snorkeling areas in the Davao Gulf, around Samal Island. Almost all of best Samal Island beach resorts take part in the event and offer special packages for scuba diving adventures, and snorkeling adventures for those who have not yet qualified as scuba divers.

The week long Dive Davao Festival 2010 (formerly: Dive The Gulf 2010) activities will climax on Saturday evening with the Caracoles Festival. The Caracoles Festival is a dusk-to-dawn party along Peñaplata Wharf and adjoining beaches, with music & dancing, food & merriment served all-night long.

Image courtesy Philippine Paragliding & Hang Gliding Association

The Philippine Paragliding & Hang Gliding Association was officially registered with the Securities & Exchange Commission this month in Metro Manila, to further develop the fledgling air-sports of paragliding and hang gliding around the Philippines.

Paragliding in particular is a burgeoning adventure sport that has attracted individuals from all walks of life because it gives the freedom of the skies, using the same principles the have kept raptors aloft since the dawn of the dinosaurs.

Image courtesy Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

The Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta (PIHABF) is now in its 15th year at Clark Field, Pampanga. The Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta is simply biggest festival celebrating things airborne in the Philippines and brings the hottest balloons and flying machines together for four days of fun and spectacle.

Hot-air balloons lift off after 6.00am and return in the afternoon around 4.00pm’ish. In between the hot-air balloon take-off and return there are flying displays by microlight/ultralight airplanes, skydivers, paragliders, motorised paragliders and possibly, this year for the first time, glider sailplanes.