Image courtesy Dylan Uy

The Mayor's Cup in Mati, Davao Oriental, is the premier skimboarding and surfing event in the South of the Philippines. Held every year at Dahican Beach the Mayor's Cup offers skimboarders and surfers the chance to compete for prizes and trophies at one of the most beautiful Philippine water sports venues in Asia.

The hosts of the event are the Amihan Boys of Mati, lead by their “father” and mentor Jun Plaza. The Amihan Boys are all orphans of the Davao Region who have been brought to Mati to be given a purposeful life under Jun's tutelage and guidance. They are funded by the Mayor's office and local business interests, and by the fees paid by skimboarders and surfers who rent the equipment and knowledge offered by the Amih

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

Image courtesy Billabong Australia

UPDATE 7TH AUGUST 2010: THIS EVENT IS CANCELLED

[Originally published June 2010] The Billabong Cloud 9 Invitational surfing cup on Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte, is the most eagerly awaited surfing event in Asia – mainly because of the uniqueness of the Cloud 9 break but the idyllic tropical island location, combined with the laid-back Siargao Island lifestyle, has a lot to do with it.

An international cast of surfers from Australia, Bali, Japan, New Zealand, Indonesia, South Africa, Hawaii and the Philippines are the typical line-up for international surfing cup events at Cloud 9, Siargao, and if a typhoon happens to pass by then everyone will be literally on

Photo courtesy John Smart

The Philippine Boat Show SEA Expo 2010 is more than just a boat show: Sea-Expo 2010 is the only waterfront lifestyle exhibition in Asia that promotes all of the lifestyle toys and trinkets for playing and laying on the beach. Too keep cool you need Sunbrella ultraviolet resistant fabrics.

Sunbrella is the standard in ultraviolet resistant fabrics for tropical climes. BVZ Asia has the exclusive distribution rights for Sunbrella fabrics throughout most of Asia. With offices in Japan, Taiwan, China, Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand, and with the Head Office in Hong Kong, BVZ Asia has the most extensive and strongest distribution of Sunbrella fabrics anywhere in th

Photo courtesy Billabong Australia

The Billabong Invitational Surfing Cup competition at Cloud Nine, Siargao, (21-27 October, 2009) draws the best of the best in the surfing World to enjoin in celebrating this minuscule point on planet Earth, where the entire Pacific Ocean seems to want to come ashore in a hurry. Defiantly, for a brief moment, this one tiny piece of reef at Cloud Nine mesmerizes the mighty Pacific and causes a billion water droplets to rise in unison on their journey towards the beach and finally to crash in sequential applause along a three hundred metre long st

Photo courtesy Martyn Willes

An alternative tropical destination to Boracay in January? Cebu Pacific Air announces a thrice-weekly fly direct to Siargao service between Mactan Cebu International Airport and Siargao Island, with a year-round 'Go Lite' one way fare of Php 888 (plus fuel surcharges and tax). This is great news for the international surfing community and great news for tourism development in Siargao.

Most people know about Cloud 9 – the top ten in the world surfing break on the East coast of Siargao Island, near the town of General Luna. However, most people don't know about the opportunities for scuba diving on Siargao Island's almost virgi