Cloud 9 Night Surfing Siargao Island Philippines
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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.
Cloud 9 Night Surfing is the brainchild of Scott Down, from down-under, who has recently opened a resort on Siargao Island of the purpose of promoting the area as an international surfing mecca. Scott confirms, “the municipality is totally behind the project and we are getting indications of interest from both Philippine and international sponsors for the various elements.
“For safety reasons we plan to control the number of surfers at any one time on the break at night and we will have a safety boat and three lifeguards on duty for each session. The floodlights will be angled so that they do not impede the surfing but at the same time illuminate the Cloud Nine break so that spectators and lifeguards can see what is happening and can act instantly if someone gets into difficulties.
“Safety is our number one priority . . . we want Cloud Nine to be famous for all the right reasons”
Night surfing itself is not new – there are a number of regular night surfing competitions around Europe and elsewhere – but what makes Cloud 9 Night Surfing different is that it is designed to take advantage of the varied year-round surfing conditions at Cloud 9. Scott explains, “if you surf Cloud Nine in the September to December period you will find the conditions most suitable for intermediate and experienced surfers.
“But at other times of the year both beginners and intermediate surfers can practice their skills at Cloud Nine and wear an ‘I surfed Cloud 9’ T-shirt with pride . . . doing it at night is something that is totally unique and something that will put the Philippines firmly on the global-tourist map for surfing.
“With the presence of Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay here on 24th September to break the surfboard and launch the night surfing project on the World’s press we are expecting that the tourist season will come early to Siargao and stay throughout the year.”
If you need one more thing to add to your bucket-list then Cloud 9 Night Surfing should be the one.
You can either, fly direct from Mactan Cebu International Airport (Cebu) to Siargao Island or, fly from Manila or Cebu to Surigao airport (Surigao Del Norte), then take the daily before-noon-ferry to Siargao Island – I personally like the ferry to Siargao because it gives me four-hours to imbibe the tropical islands, coral reefs and local aquatic wildlife.
Accommodation on Siargao Island, between General Luna and Cloud 9, varies in price and form – from around Php500, for a basic off-beach-fan-room, to Php5,000+ for prime, air-conditioned beach-front villas.
Links:
Cloud 9 Night Surfing website
Fly to Siargao Airport / Surigao Del Norte
The nearest webcam to Siargao is Cebu Yacht Club, Mactan Island