Siargao island is a real surfing town. When looking for accommodation, it was a struggle as there are hardly any tourists here and strangely, everything was fully booked. And so i booked a place, double our normal price of £5-£6 night and paid £11 a night! But when we arrived, this place is so nice, right on the beach.English owner from Kent and he doesn't see this place a business. It was once his holiday home but he converted it to a hotel. Hotel manager was once the gardener for the hotel owners home, but now he manages the place. It's the place to be for surfing, so me and Kyle got some surfing lessons, only £7 for an hour lesson. Didn't really need them though as it's one of those things, you just learn through practice (like learning to ride a bike). But i managed to stand up on the board, which is a massive improvement only after one hour of practice! However, I'm slightly addicted already, i just want improving and keep practicing. I did one day, went out on my own..so difficult and tiring. I need much more practice, i will get an opportunity in Bali.
Went to cloud 9 to watch the pros surf to see how they did it. The waves were huge. I want to surf like them before i get to Australia.
Some small pet monkey that was tied up to a post, climbed up my leg to check my leg hairs for bugs. It looked like the monkey from the film Hangover.
Sitting having my morning cup of tea on the veranda, and this guy climbs up a palm tree to get coconut, with a huge knife in his hand, crazy man!
Our hotel holds a party every Friday night as a pre drinks to the Jungle party around the corner. Jungle party was an experience, got chatting to some philipino girls, both me and kyle. But Kyle was too drunk, so we had to get food and go home. What a state he was, it's usually me thats the mess! Day after, the hangover wasn't as bad it could have been, recovered on the beach outside the hotel. However i did have to go and buy dinner and bring it back, as Kyle couldn't move.
On sunday we had a Sunday Roast made by an Englishman, it was superb! Not a lot of vegetables as they are more expensive than meat out here. But it was so nice, felt like i was back at home. Oh and had apple & mango crumble!
Went island hopping for the day, which resulted in me becoming too black! Went to 3 islands; naked island, Daku island and Gayum island. Nice to island hop and see all the nice beaches but you wouldn't want to do it all day. After a few hours you just look for shade....it's a hard life i know!
Funny how a double whisky and coke is cheaper than a single...and a triple is cheaper than a double because the alcohol is cheaper than the coke!!
Sea Fishing in the pacific was a horrendous experience for me. Woke up 6am to go fishing, started out as a nice day on our boat with 8 of us, including the hotel manager who sorted out food for us. Hour on the sea, the waves are huge, expected, considering it's where people come to surf for big waves. I got sea sick, real bad, being sick overboard. The waves were above the boat at some points, i had to stand up all the way back. We were out for hours and only caught one small fish, we were expecting to catch huge tuna and merlion! Asked the restaurant over the road to cook our little fish which was pure meaty.
The hotel manager and chef decided to take me and kyle out on there bikes to go to the chef watermelon farm. The bike ride was something I've never experienced. We were basically off roading, I seriously thought my legs were going to get trapped (and no helmet). They don't have helmets here so couldn't ask for one! We stopped in the hills so the chef could climb a coconut tree for us to drink.
I was sad to leave this place, i can see now how people just spend months here. There's not a huge amount to do, but the place is so relaxed and has friendly people. When i checked out, they had not charged us from laundry, drinks and food...result!