San Juan, La Union

The Surf Town Closest To Manila Five Hours, A Forgiving Break, And A Weekend Crowd That Arrived All At Once · San Juan, La Union

URBIZTONDO IS A SHORT GREY-SAND BEACH IN SAN JUAN, LA UNION, WITH A FORGIVING BREAK AND ONE DECISIVE ADVANTAGE: IT IS ABOUT FIVE HOURS FROM MANILA, WHICH IS CLOSER THAN ANY OTHER REAL SURF TOWN IN THE COUNTRY. That fact has made it, and in the last decade it has changed almost beyond recognition - the surf shacks became design hotels, speciality coffee arrived, and the whole place rebranded itself as ELYU. THE WAVES ARE GENUINELY GOOD FOR LEARNING and the instructors are among the best in the country at teaching beginners. BE HONEST ABOUT THE REST: THE WEEKEND CROWD IS ENORMOUS, the lineup gets dangerous with beginners on Saturdays, and the town is now expensive by Philippine standards. THE SWELL RUNS ROUGHLY OCTOBER TO MARCH. Inland, Tangadan Falls and the Cordillera foothills are twenty minutes away and almost nobody goes. Go midweek: the Saturday lineup is crowded with beginners and that is where injuries come.

Urbiztondo, San Juan, La Union, San Juan, La Union, Philippines

SAN JUAN IS ROUGHLY FIVE HOURS FROM MANILA by bus to the LA UNION coast, with SAN FERNANDO the nearest city - there is no airport of use. THERE IS NO GATE; the beach is public and free. SURF LESSONS AND BOARD HIRE ARE ARRANGED ON URBIZTONDO BEACH and the instructors are organised into an association with fixed rates. THE SWELL RUNS ROUGHLY OCTOBER TO MARCH; the rest of the year is flat and the town is quiet and cheap. WEEKENDS ARE EXTREMELY BUSY AND THE LINEUP GETS CROWDED AND HAZARDOUS with beginners - go midweek if you can. TANGADAN FALLS is about twenty minutes inland with a short river walk. ACCOMMODATION RANGES FROM HOSTELS TO DESIGN HOTELS and books out on long weekends. It is hot; the beach has little natural shade.

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