La Union to mount biggest surfing event

MOVE over Siargao, give way Baler and Daet, La Union is fast gaining strength as the country’s surfing capital. Why? Of the three primary surfing places in the country today like Surigao, Aurora and Camarines Sur, Urbiztondo, San Juan in La Union is the most accessible for local and foreign tourists coming from Mega Manila. It has lots of gimmicks, too!

Riding on the crest of growing enthusiasm in surfing sports which used to be the province of wave enthusiasts, La Union opens its gate to sea worshipers with its year-round surfing experience and facilities that bravely rival its contemporaries, not just in the country, but the world as well.

This is the reason why Department of Tourism-RO1 Director Martin S. Valera calls it “at par with the world’s best.”

Valera says “we have the best waves, the best climate, the best facilities and we have the best people who are as enthusiastic as those who wish to cavort with the waves.”

He said Urbiztondo in San Juan, La Union used to be a sleepy village. Then came some surfers and saw its potential. Soon enough, La Union was doing what at first was next to impossible – make the waves as a tourist attraction. Thus the La Union Surfing Break was born.

Now on its sixth year, the La Union Surfing Break, seeks to invite wave enthusiasts from around the country, and the world, on October 28 to 30 for competition, fun, adventure, art, night life, party, musical, gastronomic delight and beautiful bodies and yes, a taste of the good food and local hospitality.

“Tourists will be treated to several fun beach activities that will surely make their stay in La Union a worthwhile experience,” Valera said.

Launched in 2006, the La Union Surfing Break was conceptualized to educate and expose surfing to the Filipinos through the proper teaching method. Timed for the semestral break, it targets the students from Manila, Baguio and other Northern Luzon cities. The event turns the beach cove of Urbiztondo into the likes of hot summer getaways Boracay and Puerto Galera.

The past five years of La Union Surfing Break was a tremendous success if one were to gauge the steady increase of the participants in the event. It has positioned La Union as the Surfing and Active Lifestyle Holiday Destination in the country and the activity has become a buzz word in the surfing community.

This year’s surfing event, said Adamor S. Dadat, could be the biggest ever mounted by the province in terms of attendance and beach-oriented fun activities. With the expected influx of people, the goal in the end is to ensure the event leaves a trail of small business start ups, idea transfers and thrust to promote the province as a sports and adventure destination.