Guiuan and Caticolan Island

Last weekend three of us set out for South-East Samar for the town of Guiuan. It's on a peninsula, surrounded by the sea, so as most of you can imagine I was a very happy camper. The reason for our choice to visit this particular part of the Philippines is that according to Lonely Panet it's a "low-key beginner's surfing destination". I was excited at the prospect of trying out my Hawaii-built surfing skills on this side of the Pacific. I was also hoping for a few "low-key" surfing shops in which to pick up a few souvenirs.

We left on Friday afternoon and checked in to a lovely hotel called Tanghay Lodge that had a terrace overlooking the ocean.

On Saturday we set off for Caticolan Island on a hired tricycle. Upon our arrival to ABCD beach we quickly realized that our surfing plans were unrealistic: the wind was up and the waves were big and vicious looking, breaking over dark rocks! Still, we found a stretch of beach to wander on and I got to go for a quick swim in the waves! We also found a beach resort with an Italian chef and he made home-made vegetarian pasta and chocolate gelato for us... yummmy!

Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be any tourist infrastructure around. We did run into a few other foreigners but they were also volunteers, based out of Guiuan. An employee at one of the deserted resorts we visited said that this is the low season and that high season wasn't until May, which explains the lack of surfers to gawk at! :)

On Sunday we all felt a little tired and the weather didn't seem as promising so we decided to take it easy and relax at our hotel. I finished my third book since arriving in the Philippines, only one left! We did get out a bit and went up to the weather station to get an incredible view of the ocean. Our driver and his friend also hiked up the short but steep climb to the station and they both told us that this was their first visit up there!