Cloud 9
A few minutes after taking possession of our holiday bungalow, we’re renting ourselves some motorbikes (indispensable for getting around the island), and then we’re off for a quick spin to check out an already well-known spot, Cloud 9, a few minutes ride away. The feeling of freedom from two wheels and the spirit of discovery of our new surroundings pushes us even deeper into the arms and charms of the island mentality. After finding the correct path and walking the 150 metres of its famous boardwalk linking the spot to the shore, we start chatting to one of the locals there. But the sea is totally chaotic and the huge amounts of foam coming off the break on the reef make it impossible to see how the place is set up. “How long have the conditions been like that?” asks Alexis, clearly a little concerned. “Two or three days now” says the local, “we caught the tail of a typhoon, but don’t worry, this is definitely the end of it. Tomorrow morning it’ll all be back to normal. Good surf everywhere, in here or out there!”
We have no idea how reliable the weatherman’s prediction might be, but just in case, we carry on a bit further north to see where all the boats leave from that could take us to some of the other, off-shore spots. We meet a boatman called Glenn who gives us exactly the same forecast, so we agree to come back at sunrise the next day if it turns out to be the case. The sun is going down on Siargao and the storm is still battering and bothering the palm trees surrounding our bungalow, but we’re trusting in the locals as we slide and slip down into the realms of Morpheus…
