Five long minutes later Alexis spots a few dark lines coming in from the north and quickly paddles away from the main group, towards the outside. He just about makes it in time for the first wave, it’s massive and incredibly smooth. The take off is almost vertical, but Alexis manages to keep it solid, launching quickly into a bottom turn, then makes a long powerful frontside, foaming carve turn up the first section. After that it flattens out, but then accelerates hard as the wave rolls round the tip of the island. Alexis goes with every surprise the wave throws up, racking up serial vertical re-entries til he kicks out 200 metres further on with an ear-to-ear smile splitting his face. After nearly three hours non-stop riding we leave Rock Island, pretty dehydrated, starving hungry, a little red from the sun, but unbelievably happy to have got our adventure off to such a fantastic start!
For the rest of the day we decide on a little excursion south, exploring a bit more around our village. As the sun is slowly sinking, we follow our noses, turning left and right as the fancy takes us, enjoying the exceptional scenery, the peace and calm all around, and the friendly attitude of all the Philippinos we encounter. We’re pleased to receive such a friendly welcome, and surprised at the ease of conversation, people are happy to speak to us, and in almost perfect English! Arriving in the village of General Luna, we find the departure point for boats going to Dako Island; we’d heard there were some great spots there that might be good for our next few days.
