La Union’s way of the water

La Union entered the map of surfing competition by hosting the first 2023 World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series for Shortboard and Longboard last January 25.

In this Asian competition, men and women surfers from Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, Sweden, France and the Philippines competed for a week to get the precious points needed to qualify for the championship tour, equivalent to football’s World Cup (not the Olympics).

Being in the list of top surfing hubs in Asia, the waves of Urbiztondo beach in San Juan, La Union (LU) already earned a reputation as the ‘surfing capital of the north’. It has became a tourist attraction as waves here can reach up to 10 feet during the surf season. LU did not disappoint WSL participants and spectators alike at the surf break area and clean waves were plenty with very little rain.

The Philippines now has a big chance to make it big especially a Filipino surfer Rogelio “JR” Esquivel won the Longboard Qualifying Series, gaining 1,000 points for the win along with Natsumi

Taoka (Japan) while Ketut Agus (Indonesia) and Shino Matsuda (Japan) have claimed their victory for the Shortboard Qualifying Series 3,000 event.

“I started surfing when I was 6 yrs old,” Esquivel related. “This is a highlight of my career, my first time to win was during the SEA games, then now. I have more chances of winning in the longboard because I lead the rankings now in Asia to qualify for the world tour.”

Surfing coach and organizer Luke Landrigan of San Juan Surf School and Resort stated, “We know that the Filipino surfer can make it in the world comps. When the other surfers come here to get points and they lose to our locals, that is proof. Our surfers need funding to travel abroad and get more experience. They carry our flag, and make people aware of our country. Competitions usually last two weeks so that is good for businesses in our town.”

He added, “We wanted to put up a stage for Filipino surfers to showcase their skills and talent in a more professionalized set-up. It started with the Philippines surfing championship tour, which ran for 3 years, 20172019. Competitions started before that but we are the ones who professionalized it with computerization, judging system, technical crew. We copied the WSL way with the help of our Indonesian friends. After the pandemic, the United Philippine Surfing Association now handles all national competitions.It is now the national sporting commission authority recognized by the PSC (Philippine Sports Commission) and POC (Philippine Olympic Committee). This is the first International competition held outside of Siargao. Siargao has always been the site of the comp for the past 27 years. The World Tour is held in 10 sites, though the Philippines is not yet included, we have potential.”

Michael Elija

Santos of

My Life On Board Enterprise explained to Travel Update Philippines that

Surfing professionals need points to win the challenger series. Unlike the Olympics, the accumulated points can earn the surfer the chance to go up to the Championship tour much like the World Cup of FIFA.

DOT Region 1 Director Joseph Francisco Ortega stated in his post-event speech that surfing has been instrumental in the growth of San Juan town and the province of La Union. It has been seeing a steady increase in popularity in the country. It took years before the world caught on about the surf-ready waves in this region as Siargao was the focus and gained more attention from international surfers.

“Surfing serves a niche market, so during the pandemic years, we trained surfing instructors from level 0 to level 1. That means all of our instructors are certified to teach surfing. They are certified to teach even abroad, these are qualifying standards even in Australia, Indonesia. We hope, with the direction of Sec. Frasco, other surfing locations in the Philippines will be opened and allocated for surf tourism.”

The 2023 WSL Qualifying Series (Asia) was organized by the United Philippine Surfing Association with big support from Next Gen and MVP Sports Foundation., DOT, and the La Union provincial government. The next international surfing event will be at Siargao in October, according to WSL Tour Manager Ty Sorati.

(Buddy G. Recio)