SurfLearn to surf
2 hours · ₱900 per person
One instructor to two people, a soft-top, and the inside reform. Most people stand up inside the first hour.
Surf & everything else
A beach break
that forgives
Liwliwa is a beach break over sand, which is the polite way of saying it is forgiving. It works best on the habagat — roughly June to October — and goes glassy and small the rest of the year, which is when most people learn.
When to come
Two seasons, and the good bit in between
June – October
Habagat
The southwest monsoon puts swell on the beach. Head-high on the good days, and the lineup fills by seven.
November & May
Shoulder
Inconsistent and often the best of it — waist to chest, uncrowded, and warm enough to stay out for hours.
December – April
Amihan
Small and clean. Beginners' season, long flat afternoons, and the busiest weekends of the year on the sand.
Nobody here will make you feel late to this
Half the people in the water this weekend are on a board for the first time. The inside reform is waist-high, the bottom is sand, and the worst thing that happens is you get wet.
What you can do
Six things, one of which is nothing
Surf
SurfBoard rental
Half or full day · ₱400 half day
Soft-tops, funboards, and a few shortboards for anyone who knows what they want. Wax is free, leash included.
SurfDawn patrol
Sunrise · Free, with coffee
Whoever is up at half five walks down together. The bar leaves a flask out. No sign-up sheet.
WaterKayak the estuary
90 minutes · ₱600 per kayak
Paddle the river mouth behind the sitio at high tide, past the mangroves, and come back out on the current.
LandSunset walk to the point
45 minutes · Free
North along the sand to where the fishermen pull in, and back before the kitchen closes the grill.
SlowDo nothing, expertly
All day · Free
Hammocks under the agoho, board games behind the bar, and a dog who will find you whether or not you want him to.
Getting here
Sitio Liw-Liwa, San Felipe, Zambales
Sitio Liw-Liwa, San Felipe, 2204 Zambales, Philippines
Check dates- By car
- NLEX to SCTEX, then the Zambales coast road. Three and a half hours from Metro Manila if you leave before six, five if you do not.
- By bus
- Victory Liner from Caloocan or Cubao to San Felipe. Ask to be dropped at the Liwliwa junction and take a tricycle in for a hundred pesos.
- Once you are here
- You will not need the car again. Everything is on one lot and the water is a three-minute walk through the agoho.