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Though it might difficult to verify Boyum’s
alleged cause of death, it is as nearly
impossible for anyone to be sure of who
actually first surfed Cloud 9. The book "Action Asia Adventure Travel Guide to the
Philippines" described a more likely scenario
of how Cloud 9 in Siargao could have been
really discovered: “More than likely, Boyum
knew about the waves before he came, and
it was some of the American Peace Corps
workers stationed in the southern Philippines
who were the first to stumble on these
classic waves."
The answer to the question of who discovered
Cloud 9 may be nebulous, but Boyum can still
be credited with one definite thing: introducing
the sport of surfing to the people of Siargao.
Boyum, along with the first ever surfers to visit
the island, demonstrated to the locals how to
ride the barreling waves of Cloud 9, made
steep, heavy, and dangerous by the swell coming in from the 10,000-meter-deep
Philippine Trench, violently crashing onto the
sharp and shallow reefs.
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Boyum surely must have been calling Cloud 9 by a different name when he arrived on the
island, but the honor of naming this internationally-renowned surf spot went to a different
person. Fellow American John Callahan named the surf break after the chocolate bars that
he loved while staying in Siargao Island.
Callahan was a top professional photographer and was instrumental in letting Cloud 9
known to the international surfing community as one of the world’s best surfing destinations.
Callahan came to the island sometime in the early 90s and he chanced upon a beautiful swell
that gave excellent surfing conditions. He was able to take impressive pictures of the different
Siargao surf breaks and by 1993 those pictures were splashed all over internationally-distributed surfing magazines. Callahan’s Siargao surf shots had captivated the fascination
of board riders, adventurers, and travelers worldwide.
Picking up the sport at lightning speed, local Siargao surfers now number in the hundreds
and participants in surf competitions steadily increase each year. The challenging Siargao
waves have so far produced the best men and women surfers in the entire Philippines, with
7 of the top 10 Filipino surfers all hailing from the island of Siargao.
From being an unknown and faraway area to being hailed as “The Surfing Capital of the
Philippines”, Siargao’s magnificent waves have definitely established the tiny island’s location
on the map. Its most famous surf break may have been named after a chocolate bar, but it
could pertain as well to the heavenly natural high that surfers feel after a fantastic tube
ride in Cloud 9.
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ABOUT THE WRITER
Erika Elaine Briones
Erika is a city-bred girl who fell in love with Siargao. She moved to the island in 2007.
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Location: 800 kilometers
southeast of Metro Manila;
9°52’N, 126°03’E
Province: Surigao Del Norte in the Caraga Region (Region 13)
Land Area: 62,796 hectares
Population: 83,100
Municipalities: Burgos, Dapa, Del Carmen, General Luna, Pilar, San Benito, San Isidro, Santa Monica, Socorro
Languages: Surigaonon,
Tagalog, English
Climate and Weather:
Warm tropical weather
during the dry season
(March to November);
Heavy rainfall during the
wet season (December
to February)
Known As: The Surfing
Capital of the Philippines
Siargao Island was
proclaimed a Protected
Landscape and Seascape
Area in 1992. |
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| Article photos by Erika Elaine Briones |
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