Cloud 9, Siargao Island

During the early eighties and while in Bali, famous surfers Steve Jones and Tony Arroza told another legendary surfer and traveler Mike Boyum about this island in Siargao called Pansukian. Little did they know that Boyum not only visited Pansukian but went as far as today’s Cloud 9.

History of Cloud 9, Siargao Island

Then it was December 1988 when a certain Max Walker arrived in Siargao and setup a home near a spot which was then rumored to be having the best beach break in the Philippines.

Walker, running away from drug dealers in Indonesia after lewd illegal deals, surfed everyday in his newly discovered surf spot eating nothing. The man passed away of hunger in April 1989 after, as what the locals described, an intensive and extended fasting of 45 days.

Boyum was Walker.

In 1992, photographer John Callahan with professional surfers Taylor Knox and Evan Slater went on an expedition in Siargao to discover what made Boyum fell in love with the place. At the end of their perfect surf days before heading back to their cheap hotels, they’d drank warm Coca-Cola and eat local chocolate bars called Cloud 9.

Callahan’s photos were published in surf magazines, one particularly captioned as Cloud 9, the very image that put Siargao into the surfing map.

Kaiz Galang

Kaiz is a stay-at-home mom and currently works as an Operations Specialist for a software engineering company based in the US.