Baler

Baler faces the open Pacific on the far side of the Sierra Madre, and its beach at Sabang is where surfing took root in the Philippines: boards left behind by a film crew in the 1970s were picked up by locals and the town has been a surf town ever since. The sand is grey and coarse, the break at Sabang is forgiving enough for beginners, and Charlie's Point at the river mouth is the one with the history. Away from the water the province is green and steep - Ditumabo Falls at the end of a rocky river walk, the Ermita Hill viewpoint over the bay, Dicasalarin Cove down a private road, and an enormous balete tree at Maria Aurora with a hollow trunk you can climb inside.

History

Seven Franciscan missionaries led by Fray Blas Palomino founded Baler in 1609. On 27 December 1735 a great storm and a huge wave struck the old settlement at Sabang, and the survivors, who swam to Ermita Hill, founded the present town centre; the town is the birthplace of Manuel L. Quezon, and its Comedia de Baler first performed in 1927 (Wikipedia, Baler, Aurora).

What you'll find

• Sabang beach - the long grey-sand break where surf lessons run all day in season.
• Ditumabo Falls - a tall cascade at the end of a forty-minute walk up a boulder-strewn river.
• Dicasalarin Cove - a pale-sand cove below a headland lighthouse, reached down a paid access road.
• The Maria Aurora balete - a vast strangler fig with a hollow trunk large enough to enter.

When to go

The surf season runs roughly October to February, which is also when rain and swell are heaviest on this coast; the waves and the weather come from the same source. March to May is calm, hot and better for swimming and the falls, with small surf. Baler is on the typhoon track, so July to October can shut the road entirely.

Good to know

The road over the Sierra Madre is long, winding and prone to landslides, and the bus takes most of a day. The beach is grey and littered with driftwood after storms rather than picture-postcard. Sabang gets crowded with domestic weekenders and lesson groups packed onto one small break. Ditumabo involves wading and slippery boulders, and the falls run brown after rain.

Nearby

Dinadiawan and the Aurora coast run north; Casiguran lies further up the province.