No-frills surf camp

LOCAL surfer Brylle Endraca, 19, shows off what awaits visitors to Lola Sayong Surf Camp in Gubat town in Sorsogon province. JUAN ESCANDOR JR.

Like the waves they have braved to conquer, it took 35-year-old Noli John Mercader and other surfers in Gubat town in Sorsogon province a while to study a business they have long dreamed of starting for the sake of fellow wave riders.

It has been two years since Mercader’s group established Lola Sayong Surf Camp (named after Rosario “Sayong” Escandor, the owner of the beachfront property) in Barangay Buenavista in Gubat.

Mercader manages the camp—a simple, no-frills facility of huts and tents for backpackers and Lonely Planet-type tourists whose lifestyles are connected to the sea.

Rough-riding their way to operate a nonprofit tourism facility, these surfers have overcome challenges if only to promote a certain way of living.

No experience

Nobody in the group has experienced running a facility that caters to surfers—providing them food, a place to sleep and other necessities while enjoying a free-spirited lifestyle chasing waves. But its members were bold enough to settle down after years of being shooed away by commercial tourist establishments in traditional swimming areas along the 5-kilometer stretch of Gubat Bay’s shoreline.

In 2013, they organized their first surf camp near another tourist establishment by the bay. Later, Escandor offered her property as permanent campsite.

From the pure pleasure of riding the waves and enthusiasm in introducing the sport to beginners, these surfers, aged 10 to 35 years, organized themselves into Gubat Inc. or Gubatnon for Adventurism. The group has been registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Nonprofit

Gubat Inc. is a nonstock, nonprofit corporation of local surfers and residents of Buenavista involved in this community-based initiative. With this status, it is allowed to charge patrons minimally for as long as the earnings do not go to individual members or incorporators but to the group.

“However, members who are involved in activities and events that earn are allowed to receive honorarium on a case by case basis,” Mercader said.

Emil Eugerio, 30, one of the instructors, said the group started running and riding skimboards along the rock-free crescent shore of the bay in 2008, from Barangay Panganiban up north to Barangay Rizal down south.

THIS community-based surf camp in Gubat offers simple accommodation that attracts the more adventurous surfers. JUAN ESCANDOR JR.

DOT support

Gubat Bay is shared by four coastal villages, including Barangay Ariman. It faces the Pacific Ocean and the turbulent waters of the San Bernardino Strait, which separates Sorsogon province in the west and Samar Island in the east.

With support from the Department of Tourism (DOT), Lola Sayong Surf Camp has continuously drawn surfing enthusiasts, both local and foreign, and nature seekers by word of mouth and through social media, mainstream press and blog posts.

Maria “Nini” Ravanilla, DOT regional director, said her office trained members of Gubat Inc. and granted them accreditation to engage in tourism-related activities.

The training sessions included safety, courtesy of the Philippine Coast Guard, and first aid, given by the Philippine Red Cross. The DOT also gave the group four surfboards.

“We want [members of Gubat Inc.] to continue with their community-based initiative of promoting a lifestyle that certain groups of local and foreign tourists patronize. [These would sustain] tourist traffic in Bicol, in line with Almasor’s [Albay, Masbate, Sorsogon] objectives,” Ravanilla said.  Almasor refers to the tourism package hatched by Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, which promotes attractions in the provinces of Albay, Masbate and Sorsogon.

Mercader said tourist arrivals in the surf camp had increased tremendously, from a few campers to 500 visitors a month, so they needed to implement a system to run the facility smoothly and meet the demands of a growing clientele. Many of the visitors stay for at least three days.

They also needed to organize their financial records, prompting them to hire a professional bookkeeper.

Officers and members have discussed administrative and operational policies, and the improvement of service standards, Mercader said.

A national network has offered them to venture into a tour operation business, but Gubat Inc. members find this to be veering away from their mission of providing a lifestyle and service to surfers.

“We do not want to advertise but we want to be known by word of mouth, from the testimonies of those who had experienced what Lola Sayong Surf Camp offers. [This is the] best track to follow as we grow,” he said.

The camp’s four cottages and tents can accommodate at most 40 surfers at a time. The facility charges an average of P200 per person a day.

Built without help from outside of Gubat Inc., the cottages are owned by members who get shares from rental earnings.

Mercader said nine members do the daily chores in the surf camp and act as surfing instructors. They are given honorariums every Saturday, the amount depending on net earnings.