Anilao, Batangas || Windsurfing Baby!

 I've been trying tons of new things lately (thanks to a nameless but awesome friend who makes sure I tag along). 


Now, let me tell you this... I literally forgot all the details cause of the body pains, I mean FUN we had! :D But for now, just know these facts below.


Destination: Anilao, Batangas
When: March 20, 2011
Departure from Manila: 6:00 am
Travel Forecast:  Should be one sweet ride!!!

Check him out!

We went to Anilao without knowing which resort can provide windsurfing lessons, but we knew it was there somewhere. So, we checked out a couple of different places, and before long found a nice secluded place. 


Update (6/1/2011): After some asking around, finally got the resorts name: Aqua World Beach Resort. Drop me a message if you need the contact information.


Windsurfing lesson costs Php 1300/person, which includes a whole day use of the board+rig, a mighty vest, a room plus a cabana. Not bad eh? We were 5 in the group. As always, savings in numbers :)


By the way, they also offer scuba diving lessons. Yes? Definitely!

 Here's one seriously hard core windsurfer. He can fly!

Now on to the lessons. Talked about parts of the board/rig. What to do in different scenarios and how to have fun!


So, you may think that with windsurfing, you simply get on the board and wait for the rig to catch wind then you're on your way to paradise. NOT! It is a challenging sport, both physically and mentally. For starters, the goal was to stay on the board and keep yourself from falling, cause getting back is such a-pain-in-the-you-know-what! 


The kite or rig or whatever you wanna call it was sooo heavy I had to use all my might from being dragged along with it. And when you finally get a hold of it, you start to lose your grip and fall in the water (afterwards I found out there were lighter rigs you can use). After falling so many times during my first few attempts and drinking gazillion gallons of seawater, I have had enough. I better not fall again!  And so I finally started to get the hang of both balancing myself and not losing the rig.


When this happens, oh man!!! It was so freakin' worth it! When you feel the wind against your entire body, looking so cool and acting like a pro (I wish haha) and actually getting somewhere? I can't explain it....you just have to give it a try!


As I was starting to enjoy myself, my coach/trainer/slave driver, announced its time I do solo. Uh-oh. Feeling really nervous, I let out a sigh and said GAME! So he jumped ship, and left me in the middle of the ocean. Keep in mind, we've been under the sun for almost a whole day now. Yep. Skin, burnt to perfection.


The first thing I had to do was lift my rig from the water and hold on for dear life. Err not happening. The wind suddenly picked up which rocked the board like crazy. I would suddenly lose my grip on the rig and when it falls, the water will immediately stay on top of the kite which adds tons more to the already very heavy rig. There's a trick to releasing the water from the kite but when you have to do it again and again and again on top of falling into the water and getting back on the board, no matter how much you want to just be able to do it, even with just sheer will power, you'd eventually get really exhausted. That's what happened, and as I saw my coach get into the water fast approaching to rescue his dear student, I was like demmit!!! I can do this!


But I knew I was beat and I wasn't prepared for what the sport required physically. Raising both arms to signal defeat, coach finally got on the board with me and took me back to land.


And after that day, I knew I'd be back for more :D


Till my next travel fix...


Ta-ta :D