Cloud 9

Direction: Right 

Level: Expert, pro, crazy, insane...well you get the idea. 

Best wind: South West

Best swell size: 2 - 10 ft

Best swell direction: North East

Best tide: mid - high 

Best for: People with a death wish... or the 1% of surfers who have the ability to surf one of the world's most powerful waves.

Crowd factor: High.  'Crowd 9' is one of the most surfed spots in Siargao due to several factors.  First of course is the name.  Being an internationally famous spot, it's the dream of anyone who comes to Siargao to get barrelled at Cloud 9.  Second is the easy accessability, Cloud 9 can be accessed by walking out a 100m from the tower in the village of Cloud 9.  Third, this is the favorite spot for the locals as they don't have money to pay for boats to go to many of the other spots.  Cloud 9 is free, easy to get to, and world famous.. how could it not be croweded?  To avoid the crowds either go out at first light (around 5:30am) or surf it at low tide (NOT recommended).  

Kind of wave: A picture says a thousand words.  Cloud 9 is no different, just look at any picture of it and you'll know what kind of wave it is.  Barrelling perfection.  Heavy, hard, powerful.  Short but sweet.  Fast, steep drop straight into a perfect top to bottom barrel with a smooth exit.  If it were possible to engineer the perfect barreling, right-hand wave this would be it.  Of course, that is under perfect conditions (seen mostly from Sept to Nov).  Through the winter it's usually too messy and in the summer it's basically flat... but when it's firing there's no better wave.  Cloud 9 is the wave that put Siargao on the map.  Come and see it (or surf it) for yourself and you'll understand what all the hype is about.

Surf season: Cloud 9 is a wave-magnet, it picks up any and all swell so can be surfed year-round.  The peak season is late August to the end of November.  At these times expect double-oveheard, barreling, offshore, perfect, immaculate Cloud 9.  If you're a good surfer and are coming specifically to surf Cloud 9 then you'd better come during the peak season.

Through the winter and Spring there's usually swell (waves) but the winds are on-shore making it impossible to surf Cloud 9 because it's an exposed spot with no protection from the wind.  However, Cloud 9 can be surfed whenever the winds drop and are light enough which does happen occassionally through the winter/spring.

In the summer months of June, July, early August Cloud 9 is usually the ONLY spot that can be surfed in Siargao.  This is because there is typically no swell during these months.  So while the dozens of other spots are totally flat there will always be at least knee-high waves in Cloud 9.  In fact, through the summer months it's usually instructors pushing their students on long-boards in Cloud 9.  If you're an experienced surfer you probably don't want to come to Siargao during this time; however, if you're a beginner the summer months are the perfect time to learn to surf in Siargao's famous Cloud 9. 

How to get there:   Easy peasy.  Walk out to the tower from the village at Cloud 9 and walk/paddle 100m out to the break, it's right there.