Giwan or Guiuan or G1

Direction: Rights & Lefts

Level: Beginner - Intermediate

Best wind: North

Best swell size: 2 - 6 ft

Best swell direction: East - South East

Best tide: High tide.

Best for: People who have come to Siargao to learn how to surf and enjoy the amazing views on the island.

Crowd factor: High.  Guiuan is one of the few spots suited to beginners and has beautiful scenery making this a favorite spot for instructors to take their students during the winter when other spots are too big.

Kind of wave: Locals will tell you that Giwan can be overhead high and barrelling however these conditions happen very very rarely.  Under normal conditions Giwan is between knee and shoulder high and a good place for beginners.  Because Giwan faces South it requires a big swell in order for the waves to wrap around the island and produce waves. However, because of this South-facing direction Giwan is protected from the Winter’s onshore winds. This makes Giwan one of the few beginner spots that can be surfed during Winter months.

  The take off is fast and hollow so it's still a tricky wave even though it’s small. We call it a ‘beginner’ wave just because of its small size compared to other waves but actually a complete beginner would have a very difficult time making the take-off here. So your typical Giwan is a knee-shoulder high fast-breaking wave with neutral / offshore winds.

Warning!: Giwan can be shallow and has many hidden rocks under the water so be very careful about you and your surfboard!

Actually, when i talk about Giwan I’m actually talking about 3 spots that are very similar and very close together. There’s Giwan, Union, and Secret Spot. Everything I describe in this guide applies to all three spots. They’re only a few hundred meters from each other. Giwan was the first spot discovered here for beginner winter surf and then as it got too crowded people branched out to Union and Secret Spot.

Surf season: Winter.

Technically Guiuan can be surfed year-round because it faces South protecting it from any onshore winds.  However, in the summer months of June - September and anytime that there’s not big swell Guiuan will be totally flat.  Giwan is most commonly surfed in the winter months because it's still working well while most other breaks are blown-out due to the onshore winds.  Yes, winter is Giwan season and will be especially crowded during the winter months.  I've seen Giwan with 50 people or more crowded around one small peak in the winter months when nothing else is working.    The peak season is still from Sept - Nov but with so many other great spots firing at that time the intermediate - advanced surfer will find bigger and better waves elsewhere and beginners will stay at spots closer to General Luna.   So to sum it up, Guiuan is generally considered to be a beginner wave that is ridden mostly during the winter months and forgot about the rest of the year.

How to get there: Unfortunately Giwan is not very easy to find but you can put it in Google Maps and follow the directions. Search for Giwan, Surigao del Norte or Secret Spot - Paradise Surfing. Or follow my directions below! It’s about a 15-20 minute drive from General Luna.

Start on Tourism road that runs through the towns of Cloud 9 and General Luna on which most of the businesses are located.  Drive towards General Luna (from Cloud 9) and pass through General Luna and keep going out the other side.  Keep driving for about 3km until you come to a T-intersection, turn right.  Follow the cement road through that village and as it naturally makes a left turn into a mountain path (still paved) that winds through mountains and mangroves for about 5km.  This road comes out at an intersection with another cement road.  Make a right at that intersection and Guiuan is about 1km down that road on the left side as the road turns to the right.  You’ll see a lot of motorbikes parked on the side of the road. That’s your spot! Park the bike and take the small foot path down to the beach.