La Union

            Every time someone mention La Union, beach and waves comes to my mind.  I normally chase waves in Zambales but La Union is not a bad choice, in fact, its equally adventurous and beautiful.  This quiet place is located in Ilocos Region and its name literally means ' the union of towns from different provinces'.  Its surrounded by different equally famous and beautiful places: Benguet , Ilocos Sur and Pangasinan.

             I am ready to experience surfing in La Union's (L.U.) wave but I am so glad one of my office mate invited us (me and my office friends) to try surfing in LU and stay overnight in their vacation house.  What is better than to get a free vacation with your friends in a secluded and awesome beach, right?

            We hired an urban van that accommodate eighteen (18) of us and off we travel to this land of rice, tobacco, cotton, cacao, mangoes, vegetables and silk coconuts.  The travel was fun and noisy as expected.  Most of us busied ourselves taking pictures of the gorgeous scenery along the way, some are busy chatting with their seatmates, some are sleeping and the rest are quietly 'texting' and playing with the games in their phones.

             We had a stop over at McDonald in Pangasinan to have our late lunch.  Careless of what other diners would say, we're back to our noisy and funny activities.  Sharing gruesome stories while eating, making funny faces and taking funny pictures of ourselves.

            It was around 4PM when we reach the town of San Fernando.  We stopped for a while to do some groceries and attack the town's public market for our long list of ingredients and recipe.

            The vacation house is located in San Juan.  Its a simple two-storey house with a wide veranda on the second floor.  Lots of flowers and small trees on the ground and carabao grasses all around.  Lucky us, we arrived late but we still experience the breathtaking beauty of sunset in La Union.  even before we manage to arrange our bags and belongings in our respective beds, we immediately jump and run to the awaiting shore to get a picture of the orange-violet-blue rays of sunset on the horizon.

            The night was full of fun and unforgettable bloopers.   Some of us tried night swimming (literally, for we forgot to turn on the lights right next to the shore. Hahaha!)  Others took their time entering their favorite song in the magic sing (we brought one for fun!).  Some are contented themselves in their own bed - resting and sleeping and the rest are having a drink or two and goofing around the shore.  The night in LU is so relaxing.  So peaceful and quiet.  Some chose to stay in bed inside the house, others spent the night in a tent and in the small 'bahay-kubo' right next to the beach.

            As if we're reading each-other's mind, we set our alarms at 5:30AM and woke up at same time.  Its surfing time!  Surfers choose to ride their boards as early as 5AM because its when this time of the morning big waves hits the shore.  Some friends refused to go on swimming and volunteered to prepare our breakfast instead.

            According to Marvin (a friend and vacation house owner), the place is not far from the famous surfing school in La Union called Billabong Surf School.  Yes, La Union is the Surfing Capital of the North. The fine and gray sand and the long stretch of  shore line in La Union attracts tourist from different regions and even from different countries. Lots of beaches and resorts are located in four major locations such as San Juan, San Fernando, Agoo and Bauang.  Its clear water, beautiful landscape and waves are the best requirements for swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, surfing, water skiing and other water sports activities.

          A long list of accommodations are provided for tourist and visitors of the province:


SAN JUAN:

• Puerto De San Juan
• San Juan Surf Resort
• Sebay resort

SAN FERNANDO:

• Oasis Country Resort and Restaurant
• La Mer Resort
• Blue Lagoon Beach Resort
• Sea Park Beach Resort
• Sea and Sky Hotel
• Hotel Mikka
• Sunset Bay Resort
• Ramon and Delfina Resort
• Citigate Hotel
• Koala Lodge
• Plaza Hotel
• Y Foods and Inn
• Lady Maritess Inn
• California Beach Resort
• Miramonte Beach Resort
• Clarissa Jade Resort
• Schweinzer Beach Resort

BAUANG:

• Coconut Grove Beach Resort
• Cresta Del Mar
• Cabana Beach Resort
• Long Beach Hotel Resort
• Villa Estrella
• Southern Palms
• Bali Hai Beach Resort
• China Beach Resort
• Nalinac Beach resort
• Jessica's Beach Resort

             You may bring your own car when visiting La Union or you can also ride a bus.  Different bus lines can bring you to San Fernando, its Capital City.  It can be Partas, Philippine Rabbit, Dominion Bus Lines, Maria de leon or Farinas Transit Company.  The terminals in Manila and buses departs every hour.  Its a five (5) hour travel from Manila to San Fernando and its 30 minutes by air.