Cloud Nine is literally a wave that breaks off the coast of Siargao Island in the Philippines. It’s popular with surfers, especially during the annual September Cloud Nine Tournament.
American John Callahan visited the islands in the 1980s and officially ‘discovered’ the Cloud Nine wave break. He named the breaker and started publishing pictures of it in surfer magazines. By the 1990s it was well-known as one of the best reef breaks in the world.
Siargao Island on the whole has dozens of solid surfing spots due to its deep waters, coral reefs and sporadic rock formations. Most of these surfing spots are offshore and can only be reached by boat or with a lot of paddling. Cloud Nine is the only major breaker that’s accessible from the shore.
The wave’s other major selling point is its perfect formation. Waves rolling in from deep water are pushed up by the quickly-rising seafloor of the archipelago. The result is the kind of thick barrel and hollow tube that is regularly featured on surfer magazine covers.
Getting There & Away
To get to Cloud Nine, most international tourists fly out of Manila’s international airport and connect through Cebu City before boarding an express ferry bound for Surigao. At this point, it’s a short transfer to Siargao Island. Travel time can be cut back by chartering a flight from Manila to Surigao’s airstrip.