Surf: Once the biggest US Military base in the Philippines Guiuan (pronounced Giwan) is 111km and 2 hours travel from Borongan and situated on a long, low, narrow coralline peninsula jutting out of Samar. Over the bridge on Calicoan Island, Sulingan Beach has a left and a right breaking on both sides of a narrow channel. Can have some power and gets shallow so pushing tides and wave faces up to 8ft before closing out. Beginners favour the centre part of the beach, sometimes referred to as ABC. The reef bottom of Sulingan has a gradual slope, devoid of the crevices of Siargao's Cloud 9, but the live coral is covered with sea urchins. Paddling out is fairly easy, though at low tide, expect a fair walk over coral in booties. The surf camp here was flattened by supertyphoon Yolanda in 2013. Environment: Also in the Samar Province, not far north of Calicoan, is Jelly Beans, a long, hollow left, breaking over a flat shelf of Philippine reef. Bends beautifully off the take-off and jacks up quickly from the depths to the shallow reef. The road from Calicoan is strewn with perfectly eroded pacific setups. Just jump into a car and start your own search.