Gerry Degan was one of the first foreign surfers on Siargao back in 1995. Now he is the Contest director for the Cloud 9 international surfing competition, sanctioned by the WSL. He is also the former owner of Sagana Resort, and back in Australia he organizes music festivals. We talk about Siargao in the old days, how it all started for Gerry as a surfing lifestyle, and how he founded and built the resort. We talk about how the island has changed over time, what surfing has meant for the locals in Cloud 9 and what the future of Philippine surfing looks like.    We gain an insight in what it means to be a contest director for the World surf league, and how Gerry still comes back every year to share his local knowledge and mediate with all partners.   This episode is to remind ourselves and all Siargao visitors that the island has and will always be about surfing https://www.worldsurfleague.com/events/2024/qs/293/siargao-international-surfing-cup/main Follow Gerry: ⁠ https://www.instagram.com/gerrydegansurfs Support the pod Like and Subscribe Thank you to our sponsors: ⁠Siargao Wakepark⁠ ⁠ Website ⁠⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠Facebook⁠⁠ Siargao_Foiler 00:00 Introduction 03:03 Priority in the Line Up 04:58 The Locals, The Surf, Cloud 9 05:48 Same amount Of Surfers ? 07:16 Surfboards and Airlines 09:13 We Came For The Lifestyle 10:12 Digital Nomads 11:10 First Visit in 1995 13:00 Cloud 9, The Name, history 13:30 First travels, how to, history 16:39 The (international) Airport 17:08 Villa Maya Golf Course 17:45 Cloud 9 Competitions, history 18:36 First Boardwalk 19:41 Gerry the Event Director, since 2000 21:47 From 1000 to QS5000 23:43 Possible for Challenger or CT ? 27:10 Tasks for the Event Director 29:53 Challenges for a Cloud 9 competition 33:22 Competitor Athletes 34:53 Favorite Local Surfer, Marama 36:42 Filipinos in Challengers and CT 41:04 Sagana Resort 45:25 The New Skatepark 46:35 No More Resort, feelings 48:18 The Light Tower 51:58 Music Festivals, production 52:47 FISHER, Paul, boat trip 55:12 Favorite Activity, Golf 55:53 Favorite Surfspot 56:54 Favorite Restaurant, Hawker (again) 58:02 Favorite Filipino Word, JAWA 58:29 Filipino Language, Siargaonon 59:53 What's Next for Gerry