Escape Winter: 7 Best Reasons Australians Should Visit Our Philippines Surf Camp & Yoga Retreat
- 13 June 2025
- TRAVEL
- Surf & Yoga Siargao
It’s mid-July in Melbourne. The heater hums endlessly, boots clomp across rain-soaked pavements, and your shoulders haven’t dropped in weeks. You glance at your weather app—another week of grey skies—and something inside you whispers: What if there’s more than this?
For countless Australians, winter brings more than just the cold. It brings cabin fever, cloudy minds, and a yearning for something different. A break not just from work, but from the pace, the routine, the heaviness. This is the story of those who listened to that whisper—and found their escape on a sunlit island in the Philippines.
From Cold to Coconut Trees: Why Australians Are Heading North
Unlike Europe’s summer-loving tourists, Aussies have a unique opportunity. While much of the northern hemisphere is crowded and overpriced in June through August, the Philippines is in its off-peak season—a tropical haven with warm seas, fewer crowds, and prices that won’t make your wallet sweat.
Direct flights from Sydney or Melbourne to Cebu or Manila run regularly, and the best part? Australian passport holders get a visa-free stay of up to 30 days. That’s a full month of warm mornings, barefoot living, and salty skin—without needing a single winter coat.
The Retreat That Changes Everything
Tucked away on a sleepy beach fringed by palm trees and kissed by gentle waves lies a retreat that feels more like a secret than a resort. It’s not just a surf camp. It’s not just yoga. It’s a recalibration of the soul.
Here, mornings begin not with alarms, but with birdsong and the soft lap of waves. Guests roll out yoga mats on a raised bamboo deck, the ocean stretching into the horizon. The practice is gentle, accessible, and personal—guided by skilled instructors who understand that yoga isn’t about touching your toes, but about reconnecting to what matters.
After yoga, it’s breakfast under the trees—ripe mangoes, warm coconut pancakes, fresh kalamansi juice. Then it’s time to hit the surf. Whether you’re paddling out for the first time or carving your hundredth wave, the ocean meets you where you’re at. The instructors are patient, passionate locals who know the breaks like the back of their hand.
And when the day winds down? Maybe it’s a hammock and a book. Maybe it’s a snorkel over coral reefs. Maybe it’s a bonfire and acoustic guitar under stars so clear you’ll forget what “Netflix” even means.
Why This Isn’t Just a Vacation—It’s a Transformation
Escaping winter for Australians is about more than chasing the sun. It’s about re-learning how to breathe. It’s about remembering how good food can taste when it’s grown nearby, prepared with love, and eaten slowly. It’s about meeting strangers who become friends—people who were also seeking something deeper.
At our retreat, guests often arrive tense, tired, over-scheduled. But they leave lighter, stronger, and softer at once. More themselves.
One guest from Brisbane described it best: “It felt like I’d been underwater all winter—and this place was my first real breath.”
This Winter, Choose You
If you’ve been staring out your rain-slicked window, wondering where the joy went, know this: sunshine is just a flight away. You don’t have to endure another winter out of obligation. You can choose a reset. A reconnection. A retreat designed not to impress—but to transform.
Because escaping winter for Australians doesn’t have to mean running away. It can mean coming home—to yourself, in a place that feels like the first page of a better chapter.
Ready for your winter escape ?
YOGA
Yoga complements surfing in many ways. It strengthens three main skills any beginner surfer should aim to develop in the medium run; Upper body strength, Endurance, and Flexibility.
SURF
Our surf programs are comprehensive in that it not only includes plenty of time in the surf, but video analysis & feedback and surf theory classes.
location
Manan-ao is a quiet area, tucked away in the hills of Northern Siargao dotted with beautiful beaches and coconut trees. Manan-ao is perfect for surfing, relaxing, and sunset adventures.