Opodo travel news – Hollywood film inspired Philippines surfing
Locals have been describing how the Hollywood blockbuster 'Apocalypse Now', starring Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen, was the catalyst for the Philippines to start surfing.
In a famous scene from the 1979 Vietnam war movie - which was actually filmed in the Filipino fishing village of Baler - the character Colonel Kilgore encourages his troops to take to the water despite bombs falling around them.
Residents of Baler who were watching the filming and had never seen surfing before instantly fell in love with the sport.
'When the filming finished, some of the crew left their surfboards behind, and my friend and I picked up the boards and taught ourselves how to surf,' local surfer Edwin Nomoro explained to the BBC.
At first it was just Filipinos riding the waves, but now people come from all over the world for surfing holidays in the Philippines.
'Baler is the birthplace of Philippines surfing,' added Mac Ritual, a local tour guide.
