Charlie Don't Surf, But They Now Do In Baler

[Call me bubba]

When a scene from Apocalypse Now was shot on an obscure beach in the Philippines in the late 70s, little did the film-makers know they were giving birth to the country's surfing culture.

 

"Charlie don't surf," says the reckless and irrepressible Colonel Kilgore, in one of the most memorable lines of the Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now.

 

Charlie is the American soldiers' derogatory nickname for their enemy, the Viet Cong, and the surf-mad colonel is trying to persuade his troops to ride the waves, despite the bombs falling all around them.

Apocalypse Now, released in 1979, depicts the madness and mayhem of conflict, and is widely regarded as one of the most powerful war films ever made.

 

But it also has another legacy - something that the director, Francis Ford Coppola, could not possibly have intended.

Apocalypse Now was not actually filmed in Vietnam, but in the little fishing town of Baler in the northern Philippines.

As the cameras rolled, local Filipinos like Edwin Nomoro watched from the sidelines.

Nomoro was 10 at the time, and he came down to the beach every day to see it transformed into a battle scene, complete with an entirely fake Vietnamese village and helicopters swooping overhead.

 

 

 

But what excited him most was the sight of the actors surfing - something he'd never seen before.

"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," he says. "We've been surfing ever since."

At first, Nomoro and his friends found it difficult because there was no-one around to teach them.

"But we studied it, and learned, and now - no-one can explain what it feels like. Only a surfer knows the feeling," he says, smiling.

Once they got the hang of it, the boys started teaching others, and as word spread, tourists began coming to the little town to learn to ride the waves at Charlie's Point, as it became known.

 

 

Nomoro was able to turn his passion into a way of making a living, and more than 30 years on, he still earns money from the industry he helped to create.

"I have several rooms to rent. I also have some surfboards for hire," he says. "It's really improved my life. It helps me feed my family."

Baler is now very different from the sleepy fishing town where Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall and Marlon Brando stayed decades ago.

Several big hotels line the seafront, and more are being constructed. According to the local tourism office, at least 50,000 people came here in 2012.

Most visitors are Filipinos - Manila residents who just want a weekend of surfing - but an increasing number are foreigners.

One of the earliest arrivals was Donny Cope, who turned up in Baler in 1997 with "a surfboard, a backpack and a sense of adventure".

He has stayed at the beach on and off ever since, and now runs a small guesthouse.

"Last year we had surfers from the Czech Republic, Switzerland and a bunch from France," he says.

 

Released in 1979, starring Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando and Robert Duvall (pictured), Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam war film follows Captain Willard (Sheen) deep into the Vietnamese jungle in search of the renegade Colonel Kurtz (Brando).

Now acclaimed as a classic, the film's production was famously beset by a number of disasters, including a tropical storm which destroyed the original set.

 

"We had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little we went insane," reflected Coppola in Hearts of Darkness, the acclaimed documentary about the film.

 

Baler's success as a surfing centre has rippled out to other parts of the Philippines, such as Surigao, La Union and Pagudpud.

"Baler is the birthplace of Philippine surfing," says Mac Ritual, a local tour guide.

 

"Other places saw a lot of good things here in Baler, and they also wanted to be popular because of surfing."

Ritual often takes his tour groups to see the main sites featured in Apocalypse Now.

The most famous is a headland where a major attack on the Viet Cong was staged. It was nicknamed Charlie's Point in the film, and now even local Filipinos use this name.

 

Going there now, it's quite difficult to recognise anything from the film.

The fake Vietnamese village was blown up at the time, and the trees which were burnt down as part of a simulated napalm attack have all regrown.

But there's no chance of the beach nearby going back to the way it once was.

 

All the way along it, people are surfing - beginners screaming excitedly as the waves crash over them, and seasoned professionals perfecting their technique on the breakers.

This town has come a long way since the days of Apocalypse Now.

 

Perhaps the best way to sum up its changing fortunes is a little shop on the seafront.

Its name?

 

Charlie Does.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21941069

 

 

may i add. this is a great movie, better than ever watching rocky horror. :thumbsup:

[samatm]

Thanks for posting this.    I was  trying to post this article  last night , but i nver could get the  cut and paste function working.    

 

Anyone been to Baler ?   how is the surf / the beach.     Apocalypse Now is one freaky movie parts  i still can't watch.    Interesting they filmed it in the PI.

[northtoalaska]

"Charlie is the American soldiers' derogatory nickname for their enemy, the Viet Cong"

Not quite accurate. "Charlie" was derived from the phonetic alphabet used in the military: "Viet Cong" ---> "VC" ---> "Victor Charlie"

Nothing derogatory about it. (There were plenty of other derogatory names used. But, that s common in all wars, on all sides.)

[joeatmanila]

We are the "Charlie" there...not unless we do not bring the Botolan beach scenery with us :)

[SubicSteve]

I am in Baler right now.  Been here 4 hours.  I see no reason to come back.

[OnMyWay]

I am in Baler right now.  Been here 4 hours.  I see no reason to come back.

 

Details, man, details!!!  

[SubicSteve]

 

I am in Baler right now.  Been here 4 hours.  I see no reason to come back.

 

Details, man, details!!!  

 

 

 

The ride up was nice. Thru the mountains and rice fields.  Very pretty.  Took about 4 hours from Subic.  The truth is, Baler is not ready for prime time.  VERY few foreigners so they have no idea what customer service is.  The hotels are mostly crap.  Dirty and dingy.  Garbage all around.  There is not one nice bar on the beach to sit at.  We sat down to eat and there were 5 dogs roaming 5 feet from us.  Pissing, mounting each other and the locals just ignore it.  We are staying at the nicest place for 4800p a night and its worth about half that.  The beach has no real bars or restaurants.  It's just basically a place for locals to come and enjoy the beach.  Many of the hotel staff speak almost no english.  I know I sound very negative but I wouldn't want someone to think this is a resort town and spend there time and money to come up here.   Bottom line is there is nothing to do here.  If you want to go surfing, go to La Union.

[OnMyWay]

I see no reason to come back.

 

I mis-read this to mean that you liked the place and saw no reason to come home!   :bash:

 

I never did well on those reading comprehension tests!   :hystery:

[Paul_QLD]

 

I see no reason to come back.

 

I mis-read this to mean that you liked the place and saw no reason to come home!   :bash:

 

Yes same for me, I thought he was very impressed with the place and was never going to return to the "real world".

[Call me bubba]

I am in Baler right now.  Been here 4 hours.  I see no reason to come back.

 

Every man has got a breaking point.

You and I have one. Subic Steve Has reached his. And very obviously, he has gone insane...   :kidding:

 

On the serious side, thanks for your honest opinion,

In a few years BALER maybe changed for the better,

as it seems that everyone is trying to get that TOURIST money..

 

 could you take a few photos for us to see.

Edited April 23, 2013 by Pittman apartments Sgn