A first in the Visayas, wakeboarding festival raises tourism level in Bohol island

GETAFE, BOHOL , Philippines– The Bohol Wakefest 2012 has stamped another first in Bohol and in the Visayas, and drew a good number of wakeboarding and wake-skating enthusiasts and practitioners from other parts of the country, including foreigners, to this town’s Pandanon Island.The month-long (May 25 to June 25) pioneering festival formally kicked off last June 9 in Pandanon, an island-barangay of Getafe that has been described by tourism authorities as the “small Boracay,” situated at the center of the world-renowned Danajon Double Barrier Reef.

Organizers said the festival included competitions in the following categories: Open Women Wakeskate, Open Men Wakeskate, Open Women Wakeboard and Open Men Wakeboard.

Wakeboarding and wakeskating competitions are considered by organizers as one of the extreme surface water sports, a combination of water skiing, snowboarding and surfing techniques, with the wakeboarder “being pulled by a speed boat or a cable system.”

Michael Tan of the Board Shop, a Singapore-based company that is a premium one-stop wake gear shop in Southeast Asia, expressed gratitude to Governor Edgar Chatto for the success of the event success.

Tan expected the festival to become another attraction in Bohol for tourists who are inclined to try wakeboarding, which he said “is one of the fastest growing sports in the world.”

Chatto, assisted by Getafe town Vice Mayor Simon Torreon and Councilor Tony Ouano—a relative of the family that owned the Ouano Beach Resort where the festival is being held—cut the ceremonial ribbon signaling the opening of the festival.

The governor, accompanied by his wife Pureza and his daughter, said in his brief message that tourism can be a source of livelihood. He thanked the festival organizers for putting up another first in Bohol and in the Visayas.

Pandanon has been deemed by Getafe residents as their gift for tourism. A beach resort in this island has been visited by about 700 to 1,000 tourists every week, according to a data of the municipal tourism office here.

Pandanon can be reached by a motorized pumpboat about 30-40 minutes from the town port. Officials here boasted of the nature-blessed town, especially of its rich marine resources like the seaweeds farms and seahorse sanctuary known worldwide. (FREEMAN)