Celebrating Earth Day

CEBU, Philippines — As part of its Earth Day celebration, Bluewater Maribago Beach Resort held the second Bluewater SUP Challenge on April 22. In line with the resort’s advocacy to protect the environment, the management of Bluewater Resorts aimed to promote free-energy sports such as paddling to further reduce the use of fossil fuel in watersports activities and to promote the culture of paddling in the island of Mactan.

The resort partnered with the Lapu-Lapu Stand-up Paddle Club in organizing the race for the second year in a row and tapped local board riding hero Mr. Dandoy Tongco as the race director.

The event was attended by some of the top talents in the local SUP (Stand Up Paddling) community among them reigning HRRAC SUP Champion Michael Flores of Shangri-la Mactan and veteran paddlers Josephus Falcone of Grupo Nopo and Argy Bermejo of Plantation Bay Resort and Spa.

Argy Bermejo topped the first heat of the Open Category while eventual champion Cyrill Igot bagged the number one slot in the succeeding heat. In the finals for the Open Category the race was neck to neck as the participants were evenly matched until Michael Flores broke his paddle and lost precious time against Cyrill Igot who capitalized on his mistake as he went on to win the race.

In the women’s category, Bluewater Resorts own Kristine Dave Orbiso coasted to an easy victory against the rest of the field to win the top prize. Orbiso is also the women’s reigning HRRAC SUP Champion is highly favored to win against the field.