Dile Point

Dile Point lies in the South China Sea off the northwestern coast of Luzon, beyond the long Ilocos shore, where the open water west of the island leads toward China and the Ryukyus. The sea here is exposed to the monsoon: the southwest winds of summer bring rain and storms, and the northeast winds of winter bring steady breezes that suited sailing along the coast. Fishing boats worked the nearshore waters, and Ilocano coastal villages traded rice, cotton cloth, gold and beeswax by boat along the shore.

Chinese junks reached Luzon's coasts during the Song and Ming periods, and Chinese and Japanese seafarers and pirates frequented these waters. In 1565 the Spanish established themselves in the Philippines, and Juan de Salcedo explored the Ilocos coast in 1572 and founded Vigan in 1574. In the same year the Chinese pirate Limahong sailed along this coast to attack Manila. Manila became the western end of the galleon route to Mexico, which carried American silver to the markets of China, and the waters off Ilocos remained a lane of coastal traffic for shipping to and from the islands.