Surfing Bali

ruanaidh

I'm heading to Bali in July for one week. I won't be bringing my own board as I intend to travel up through Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. I'd like to hear from anyone who has been to Bali surfing before to share their experiences of the place.

I am an intermediate level surfer myself. Would it be in best interest to go to a surf school for a week or to seek accommodation elsewhere, rent a board and go it alone? Is it best to stay in the southern peninsula or around Kuta?

spaceHopper

ruanaidh wrote: »

I'm heading to Bali in July for one week. I won't be bringing my own board as I intend to travel up through Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. I'd like to hear from anyone who has been to Bali surfing before to share their experiences of the place.

I am an intermediate level surfer myself. Would it be in best interest to go to a surf school for a week or to seek accommodation elsewhere, rent a board and go it alone? Is it best to stay in the southern peninsula or around Kuta?

Buy this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Riding-Magic-Carpet-Surfers-Odyssey/dp/1840245026

gumbynation

hey mate,
depends really on the type of holiday you want.
If you wanna have a few nights sinking jam jars in the bounty running amuck with yer mates then kuta is the go, you can rent gear and surf the beaches at kuta/legian and the reefs near kuta - airports.. kuta reef etc.

but if you are on your own and you have 7 days and you wanna score waves everyday, buy a 2nd hand board over there and either rent a bike if can ride motorbike or a kijang (2wd jeep) if you have a couple buddies to split it with. you can stay in warungs pretty much everywhere from balangan south as far as uluwatu, though dreamland has been built on and apparently all the warungs are gone (havent been since 06).

If you are only there for a week then check the forecast and see if you need to be buying a semi gun, but otherwise pick up a board regular shortboard, maybe soemthing a touch longer to get you in that bit earlier.
Dreamland is a fairly soft wave out there relative to the other.
Personally our crew had the best fun at impossibles as the crowd was pretty mellow relative to the other spots on the bukit.

A word of warning, if you rent one of those 125cc bikes, dont be one of those tools rideing around with no shirt on a pair of thongs and no helmet. you are asking for trouble by doing that.
pick up a international drivers licence before you go from the AA in dublin, or at least remember when riding yer bike to have 20,000 bribe money handy in your pockets if you get stopped. if you take out yer wallet and the cops see cash they wil take it from you so best to go with 'this is all the cash I have..'
At least it worked for us.
Avoid the porters at Denpasar airport.
keep an eye on the period for the forecast
9ft at 18 seconds is very different to 9ft at 10 seconds!!!
Via Con Dios!!!

ruanaidh

Thanks a lot gumbynation! Very helpful.

WoL

Bali is surprisingly small, so my two cents would say rock in Kuta and work in out from there. You can hit all the decent surf spots from there relatively easily and cheaply (either by taxi or renting as stated in the previous posts). None are too far away. Furthermore, you can catch some pretty decent surf just up the road from Kuta in Seminyak, especially early in the morn (6 30am) when it isn't busy and the tide is right. Plus you get to party your face off in Kuta! And this doesn't necessarily tie you down to one specific area. But all the advice you were previously given is real solid too. Hope this helps, peace out...