Surfing Tips
BALI'S waves are world famous and range from safe beach breaks for
beginners like Kuta to the awesome swells at the south of the island,
which regularly attract the pros. Before you start planning your journey
in Bali's river, check out the tips below:
Before you go
When to Go Surf
Bali gets the full force of ocean swells breaking over shallow coral reefs. Winds blow away from the land, bringing trade winds, which give shape and consistency to the waves. Bali offers good surf all year long, but the best, most consistent swells are from June to August. The island experiences a hot, wet season (November to February) and a long, cooler dry season (March to October). Best times are from September to March.
During the dry, winds for the most part are from the northwest and often accompanied by rainsqualls, creating large waves on the Nusa Dua-Sanur side of the island. When the winds are too strong, though, Nusa Dua is blown out. Also during the dry season, the northeast tradewinds make respectable offshore breaks at Uluwatu, G'Land, and Nusa Lembongan Island. The months in-between have variable conditions and winds.
Bali's worst wind for surfing is a southerly. The Nusa Dua headland, for example, will divide the flow on both the Uluwatu and Nusa Dua sides. Tides also play a big role in the type, duration, and size of swells. The best tides come in during the full and new lunar phases. Sudden, powerful cyclones in the Indian Ocean dramatically increase the size of swells.
The waters around Bali have the advantage of being warm year-round. In the wet season the average temperatures are in the 80s F, but a vest or spring suit is needed during the dry when temperatures can drop into the 70s at exposed locations. The dry season is best because there's less humidity and evenings are cool.
From April to October, the southeast trade winds blow offshore, fanning the waves off Bali's southwest coast (Uluwatu, Kuta, Legian) and off Nusa Lembongan, this both the best time for surf, as it's also the dry season. Breaks get very full especially from June through August. From November to March, the winds blow from the northwest, though the lesser breaks off eastern Bali (Sanur, Nusa Dua) are still surfable at this time of year.
Safety Hints
Equipment
Terms. For the uninitiated and the curious, here's a guide to some of the most common terms:
Before you go
| • | Try to arrange your accomodation near where you want to surf. |
| • | Surfers usually charter car or motorcycle to their favorite beaches. Try to get your own transport. |
| • | The best time to surf is dawn patrol and it might be hard to get a driver to pick you up. Even then sometimes the drivers are late. |
| • | A motorcycle can travel the more difficult tracks to remote beaches, although in the wet season the tracks become muddy and slippery. |
| • | Get a strong board strap (with foam padding) or sew a strap to your board cover so it can be carried on a motorcycle. |
When to Go Surf
Bali gets the full force of ocean swells breaking over shallow coral reefs. Winds blow away from the land, bringing trade winds, which give shape and consistency to the waves. Bali offers good surf all year long, but the best, most consistent swells are from June to August. The island experiences a hot, wet season (November to February) and a long, cooler dry season (March to October). Best times are from September to March.
During the dry, winds for the most part are from the northwest and often accompanied by rainsqualls, creating large waves on the Nusa Dua-Sanur side of the island. When the winds are too strong, though, Nusa Dua is blown out. Also during the dry season, the northeast tradewinds make respectable offshore breaks at Uluwatu, G'Land, and Nusa Lembongan Island. The months in-between have variable conditions and winds.
Bali's worst wind for surfing is a southerly. The Nusa Dua headland, for example, will divide the flow on both the Uluwatu and Nusa Dua sides. Tides also play a big role in the type, duration, and size of swells. The best tides come in during the full and new lunar phases. Sudden, powerful cyclones in the Indian Ocean dramatically increase the size of swells.
The waters around Bali have the advantage of being warm year-round. In the wet season the average temperatures are in the 80s F, but a vest or spring suit is needed during the dry when temperatures can drop into the 70s at exposed locations. The dry season is best because there's less humidity and evenings are cool.
From April to October, the southeast trade winds blow offshore, fanning the waves off Bali's southwest coast (Uluwatu, Kuta, Legian) and off Nusa Lembongan, this both the best time for surf, as it's also the dry season. Breaks get very full especially from June through August. From November to March, the winds blow from the northwest, though the lesser breaks off eastern Bali (Sanur, Nusa Dua) are still surfable at this time of year.
Safety Hints
| • | Although a visit to Bali is one of the world's best surfing holidays, don't take on too much at once. |
| • | Familiarize yourself with the coral reef breaks, and ease into it, taking on more formidable breaks gradually. Bali's shoreline is notorious for its extreme currents and rip tides (both of which can make surfing quite hazardous) and for its reefs. |
| • | Ask the lifeguards to point out where the rip tides are if you can't tell from the shore, and if you do get caught in one, stay calm and paddle sideways across the rip to get out of it, never try to paddle straight in or out of it. |
| • | Be sure to wash your coral cuts every night with a good disinfectant and to remove sea urchin spines without breaking them: urinating on the wound is supposed to help alleviate swelling. |
| • | Wear your suncreen from day one or you might suffer later (including lost surf time), especially lips and nose. Sunburn and heat stroke are very real problems when you're out on the waves in the heat of the tropical sun. Sunblock is essential, and most surfers wear a rash-vest as well. |
| • | Take it slow at first, especially in the lineup. Figure out the tides and entry and exit spots. Give the locals a good vibe and priority |
| • | It's also advisable to bone up on your first-aid knowledge, especially mouth-to-mouth resuscitation techniques, which can be lifesaving if someone's been knocked out on a remote break. A well-equipped first-aid kit, including elastoplasts and needles to remove sea-urchin spines, is a must. |
| • | Also take your own leashes, rash guards, wax, sunsreen. All that stuff is imported in Bali and is expensive. Everything else you can buy there, including surf shorts. |
| • | In case of broken bones, cuts, or infections from live coral reefs, get yourself to health service. All the top-class hotels have resident physicians who are familiar with surfing injuries. |
Equipment
| • | Bring a snorkel, fins, mask, wetsuit vest, small daypack, surfboard repair kit, silver tape, at least five blocks of wax, and the widest, waffle-bottom running shoes you can find. |
| • | If you're only bringing one board, a six foot six (two metro) board is the best for beach breaks and most reefs, though for the biggest waves you'll need one that's at least six foot ten (two meters ten) as well. |
| • | Bring reef shoes for the coral, a helmet for the reef breaks, and an emergency ding-repair kit, though you'll be able to get repairs done in Kuta and at some of the other big surf beaches as well. |
| • | Booties are recommended at least until you really get a spot wired and even then some spots at certain tides it's always a good idea. With booties you can use your feet to buffer the rest of your body from the reef and not get any injuries. |
| • | California and Australian-style short boards are okay for the breaks at Kuta Beach, but you'll need at least a 7-foot board for the bigger waves at Uluwatu and Padang Padang. For fast waves, like Uluwatu's, a semi to full-gun design is recommended. |
| • | If you don't have a good travel cover, use bubble plastic. Take special care in packing detachable fins in your luggage or consider taking along extras. You can't count on replacing them here. Hardsole wetsuit booties are critical when walking across coral reefs at low tide. A wetsuit vest gives warmth in cold winds and protects against falls on coral. |
| • | If you come without equipment, you'll find plenty of surf shops in Kuta, selling boards, spare fins and leashes and brand-name surfwear. You can also rent boards for a fairly reasonable fee from the Balinese surfers who hang out at the major breaks. Nonetheless, it's cheaper and probably more satisfactory to bring your own gear. |
| • | However, most airlines will take boards in the hold for free so long as your total load weight doesn't pass 20kg. You label them clearly and put them in well-padded board bags (board bags with straps are a good idea as a number of the best breaks are accessible by motorbike only). Some airlines demand compulsory insurance for your board when you check in, so it's worth calling the airline in advance. |
Terms. For the uninitiated and the curious, here's a guide to some of the most common terms:
| • | Barrel: Same as a tube. |
| • | Beach break: Waves that break on a sandbar right on the shore; the easiest ones to surf. |
| • | Closed out: A wave that's not worth surfing because it's too dangerous or too broken, probably because the wind's blowing onshore. |
| • | Ding: Hole in the board. |
| • | Dropping in: Taking off on someone else's wave - considered very out of order. |
| • | Glass: Perfect waves which are neither broken nor have too much white water. |
| • | Green room: Same as a tube. |
| • | Kook: Hopeless surfer (named after the noise the Australian bird the kookaburra makes). |
| • | Left-handers/lefts: Waves which break to the surfer's left (or to your right if you're watching from the shore); many surfers have a strong preference for either lefts or rights. |
| • | Offshore winds: Winds that blow across the land and out to sea pitch the waves up and make them good for surfing. |
| • | Onshore winds: Winds that blow in from the sea and on to the land tend to cause broken waves and white water which are frustrating and sometimes dangerous to surf. |
| • | Pipe: Same as a tube. |
| • | Radical: Classy waves or surfing style and action. |
| • | Reef break: Waves that break over a coral reef are more difficult and more dangerous to surf. |
| • | Right-handers/rights: Waves which break to the surfer's right (or to your left if you're watching from the shore). |
| • | Rip tides: Dangerous meeting of two tides which pull surfers and swimmers way out to sea; experienced surfers use them to get behind distant waves. |
| • | Shut down: Same as closed out. |
| • | Sneaker sets: Surfable waves that appear from nowhere without warning. |
| • | Stoked: To have had a brilliant session in the water. |
| • | Three-sixty: Doing a complete 360-degree turn on the wave. |
| • | Tube: The hollow barrel-like shape within a breaking m, wave which you can fit right inside - the type of wave that every surfer dreams about. |
| • | Walling: Surfing the face of the wave. |