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Bali Surfing
Tours makes surfing Indonesia simple and fun. Surfing in Bali alone
can be confusing because there are so many different breaks. My name
is Leo and I have been coming to Indo for many years to surf perfect
and uncrowded waves. The first time I came to Indonesia (Bali), I
went with a friend of mine from Maui (Hawaii), and we were like 2
lost kids in Disney Land.
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We
didn`t speak a word of Indonesian and our arrival to
the airport was a nightmare. Everybody wanted take our
surfboards to the nearest Bemo (name of Balinese`s public
bus/taxi) and then, wanted money for carrying our boards about
20 feet. That`s the beginning of our confusion. There`re about
ten taxis at the front of the curb and clearly not enough for
everybody, and the bidding began. It was like buying a T-shirt
in Mexico, except that everyone needed a T-shirt and there
wasn`t enough so they would barter for over an hour for the
best price. So, we bargained for the
best
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price to get in
town (Kuta). Finally, we got for hundred of thousands rupiah
or US$20.00, which at that time sounded better. We should of paid
20.000 rupiah or US$3.00 we found out later. When our driver asked
us where we were staying , we told him that it`s our first time to
Bali and we didn`t have a reservation anywhere. And of course, our
driver has a cousin.. ? ( sound familiar ?) who owned the best place
in Bali and would give us the best price.
Then he also asked
us if we wanted something to smoke. We told him,' no thanks'. Or
some jiggy-jig', he offered. We looked at each other, because we
didn`t know that 'jiggy-jig' term, so we asked him. He was laughing
and said clearly,'women' and 'sex'. We were married at that
time and pretty tired after our 14 hour flight. We told him thanks
but no thanks. |
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The place
he took us to didn`t seem to bad, specially at 12:00 at night,
and pretty cheap. It`s about $15 bucks each a night. However,
in the morning when we woke up in our 'sweat box' and
took a second look where we staying. No Air Con, no hot
water, and a ceiling fan with only one speed, low. The
bathroom had no toilet. Just Indo toilet which has a hole in
the floor for squatting and no toilet paper but a bucket to
rinse with. And we thought it`s pretty funny until we
saw a rat the size of a small cat. We decided then to look for
a different place. This took most of our first day in Bali, we
still didn`t even unzip our
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board bags. We
found a nice place with air condition and hot water for about $25.00
each a night. Now we had to rent a car and that was almost harder
then finding a decent room. We found a driver that would pick us up
every morning and take us to where we wanted to surf and bring us
back each day for only 150,000 rupiah a day ( about $20.00 bucks).
The only problem was his English wasn`t so great and he didn`t surf,
so we were on our own except for when our friends told us to go and
a buy a book called INDO SURF & LINGO which we thanked God we
had. |
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Our first
day out, we went to the famous Uluwatu and it was pumping 6 to
8 foot backs and kind a scary for our first time in Bali.
Remember, we came from Hawaii and were used to surfing big
waves but even my friend and I were like, 'damn!' this is
pretty big. We caught some great waves and were having a great
time until we got caught inside on a 10 ft. set. I remember
when we were looking each other as the set broke about 10 feet
in front of us and both yelled "Shit!!". Everybody I think got
worked but I was thinking to myself underwater, am I ever
going to come up. Of course, I have been held down before, but
this time when I came up for my first
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breath, I had
respect for Ulu`s. We went to Uluwatu almost every day as the swell
dropped. We were told that was the best swell of the year and seemed
uncrowed until it dropped to 3 to 5 feet. We counted over 90 people
in the water and looked elsewhere to surf.
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We went to
the Outer Reefs and Airport Lefts & Rights. Great waves
and not so crowded. We started
to explore more up the coast
and surfed more perfect
and uncrowded waves. We wanted to
go further west
but our driver said it was too far for him.
So we
rented two motor bikes with surf racks on them
and
off we went. Our destination was a place
called
Medewi. The book said it was the longest wave
in
Bali and well, we had to check it out. Of course the day
we left there was a storm and it took us over 3
hours in
the rain to get there. Driving a motor bike in Bali is an
adventure
anyway. | |
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There are no
rules or speed limits! It`s a free for all road game, and I don`t
recommend it if you are not a seasoned rider. If you get in an
accident, you`re guilty no matter who`s fault it is. Their thinking
is if you`re not here on vacation, it wouldn`t have happened.
However, after we got to Medewi, we were rewarded with
perfect 200 yards of wave to shred. It was 4 to 6 feet and only 10
surfers out. The problem was that the other 8 surfers were locals
and had this place wired and didn`t know it was wrong to 'drop in'.
For the first time in Bali, there was attitude in the water, and,
unlike the States or your home break, you could express yourself.
Here, in Indonesia, it is best not to make a
scene. |
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However,
that night, we hung out at the local Warung (restaurant) and
saw the locals that were snaking us. I went over and offered
to buy a round of beers, and the next thing you know, they
were our best friends.
We surfed the next few days
without a problem and made some friends. Well, our time was
running out and we only had 2 days left of our 2 week stay.
After we made it back to Kuta, we had to do normal stuff, you
know, go shopping for our wives and friends because things
here are so cheap. | |
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We knew when we
got on the plane that we would be coming back to this special place
every year to explore and surf the hundreds of breaks that we
missed.
After coming to Indonesia for over 5 years and
exploring the different islands, like : Lombok, Sumbawa, Java, Nias
(Sumatera), and the Mentawai isles. I knew that this is where I
wanted to live. Now, I live in Bali and have been surfing almost
every day and started a company called BALI SURFING TOURS.
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My goal is to
make surfing in Indonesia, fun and easy. We have put together tour
packages for surfing that are complete and cheap. When you book your
trip with us, you make friends and we will show you all of the
spots. Actually, we can take you to any spot in Indonesia. We also
have the latest info`s on the Surf Camps to G-Land, boat tours to
other islands and up to date swell information.
If you have
any questions, feel free to e-mail me because it is free, and I
would be very happy to answer any questions you might have.
Hope we will be picking you up at the Airport
soon.
Best Wishes,
Leo P.
Walsh |
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