Activity: Surf Guiding

Our advanced surfers beat the crowd to Uluwatu this morning where they found excellent, overhead waves with larger sets coming in! The southwest wind has reduced in strength compared to the last several days, keeping the faces of the waves clean. The long lines allowed our surfers to focus on generating enough drive from their bottom turns to propel themselves up the face of the wave, and give the lip their best crack!

Generally, and up to a certain point, your surfboard will rotate quicker and require less force to swing around on a near-vertical wave face, compared to a softer shoulder. Your fins will slide around easier, and you will project much more spray. You might be surprised by what you can do when you put your surfboard in the right spot at the right time! Our expert guides will show you how it’s done!

Our predicted bump in swell did not materialize in a significant way this morning. The small southwest swell was trailed by a wind from a similar direction, and was mixed in with a dropping tide. These conditions limited our options. Uluwatu was looking like our best bet as the faces of the waves remained clean despite the onshore texture. Uluwatu is nearly always good for a head-high wave, and today was no exception. The wave height was mostly shoulder high with larger, head-high sets coming through.

Over the last few days, the afternoons have had better conditions than the morning, and we expect this afternoon to be similar. Over the last several afteroons, the wind has been lighter and the tide higher, which is preferable for many spots around the Bukit. Tomorrow, the swill is predicted to increase to 5 Ft. at 14 seconds!

Our swell has reduced in size overnight again but there were still plenty of waves on the Southern coastline of the Bukit peninsula. The size and direction of the swell meant that there was no hiding from the light onshore breeze coming out of the south. Our surfers made the most of the fun, head-high peaks that grew in size throughout the session.

The long-range swell forecast looks more promising than it has been over the last several days. The forecast is showing many days with light wind and fun size swell. The wind is predicted to remain onshore for the Uluwatu area which will keep most people out of the lineup. We are on top of the changing conditions here at Padang Padang Surf Camp and will be out in the lineup when the weather and waves clean up around our camp.

The swell picked up just enough overnight to serve up shoulder high sets amongst windless, glassy conditions. Our surfers found left-breaking waves peeling down the reef with smooth faces. The waves offered plenty of opportunities to turn your board up towards the lip of the wave, and put all of your strength and skill into a top turn.

Today, the swell increased in size and period to 3 ft. at 13 seconds, which is just enough swell for many breaks all around Bali to begin working. Uluwatu is one of the most consistent waves in the world. The peaks at Uluwatu always pick up and amplify the swell on the small days like today. All that is needed is a little west in the swell direction, and you will have fun, rip-able waves. Additionally, the small days are often accompanied by sunshine, which always improves the surfing experience.

The swell dropped off in size overnight leaving only the most exposed breaks with surfable waves. Our intermediate crew headed over to Pandawa where they found shoulder high sets, clean conditions, and a light crowd amongst the Sunday-morning beachgoers. Pandawa still managed to produce clean, left-breaking waves which allowed our surfers to practice generating speed while travelling down the line. This morning’s smooth walls presented our surfers with opportunities to feel and correct weight distribution imbalances that cause the surfboard to travel inefficiently throught the water.

It is uncommon for the swell reading to drop to 3.5 ft. at 9 seconds. The most exposed breaks on the island, such as Green Bowl and Pandawa, are only a short drive from our camp, which affords us the best opportunity to surf on a day like today, when most breaks on the island were flat.

It was a beautiful morning down at Pandawa as the clouds faded away and the sun made its glorious return! The southern tip of the Bukit was our preferred choice today for our intermediate surfers given the lighter wind and the southerly direction of the swell. Our surfers found fun, smooth, overhead lefts with a few larger sets coming in. The faces of the waves remained clean, which allowed the surfers to race down the line and work on the fundamental skill of developing drive from their bottom turns.

Tomorrow, the swell is forecast to continue to fade in size. The wind is expected to ease from a persistent westerly direction to becoming light and variable from the north. The bottom of the low tide is creeping progessivley later into each morning over the next several days, which means our sessions will have to wait untill enough water covers the reef.

Our intermediate group headed off to Geger Left again this morning as the onshore wind has decided to stick around the Uluwatu area for another day, as predicted in the forecast. At Geger, the wind was blowing offshore, and the swell was showing its full size with overhead waves on the sets. Our surfers managed to race down the line for some fast and challenging rides.

In most places around the world, an onshore day like today would mean no surfing. In Bali, we are blessed with exposed reefs and coastlines facing several different directions. This means that it is almost always offshore somewhere on the island, and the more exposed breaks will usually pick up a surfable wave. Separately, today is Melasti in Bali, which is an important day for the Balinese Hindus. Today’s ceremony will also be the first traditionally held ceremony since the pandemic began.

Our surfers were off to Pandawa this morning where they found fun, shoulder-high waves with an offshore wind. Despite the less than ideal conditions, the session exceeded everyone’s expectations as our surfers nearly had the place to themselves. Pandawa served up fun left and right-breaking peaks, which provided our surfers with plenty of opportunities to gain speed and focus on improving their turns.

When the conditions are less than ideal, local knowledge is key. Our surf guides were on top of things this morning as we found clean, empty, offshore peaks while most people were still sleeping. This less-often surfed break is near the southernmost point of the island of Bali, which means the reef picks up whatever swell is hitting Bali. Because of the exposed nature of the break, Pandawa is often too large and the currrents are too strong.