Bali Barrel Magazine Bali

By : Alexander Vesters

Issued October 2011

Contents

1) Introduction
2) History of Uluwatu
3) Kuta Boat Trips / My Story
4) Legian
5) Balangan
6) Bingin
7) Impossibles
8) Padang Padang
9) Padang Padang Ultimate Tube Riding Competition Rip Curl
10) Flynn Novak Interview
11) Uluwatu
12) Kuta Beach and its Reefs (Kuta Reef, Middles, Airport Left)
13) Me at Balian
14) Balian
15) Ending

Introduction

Hello, im Alexander Vesters and im creating an online magazine for my school project. I have spent the last two months in Bali surfing in every possible break i can. i have been gathering information, attending events such as competition's and opening ceremonies of surf competitions. I have had interviews with local surfers and Hawaii Pro surfer Flynn Novak. I have been staying in one of the most fun, relaxing, most wonderful surf destination in Bali that some tourists do not know about, Bingin.

We stayed in a hotel over looking the cliff looking down at the beach and surf, from our bunker we could see the horizon of the sea.

I had the time of my life in Bali this summer. It's the most enjoyable experience for me and my family. If you have never been in Bali, you don't know what you are missing.

History of Uluwatu

Uluwatu was known by many local surfers in the early 1960's and 1970's, but nobody had ever surfed it because it was almost impossible to go down the face of the cliff to go surfing. In 1971 Steve Cooney and rusty miller aged 15 came to the island of Bali. They stayed in Kuta surfing waves there. When both landed in Bali, before they landed they had both seen a break far of the point of the peninsula, they wondered what that break was. The day after they arrived, Kuta had waves of 3ft, they decided to go check out what they saw from the plane. They ended up finding it. They said that it was huge and just flawless. They knew from that moment on that they had just made history. They had heard from the locals that nobody had ever surfed there before. They found a way down the cliff. They got into the water and started surfing. Hundreds of locals that lived near by in the are of Uluwatu were watching them from the cliff. The first wave when they steve took, both of them just started yelling and screaming. They had just discover a huge part of surfing, they had discovered a magnificent, strong heavy wave.

                                            Rusky miller aged 15, first to surf Uluwatu 1971

Now, Die hard surfers surfing this:

World class wave....

Kuta Boat Trips/ My Story

To go to the reefs you have to go by boat. You would have to go to down south to the end of the beach passed discovery mall, there you would have to pay money to go to the reefs. When my dad, my friend Denise and me were going to the reef, we met an australian guy, we used to see him all the time on the beach. He told us about the Kuta Boat Trips, he said that the boat would take you to any surfing destination on the Bukit peninsula. it was 250,000 rupee per person. My dad booked the boat for the next day for my family and my friends family to go and spend a day on the boat surfing in every surf destination.

The next day we arrive at where the boat was to pick us up. we loaded the stuff and drove off. the first break we surfed was Airport left, we surfed it for a couple of minutes because it was very crowded and not much fun. We passed the airport and took a few shots of planes landing right over us. The sound was intense. The break we surfed after was Balangan. i was so keen to getting in the water but Denise was complaining on how crowded it was. Without hesitate i put on my surf shirt, grabbed my board and jumped in the water. i paddled out to the line up. This wave come's in i start paddling and i take off. it was a nice long left and took me all the way down down the beach till it closed out. I started paddling back and this huge set, i would say about 8-10ft wave came out of no where and just broke right on top of me, i ended up in the washing machine. I got up and i see another huge wave come, i try duck under the wave with my board but the wave still caught me. I got back up from the water and paddled like mad all the way to where i was before. After a few minutes i took another wave and went back to the boat. I told my parents about the whole thing, the waves were pretty good though.

We were passing the cliff face of Balangan with the boat and were on our way to Bingin, just passing the cliff and me and Denise see this big animal pop out of the water and we both shouted and everyone turned around. The animal popped his head out and dives back into the water splashing his tail as he went down. We were all trying to figure out what kind of animal it was. Our boat captain told us that that was a Dudgeon which belongs to the whale family. 

We decided to skip impossibles and bingin and head on to Padang Padang to eat there and surf for a couple of ours. We parked the boat on the beach, i ran to my bag, put some sunscreen on, put on my surfing shirt, grabbed my board and paddled out to the break, surprisingly is was not as crowded as i expected. Normally Padang is very crowded with beginners when its small. But it was pretty small. I ended up surfing there for 2 hours straight. I got out of the water and everyone was already packing up ready to go back on the boat. Our captain was sleeping on the boat which as parked further out in the water, so they send me to go get them. We all got on the boat and headed for Uluwatu.

We arrived at Uluwatu and it was big. Uluwatu was about 8ft, that day was a big day in general, but uluwatu was pumping, every 10-15 minutes this huge wave would come, i would say it was about 10-12 ft. I did not dare to go out there but i still had the feeling that i wanted to. my parents did not let me go because it was to dangerous for me. Although Denise and my dad go went out together. I saw them take some nice waves, especially my dad, i also saw him get into a horrible wipeout. Denise the menace only took one wave, but it was a small one compared to what the others and my dad were taking.

They came back and got on the boat and we took off going back home. We decide to hit airport left again for our last surf because it was getting late. We arrived at airport left and i was the only one going in because Denise and my dad were to cold and they wanted to stay on the boat. I took a couple waves. It was getting a bit late so i decided to take one more wave. I took the big set which rolled in and i swear i wish i hadn't. I had a wipeout like no other wipeout i had ever experienced before. I took of and i saw the wave barreling and i tucked in and the whole wave ended up closing on me. I went upside down ,inside out, i even touched the reef and scratched my leg, had 2 deep cuts down the back of my right leg. I paddled over to the boat in  state of shock. As i was approaching the boat i said "thats it for me today".

A couple weeks later my family went to Uluwatu to have lunch. we knew that at uluwatu there are photographers taking pictures of people surfing, so when the surfers are done they can go to the stores and they can look for their picture to see if the photographer had taken a photo of you. My dad decided to go to one of the photography shops to see if they had his picture from a week ago. After about an hour looking for his pic on the computer he finally finds it.

Legian

Legian is a beach break connected to kuta beach. At high tide at Legian can serve up one of the most power-packed surf beaches in the world, always bigger than kuta reef about 1ft to 3ft bigger if Kuta is 3ft, legian can be up to 4-6ft. Although it closes out on low tide. it also closes out on high tide if the swell is over 8ft. because legian is in the curve  of the beach, it collects the compressed energy of all swells. a much more powerful wave than kuta. 2km further south along the sand. A handy hint is that kuta reef is about the same size as Legian. The first semi-permanent sand bank is at Jalan Melasti, near the legian beach hotel. often uncrowded. The most consecutive peak is at Jalan Padma, near the Bali Padma hotel, which is almost always crowded at high tide. Lefts and rights peel from opposite banks towards each other for 100 meters, then join up right on the sand for a big air finish. you can find less crowded peaks 200 meters up the beach directing north.

Balangan

Balangan is a very fast left reef break, its best on highest to lowest tide. Rarely crowded, most mid tide waves tend to close-out (wave breaks into white water, not allowing the surfer to surf the wave anymore)
Some surfers surf near the cliff, other's surf near the tail end. To get there you turn right off ululate road into the road through 'Pecatu indah Resort'. Balangan is one of the most beautiful clean white sand beach in Bali. A great place to relax for a day. This wave is for all surfers, its for beginners to but just remember not to go out there when its big. its a bit fast for beginners and they won't be able to keep up with the wave but its still fun to take the white water. just remember to not go out at low tide, you end up having some nasty scratches. It gets pretty big, but then again any wave can get big depending on the swell

Bingin

  Bingin Beach is a place many people end up missing, this is a very hard place to find. It used to be called "the last secret spot in bali". Not so many people/tourists which come to bali know about this place. they miss it while they are on their way to Padang or Uluwatu, its a small sign and a small side street. In my opinion this is the best surfing destination for me and the most relaxing place. When you arrive at bingin, you walk through small streets and then head down through a bunch of stairs. all the accommodations and restaurants are build on top of the cliff of on the cliff. Looking down the cliff you see the wave in Bingin to your left and Impossibles to your right. depending.

This is the view from the bottom of the beach looking up the cliff. in front are a couple surf repair shops and some warungs. warungs means restaurant in indonesian. Bingin is a rocky sandy beach. There is a lot of ambiance. In the evening there is seafood barbecue on the beach which the locals prepare for us, they set the tables along the side of the beach. It gets dark at night so you would have to carry flashlights for you to see when you are climbing up and down the stairs

Its Bali's shortest, most makable tube ride, best at mid to low tide. This wave is suitable for beginners at high tide, thats when it does not tube and your safe from hitting the reef below. When its low tide remember to pull of before the inside sucks dry, you will end up having some nasty cuts. The crowd at bingin is always crowded, there is such a small take off point and every surfer crowds around that area.
Bingin is a really fun wave and you always meet people in the water out there. i personally love bingin

Impossibles

Impossibles is break next to Bingin. Impossibles does not have a beach, you would have to paddle from the beach of Bingin about 20 minutes or you can paddle from Padang Padang. Impossibles is a very fast wave when its small. Its nearly impossible to ride the full length of the wave because its super fast, only a few surfers are known to beat the wave. Impossibles lives up to its name. This wave is not suitable for beginners because these waves come out of no where and the wave is very powerful. When its big, the wave breaks nice and gently but its a scary sight at the same time. The reef is very sharp and dangerous. There is normally a set of 6. they come one behind the other in a perfect line up. its one of the most spectacular waves in the whole of bali. This wave is part of Padang Padang.

Padang Padang

Padang Padang is about 30 minutes down the Bukit peninsula from Kuta. The Meaning of Padang Padang is 'Power and Fear'. Padang Padang is one of the heaviest waves in Bali, Let alone South East Asia. Padang works very rarely. The wave breaks behind the cliff and comes across the beach meeting Impossibles. (The cliff is on the left side of the beach). When the waves are not big enough and power of the wave is not strong the wave does not work. if this does not happen the wave breaks behind the cliff but stops and it never makes it across the beach. On the right side of the  is another wave. when the wave behind the cliff merges with the one on the right, it means the wave is working.

This wave is not suitable for beginners when the wave is working and if its to big. its suitable for beginners if they are on the break on the left side of the beach. Padang Padang is a small beach and there are a couple of surf schools teaching tourists how to surf, there are restaurants and umbrella's you can rent. its a very touristic area. the crowds in Padang get can over the number of 40 people out in the water, there is only one take off point so everyone is huddled up in one place.

Padang Padang Ultimate Tube Riding Competition, Rip Curl 2011

The Padang Padang competition is on a waiting period from the 10th of july till the 14th of August. they have a waiting period because they need to have waves the right size to hold the competition. About 15 international surfers are invited to participate in the competition along with another 15 surfers from Indonesia. They hold this competition every year but sometimes it never happens due to waves being to small for the competition. The surfer who wins the competition will get $10000 worth of prize money and he/she will win the Rip Curl Cup.

I was not here for the competition because i had to leave, they held the competition on the last day of the waiting period. The winner this year was Lee Wilson and second place went to Anthony Walsh. Lee Wilson won by almost getting a perfect 10, he scored a 9.8 on his last wave bumping up his score leading him to win The Rip Curl Cup

Flynn Novak Interview

One day i went to Padang Padang thinking that the competition was going to be on, but the swell was not big enough for the competition to be on. i was down at the beach watching some of the pros surf. i saw this guy who kept doing these backflips while he was on the wave, i though tat was really impressive. i took my camera and started videoing him, after awhile he finally comes out of the water and me and my dad decided to go talk to him. I realized who he was, Flynn Novak, i decided to interview him.

Me: Hey Flynn, Im Alex and I'm doing a surfing magazine and i was wondering if i could interview you.

Flynn: Yeah sure, ask away

Me: So where are you from??

Flynn: Hawaii born and raised there, i learned to surf at a very young age. 

Me: What brought you to Bali?

Flynn: First of all, the competition of course and i also have some friends living here, i love bali man, the surf here is great

Me: How did you find Padang today?

Flynn: Real fun, your guaranteed to get into the barrel in almost every ride. I had a couple wipeouts out there and some nice waves, it was fun surfing with my friends in a place some of us had never surfed before.

Me: How is Padang surf compared to the surf back home?

Flynn: Oh, the same thing except a lot more surf breaks, there is surf all year round, some of the waves there are really heavy and are quite dangerous, out here in Padang its a little bit more playful. 

Me: How long are you here for??

Flynn: I've been here since the beginning of july and i go back home on the 29th of august, but I think i might be wanting to extend my visa.

Me: Why do you think we don't have the waves that we were looking forward to, i mean the surf forecast  said that they were predicting 13 to 14ft waves?

Flynn: It seemed that we had a high pressure system, it pushed the swell back so it did not come all the way through. 

Me: Where do you live in Hawaii?

Flynn: Haha, i live on the north shore, i got Pipeline right outside my house.

Me: How would you describe the feeling of riding pipeline and how is Padang Padang different from it?

Flynn:  Padang Padang is different because its more playful and its not as heavy as pipeline 

Its so cliche to say that its the ultimate ride, but it basically is, its really intense and its such a rush

Me: thanks Flynn i really enjoyed talking to you

Flynn: your welcome man, maybe we can surf together when i see you another time, and don't forget to post those videos of me on Facebook