Bali as I understand things

Hanging super loose among the Bingin crowd batch as captured by Mr Connor Hughes

Bali is the most populated and westernised region that I have seen in Indonesia on my galavants. Ofcourse this is the place visited by most surfers, for a variety of reasons but undoubtedly the biggest of these being the buzzing social aspect. This is where the honeys hang and where the comforts of a western lifestyle will be found. 

Unfortunately it is not all as sweet as expected. Expect serious crowding both on land and in the ocean, LOTS of pollution because this nation is unfortunately very poor and corrupt and their last concern seems to be environmental issues.  

Di turtle mon in Gili Trawangan

Bali was the second stop of the trip. It was Williams second trip to Bali and for me the first. Expectations had been building due to the isolation at the last leg of our journey and the unfortunate flat spell three days before leaving.  Arriving in Bali was exciting and the prospect of meal options and internet connection had the boys frothing. Straight out of the airport we were greated with our first hustle who insisted on charging us atleast twice what we knew to pay for our first taxi ride. Luckily, being South Africans we have a stubborn nature and got somewhat of a deal considering the circumstances. This was the start of a two week relaxation period and a change of scenery before heading off for more waves.

Binging sunset vibe as captured by Bruno Furtado

The surf schedule tuned down considerably when arriving in Bali. First stop was Canggu, a vibing coastal establishment that is pretty hip and home to some of the hiphop & happening instagram beaming coolcat hangouts. Canggu has a long beach scattered with rocks outcrops that shape the sand banks to form a pretty consistent sandbank. The waves are crowded though, all day, with a mixture of kooks and pros and a whole lot in between. I surfed here only 3 times in the week we visited. 

In the second week of Bali we made our way to the Bukit Peninsula to see some of the more famous breaks Bali has to offer. This place is beautiful. Sheer cliffs drop off into the ocean which is perfectly angled to accommodate a great selection of left handed breaks. One catch, it requires some kick in the swell and there are at least another 200 surfers located on the cliff face who are just as impatient as you. Surfing here was interesting. Every surf I had there was confrontation in the water. This place is intense and pretty dangerous, on a few occasions I had boards thrown out behind a duckdive but fortunately no casualties. That being said, I got barrelled every day and it was amazing to be surfing at a spot I have seen in photographs all of my childhood. All in all, I really enjoyed the Bukit.

Impossibles

It was great to reconnect with friends in Bali, and the food is great. If you have a big budget there is alot to spend money on in Bali! Great bars with good nightlife, surf shops with all of the major brands, overpriced beers, you name it they got it. Unfortunately in the scope of a 3 month journey it seemed silly to be spending such a ration of the budget on social life when the real reason we came to this neck of the woods (Indo in general) was to ride major waves and as a result, on the 1st of September we packed up shop and made our way back to Ngurah Rai domestic departures to seek greener pastures and blue tubes.

New day new adventure