SALTWATER IN MY NOSE

September 17th @ 11:03

Kevin

Alright already, let's talk surf. After exploring every square inch of flat coast in Bali, we finally made it to the world (in)famous Kuta Beach, site of official surf shops, unofficial surf shops, mega luxury villas, warungs. losmans, bars, clubs, restaurants, boutiques and unfortunately two recent bombings, which have been memorialized by a large sculpture in the middle of town displaying the names of the victims of the most recent terrorist attack. Every July and August, Kuta and the attached Legian and Seminyak beaches are inhabited by thousands of tourists, mostly Australian, seeking sun, surf and shopping. The beaches are long, white and packed with make shift bars and board rental stalls, the waters are crisp, clear and home to some of the worlds best swells, and the streets are full of meandering foreigners looking for a new surf board, the perfect Bintang shirt, a makeshift western meal or a daily buzz. The streets are narrow, the sidewalks narrower and they are filled to capacity every night and day. The evening sounds of barking dogs and crowing roosters, prevalent in the country, give way to the sounds of drunken debauchery and buzzing motor bikes. Under normal circumstances, this might be the kind of town we would drive an hour out of the way just to avoid. However, our domestic duties required a short stop over, which was about all we could stand.







Having been on a remote island and completely out of touch for a week, we were in dire need of an internet cafe. There was an account to balance, emails to read, and most importantly, a new blog post to upload. There was also the small detail of finding a surf board, a leash, a travel bag, some wax and a long term motorbike rental. Thankfully, all of this was possible within a stones throw from the cheap, and relatively disgusting, confines of our mid town accommodation. . After scouring more surf shops than can be considered tolerable, I finally decided on a 6'2” squash tail Hawaiian made thruster called Minami. I ultimately chose this board for reasons atypical of usual board buying logic. One, although it had a flashy after market paint job, there appeared to be no major damage and the stringer was in tact indicating the elusive previously unbroken used Bali board. Two, being made in Hawaii I was sure it had an extra thick coat of glass, which I would find very useful in the days to follow . Three, the name of the board contains the word “Miami”, a sure sign if ever there was one and last, at only 150 US dollars, seemed like a great deal. I realized that renting a board for a couple of weeks was almost as expensive as purchasing one and there is some talk of a scam that requires customers to pay for previously existing damage on used rental boards. The decision was made. Minami would hopefully accompany me for the next six months or so as I surf my way across Bali, Oz and NZ. For 25 US dollars I purchased a new custom made board bag, another 7 US dollars for a second hand leash and thanks to the kindness of the surf shop owner, a free bar of wax, fin key and set of fiberglass fins. Where's the beach?




On our second, and last, day in Kuta, there was just enough time after running all of our errands to hit the water in search of my first Bali wave. Kuta is a beach break, it is very accessible and usually a bit smaller than some of the neighboring breaks, which is a good thing seeing as the day I purchased my little 6'2” would coincidentally be the same day the the largest swell of the year would begin rolling into Bali. My first session was great. The new board works well, is very responsive, and is the perfect size, especially considering the amount of weight I have lost while traveling. A few clean, fast faces, a hand full of duck dives and a side order of some pulverizing outside close outs that became so immense by the time that I got out of the water, that many were saying that Kuta Beach would be unsurfable throughout this swell. So, we decided to move.

I had read about a place that supposedly had a 300 meter slow, peeling left further up the west coast. It was also rumored to be half the size of anywhere else. With an impending 18' to 22' swell rolling in, I presumed this would be my best bet for survival! The town was Madewi and with our rental scooter loaded up with one board, two backpacks, two small bags and two people, we were on the road, much to the amazement of the locals who were quite impressed with our ability to overload and burden our 150cc scooter.



The trip took two hours and ended on a small, dead end road that housed one small surf shop, a couple of home stays and one large and expensive resort on the point. We were immediately greeted by smiling, friendly faces. They belonged to Mark, Aaron and “Sauce”. Three pilots from Salt Lake that were in Bali for a surf vacation. They filled us in on all the local knowledge, like where to get the best food and cheapest beer, and ended up being our neighbors in the clean, but rat infested, Mai Malu guest house. Unfortunately, we would not get to surf together, as our schedules clashed, but we did get to enjoy some time hanging out and talking to some of the first Americans we had seen in quite some time. It provided for some great conversations in the mother tongue. Hope you guys are well and charging wherever you're at!

Our four days in Madewi would yield three days of surf and one day of way too large closeouts that kept everyone out of the water. Madewi is a rocky, and I mean rocky, left hand point break. On my first day, with some sketchy information and a rented pair of booties, I paddled out all by myself to some large and haunting swells. I managed to do pretty well overall, catching quite a few overhead rides with never ending faces, but I also got worked several times on the inside as the long period stuff rolled through as I was unfortunate to be paddling back out. There was also a half day's retreat to a small beach break we had found where Idalis used her rented long board to show the white water who was boss!






After a very pleasant stay in the quiet and reserved Madewi, it was time to move on. The enormous swell was beginning to fade and there were some more spots I was anxious to explore. We would head out in the morning after breakfast and begin our trip back south in overcast conditions. We would get rained on a bit and would make three diversions, one to check out Balian, which seemed to large and too wind blown to be enjoyable, then the beautiful and serene temple (pura) of Tanah Lot, which is located on the top of an isolated rocky outcrop and is inaccessible during high tides, which gives it the appearance as if it is floating on water.





Last was Canggu, which was an amazing wave, breaking on a near deserted beach, but without not one single budget accommodation available. This is perhaps one of the more beautiful beaches we have seen yet and were very keen on staying here. However, it seems like Canggu is home to vacationing pro surfers and rich Australian expats who have bought up premium land and filled it with severely high priced villas. After exhausting every option and spending a few hours roaming, we abandoned the search for a place to rest our heads and decided to move on. We did vow to visit Canggu one day if the opportunity presented itself. But for now, it was back to Kuta! Well, not really, we would this time attempt to stay at the slightly classier, slightly quieter and slightly more expensive Legian Beach, just to the north. It was night before we finally found a small little guest house that was closed for repairs, but kind enough to make up one of the rooms under renovation to give us a place to rest our heads.

We woke early and headed down to the beach where Idalis finally got to run and I paddled out for a morning session in some very fun chest to head high glassy beach break. We will stick around for one day to tend to our domestic responsibilities (read: internet/blog) and try to find a place to stay, where we might possibly leave behind some stuff, for when we return from our week in the south of Bali on the Bukhit Peninsula, where more waves await at such famous breaks as Dreamland, Padang, Impossibles and Ulu Watu. Until then, wish us luck on the road and in the surf.