Hey guys, Nico (ex-ombe photog) here!
I’m heading to Bali on the 14th for a couple of weeks. This is my first time in Bali, so I was wondering if there is someone here that can guide me as to where to go surfing, and hat to do and not to do and general stuff in Bali?? I would appreciate it.
Cheers!
Hi Nico! Been to Bali and Lombok once (2023). I visited February to March which I believe was rainy season. When we were there, we got plenty of sun and still busy. My travel intentions was to surf only so my input really isnt the best source for non surfing activities. Bali, especially Canggu is just incredibly busy in land and in the water. Even at first light!
We went to Medewi for a day and the crowd wasnt as crazy compared to Canggu. Uluwatu is beautiful though but I only surfed a few times, plus I longboard so I cant really surf most spots when I visited. Lombok does have spots that are less crowded (Areguling and Ekas).
Everything is fairly cheap there. I heard traffic has gotten worse if you will mainly stay in Canggu so better to stay in accommodations that are walking distance to where you want to go and what you want to do. Other areas, ie Uluwatu, Medewi, Lombok. Not much traffic so renting a scooter is the way to go!
Nico Palacios what’s your level? I’ll actually be there in a few weeks, and it’ll be my third trip there- haven’t been for a decade though and reckon things have probably developed and changed a lot!! Back then, I was less confident and had barely any experience on reefs so stuck to echo, dreamland and Kuta beach. A decade later, I’ve ridden far more reefs so I’m going to try my luck at the Uluwatu area (Bignin, Baglan, impossible too)- if it’s too hard for me, there’s always dreamland! Bali is busy, but I found kuta easier to compete for waves as there’s less advanced surfers in the water. I have several friends who discuss their “near death” experience at kuta reef when they got there and realized it was too big and advanced for them- never been there myself!
I’ll also spend some time by Keramas area in the east- suppose to be a quieter area.
I’m bringin reef booties!!
As a note, trafic to the bukit peninsula from Denpasar/kuta is a nightmare-better on a scooter, but plan extra time or avoid making that transit. There’s also a busy trafic circle on route where police have been known to ticket travellers without helmets or proper licence for their scooter.
But it’s beautiful there and there’s no shortage of waves! Hope you have an awesome time!
Hi Niko, when I was there I paid for a private local surf guide to take me to the best stops, coach me, and kind of “protect me in the lineup to actually catch some waves. He also had a couple of boards which came handy as I also brought one. It wasn’t an official coach, but helped tremendously.
