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Its the off season here in Jackson and I'm off to Indo (with at least 10 other people from the area according to my nurse). Anyway, I'll be starting on Bali and winging it from there. Options after Bali include Java, Lombok, and a few other other surrounding islands.
Anyone had any good experiences in that area? Good places to stay, cool surf spot recommendations. I'm not looking for secret spots per say, just some beta on cool places people have been, surfing related or not.
What's your budget?
I stayed at Padang Padang surf camp last November. It's a little pricey compared to other places in Bali, but it is pretty pimp and you get to use a car to cruise around instead of having to rent one
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...7/poolside.jpg
This is 2 minutes away
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...0-Imp-late.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...mp-closeup.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...007/04-Imp.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...007/01-Imp.jpg
and this is 5 minutes away
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...lus-inside.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...07/08-Ulus.jpg
Da reef starts here and goes all da way there. When da wave breaks here, dont be there or you gonna get DRILLED.
'
I'd highly recommend a trip to G-Land or Sumbawa as well
Punani, what were the costs like at the PPSC?
If on a budget, I'm hearing prices like $15/night for places with AC. $20/day for a driver. $10/day to eat well.
Snowrider, I'm leaving next week and will be there for 2 months travelling solo except for 2 weeks when the girl comes to visit, give me a shout, always good to have a travelling partner in crime!!
edit: guess it's overrun
rob: the prices you are hearing are over market. $5 for AC in Kuta. $5 for a moped (don't waste time with drivers). $10 for food and booze.
You are right, it was $5/day I was told. Its nice to have the driver though to watch over gear for the day and ideally you are sharing with at least one other person.
so why the fuck are you asking for advice if you already have shit figured out? be nice to the locals and you'll have somebody to watch your shit. Even a moronic asshole like me can figure that out.
WHOA Hugh, take it easy!!
Snowrider's the one asking for the beta. Don't make me come over there.
Punani, I saw your Indo post awhile back and it was the only useful one to come up in search. Sick pics, I assume you were there in the summer though? Like I said I will be basing out of Bali, but hopefully checking out Java, Lombok and Sumbawa as well.
i can't help i'm afraid but am also in need of some up-to-date beta. i've booked to go all of august and september this year and was planning on being based at dreamlands as i heard that was a good spot to ease my way into the bigger stuff whilst also being a bit more cosmopolitan in terms of people/chicks/accomadtion etc. i now read that having threatened being developed for a while, it has actually now been turned into a fully fucking gay megaresort and all the cool huts on the beach have been pulled down. can anybody confirm if this is in fact now the case and if so, where else nearby could offer much the same thing?
cheers, and sorry for attempting to hijack your thread mr threadmaker!
Snowrider - you are going soon? Thats summer. Get the little wavefinder Indo guidebook.
As of last May there were still huts on the beach at Dreamland. The resort was in a high state of "kinda built"
I cruised through Bali and Lombok for 5 weeks. Here's my tickler list:
- Spend a night or 2 in Kuta, thats all you need
- Go check out Gunung Batur, its a bad ass volcano. Hike it w/ a guide for 20 bucks, cook eggs on the thermal vents
- You might be there during holy month, we were, it kicks ass
- Ubud is good stuff
- LOMBOK! Stay a while on Gili Meno, no cars, bad ass beaches <<<< I could stay there again for about 2 months
- Sengigi beach on Lombok is pretty cool
- Bring earplugs for the Muslim chants at 4:30am
Yeah dude, I'm headed to Bali in April!
Anyone care to update from their latest trips? My chick is killing me on making sick plans, so I really need to pull a good one out when she's claiming that I'm not planning shit.
Great place to eat, good hike, hella dope temple, etc.?
SOUTH LOMBOK. Go to Kuta (Lombok) which is about as far removed from its Balinese counterpart as is possible. Absurdly beautiful, absurdly few people on absurdly white sandy beaches which run, literally, for miles. Mawi was the most fun break we surfed there and to be honest renting a moped and driving along the coast road to and from Mawi is one of the most stunning routes in the world. Int'l airport in Lombok, ETA 5 years- go there before it gets ruined like much of Bali has been...
Any updates or anything to add from anyone? I think I am going to Bali/Lombok in June/July for a couple weeks. Would love to hear more info from others with recent or ongoing trips. SP -- that surf camp looks great.
If you can go earlier (May) or later (September/October) better to avoid the Aussie (good and competitive) and European (kooks on Bics) holidays.
Bali is cheap and fun. Fun to place to warm up, but don't plan to stay there unless good food + cheap booze + cute girls are more important than surf. The surf there is great, not ferociously crowded, but everyone is there to surf and more of them surf well than just about anywhere else. Think powder day at Squaw. There's still little bits of Mysto Indo left if you squint on Bali.
With the exception of Desert Point there's no great waves on Lombok. Fun warm waves, some empty, but nothing great. West - Bali - or East - Sumbawa have better waves. Lombok, at least the south, is a nice chilled out place with decent tourist services and infrastructure, but not the hordes of Bali. When you go further east, things change. If you head to Sumbawa bring transport, there was nothing there for tourist services. No net cafe, no moped rentals, no slutty backpackers, i.e nothing at all like Bali or Lombok (aka Bali T-20) On Sumbawa there's now a surf camp at Scar Reef and there's been one at Super Sucks for a couple years.
My plan this trip is a couple weeks Bali/Nusa Tengarra/G-Land then off to Sumatra area - the boats off of Sumatra are really hurting for business right now. If you could put together a full boat you'd likely get a steep discount, possibly even for June/July.
for mainlanders, Singapore airlines and China Airlines both have super cheap flights from SFO-DPS (Bali). $960 all in on SQ and boards fly free, $830 all in on CI + $110 for boards. The CI flight even gets you 18k FF miles on Delta - no miles on SQ
I'll be heading there again this year, last year was way too AWESOME. Mid-May to Mid-July. Straight to Sumbawa me thinks although winds will already be affecting its coasts, check out some dragons and diving on Flores, try for a boat trip in the Mentawais, and then meeting up with a friend for last few weeks for some mellower Bali/Lombok.
For anyone going on shorter trips, I highly recommend Nusa Lambongan. Its an easy trip to a different island that is stunning and includes Shipwrecks, Lacerations, and Playgrounds. Sounds touristy but when going there, take one of the tourist cruises as opposed to the ferries, can't remember the name of the boat we took, Bali II maybe, moors right next to Playgrounds. Virtually the same cost, but you will get fed a phat meal, enjoy some of the cheesy tourist trappings of the boat, snorkelling, banana boats, etc, travel in comfort, and get off when the boat departs and stay for a few days and catch it back whenever. I believe the name of the place we stayed at was Mary's and I highly recommend it. All the surfers stay at the place next door, but Mary's is nicer, cheaper and has the best food on the island.
Lombok is very beautiful and different as well. For intermediate surfers, IMO you will love it. Grupuk has super fun waves when they are going off.
My favorite break/beach on Bali was Balangan. 19 times out of 20 it will close out on you but that 1/20 will give you one of the siccest rides EVER, long barrelling left. Found myself going there more than any other spot on the island. Great warungs, quieter and more chill on the beach, and always some nice topless Portuguese/Brazilian girls.
http://tetongravity.com/forums/attac...1&d=1240858916
Enjoy.
http://tetongravity.com/forums/attac...1&d=1240858916
http://tetongravity.com/forums/attac...1&d=1240858916
The girl absolutely loved it too.
http://tetongravity.com/forums/attac...1&d=1240858916
grupuk. nothing more fun than hanging with 30 kooky europeans and canadians on a mushburger.
True, and especially true on Outsides(name?). The inside waves are fun on the right swell and sitting on the outside and catching all the set waves means avoiding the masses. And I'll admit, I hit bottom on Mawis a few times which didn't make for a comfortable feeling there. Pretty cool to see that spot on the full moon low tide though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hugh Conway
Thank you Robnow
Superstar Punani, nice photos! I like surfing ... :) cooool! lol
Anyone of you wanna recommend some places to stay besides PPSC? There's mention of towns, but nothing specific past that. Any accomodation recommendations? Places to eat? Places to rent gear?
Definitely recommend Mawi over Grupuk!
The setup is awesome. The right can get a bit hairy (shallow) but the left is pretty mellow.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3095/...8bbb39.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3180/...1bcbe0.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3240/...2cc604.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3162/...b296cf.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3085/...0d0b7a.jpg?v=0
Oh, and no topless shots like robnow, but I do have this...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3097/...268583.jpg?v=0
Haha, I totally remember her. Selling her bananas and ananas. I remember thinking she was the scariest/cutest old lady I ever saw.Quote:
Originally Posted by Egg Beater
The only downside to Indo, and its a big and unfortunate one and I don't understand why, the fruit sucks. I think the upscale resorts get the goods as the few times I had breakie at the expensive spots, the fruit was better but still not the greatest, definitely not Central America quality.
don't rent gear
no reccomendations on places to stay.... I stay at cheap places and never book them ahead of time because there are some real shitholes in Indonesia. DONT stay at whatever the cheap place is by YoYos on Sumbawa. Hands down the most foul place I've stayed. walked out of my malarial mosquito infested room to find the manager showing her son how to take a shit off the side of the footpath. He missed and crapped on the concrete. Oh, and the brasilian surfers got in a fight with their Indo hookers at 4am. Lovely place.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3180/...1bcbe0.jpg?v=0What a rad shot!
Here's my suggestion for anyone going to Bali.
This place is so sick! There's a shit ton of french people there all the time, which is kind of cool because there some quality topless sun bathers and REALLY good food! The owners name is Jerome and he's really chill. He's got smaller rooms that he doesn't list on his site, but they're an epic deal for what you get. I know a lot of people are like, "i'm not spending for than $5 US for a place to stay" but trust me, you will not regret it!
Short walk and a great view of Bingin, Impossibles, and Dreamland.
This place is so sick, you'll have to force yourself to put down your bin tang, pull yourself out of the pool and go for a surf!
http://www.mu-bali.com/
You'll get a better welcome in the lineup if you ditch the paddle glovesQuote:
Originally Posted by HotTate
A view of Impossibles from Mu's. This day was HUGE, triple overhead on this set. You can barely make out the small specs that are peeps, only a few. We went to watch Ulu's after this photo was taken and it was going off, way too big for me, probably only 10 guys out. Second photo is from Racetracks at Ulu's that day.
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/a...1&d=1241499835
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/a...1&d=1241500808
The girls really liked the yoga at Mu's. My girlfriend even met Snowrider's aunt there. Didn't hook up with snowrider though.
The place is nice, but it is pricey, especially for Bali standards$$$. We stayed at an awesome spot just a few minutes further towards Bingin. Unfortunately I can't remember the name. All the surfers stay at this one spot, again, can't remember the name, thats serves up a lot of Nutella, ask around. The one we stayed at is right next to it and I highly recommend it, we talked the owners down to $25/night and the rooms are pimp, especially the outside bathroom/tub/shower, seriously, and quiet there too.