One Rica Surf representative heads out of Costa Rica on a long journey around the world to the epic surf islands of Indonesia, in search of a possible new location to extend our tour services. Such research means that one must explore as much of Bali and surrounding islands as possible, including surf breaks, restaurants, surf camps, night life, and boat trips. So here is a little bit of what we got up to :)
Having landed in Denpasar International Airport after a long, long flight, we get picked up by a lovely team from Kima surf camp and taken straight up to Changgu, where we would be basing ourselves during our stay. This place is known for picking up lots of swell, so when we got up early the following morning, we were blessed with head high perfection.
Changgu offers a playground of surf breaks in the space of 600 meters. You can chose between Old man's - a lengthy pealing long boarding wave that suits all levels; Changgu reef - a gutsy barrel riding left that sits in front of the social scene of restaurants on the beach; Changgu beach - a similar barrelling wave but with a more forgiving bottom and the occasional cheeky right. Just a little further down you have the rivermouth, a perfect rock bottom right (my personal favourite) and then next to this Perenan left, an equally sick wave that will leaving you breathlessly stoked. So you take your pick depending on whatever you fancy when your standing there with your board looking upon this array of perfect waves, ummming and arrring. Or you can often be persuaded by which is the less crowded!
Balian - up further North from Changuu and known for being the best spot to pick up swell, so if it's flat everywhere else, that's where you head!
Binigin - a super sick left, just check out the photos!
Balangan - an all time favourite, never have we seen such perfect lines rack up on the horizon...a definite not to be missed.
Keramus - a super sick right-hander towards Sanur (we were lucking enough to catch this on a magic session!)
And of course the all time famous Uluwatu! The classic barrelling left that Indonesia is famous for, and we now know why!
Bingin
So what do you do when it goes flat? Yes...it happens....
Like everything in this world, nothing stays perfect forever; and like every surf trip, there can be flat spells. So we racked out brains and searched the web. Before we knew it, we were on a short internal flight to Flores, and off sailing into the sunset on a pirate ship to go in search of the Komodo dragons.
Hopping from island to island, we managed to catch the last drips of the quickly fading epic swell that had passed. We surfed a little wave called Playgrounds off of the Island Lembongan, which was as fun as its given name!
On the journey through the seas we experienced the most incredible snorkelling I have seen in my life. Having the chance to see stunning, colourful, live coral gardens which homed Indonesia's most beautiful fish, we were also lucky enough to snorkel with the amazing black manta ray. These incredible creatures were up to 3 meters in width. Quick to jump of the boat with our masks and snorkels when we saw one, it was the most amazing experience being in the water swimming alongside these graceful creatures, (which went hand in hand with lots of screaming through my snorkel at the shock of the sheer size of them!).
We are truly blessed to have seen something so special, and this is something that just cannot be missed when visiting this country. Absolutely sensational.
From here its a short sail to the Island of Rincon, that sits next to the Island of Komodo. This is where we were promised to see the Komodo Dragons, so we were antsy with anticipation and I'm not going
to lie, SCARED! And we were not disappointed! Within stepping off the ship onto the Island, we had
seen the biggest dragon within minutes. These huuuge creatures look like oversized lizards, and can grow up to 6 meters long, but they are far far far from sweet (just check out the photos). They feed on buffalo, which they kill with one bite. With so much bacteria in their mouths, one small bite on the backside of a buffalo means that it will be dead and lunch within five days. Yes, very scary. And there we were, walking around the homeland of these beastly inhabitants with oversized twigs to protect ourselves. The dragons have been known to attack and kill humans, but these stories are kept under wrap. Only when I went online afterwards to do some research on these creatures did I find out how many times this has happened. I don't think I would have been trying to get so close to the dragons to get a happy holiday snap if I had known! Scary stuff. But nevertheless, we survived, got the picture, and can now tell you the tale on the dragons.
It's a real adventure, and the most amazing journey through breathtaking landscapes and turquoise seas to get there. You are as far away from civilization as you can get, and that is what makes it so magical.
So maybe Rica Surf will be extending their tour service after all, how can we let you miss you on all of this! Hold tight while we come up with a mega plan for this kind of tour, but for now, I am very much looking forward to getting back to my home of consistent surf and more perfect waves; back to the land of Costa Rica. Special thanks to Kima Surf who shared their knowledge of Bali's fabulous waves. And thank you Indonesia for your lovely hospitality and kind culture, what an incredible country you are. And to my Costa Rica, I have missed you, see you soon!
Check out Rica Surf for more photos of our Indonesia adventure, and new promotional trips to Costa Rica running this year! Contact info@ricasurf for any queries and how to book your next trip with us...Pura Vida
