I spent two weeks in Bali this summer, usually I’m there for a few months in the peak wave season, however I’ve had a year and a half off school to recover from my 3rd ACL reconstruction with stem cell cartilage regeneration in my right knee. It was a costly affair and I have to earn some bucks now.
When I go to Bali I always stay on the Bukit Peninsula, with so many world class waves literally five minutes drive on a scooter from each other and crystal clear waters, it’s an easy choice.
There are an abundance of accommodations from five star to bog standard, all close by , with a lot of them over looking the waves.
For the first week the swell was not so large I spent most of my days at the ultra consistent Uluwatu. This break draws a lot of swell and a wave can usually be found here, however Ulu’s is very sketchy at low tide with a small swell, not a lot of water covers the reef and most of the injuries I have heard of have happened due to this. I don’t wear reef boots personally but after two weeks scratching across dry reefs with a SUP in tow my feet were a mess. Cuts don’t heal and ulcerate as they get deeper, so boots are a good idea.
There aren’t many people riding sups on the Bukit, I think this is due to the nature of the paddle out and paddle in and also other stigmas attached to bringing a sup into the line up. If you are going to go out there and paddle ensure you display the utmost respect for safety and other surfers around you, or a situation can escalate quickly. There are a lot of burley guys out there that don’t take kindly to a sup being set free in the lineup, but if you ride with confidence and make your waves you won’t have a problem.
I rode the loco el Diablo 8.9 which was perfect for the bigger days, on the smaller days the 8.2 would have been great. Saying that I love the glide and the confidence that you get from bigger boards when paddling in and the 8.9 was a fast and responsive ride.
