[Freakflyer]

Three weeks before the bombing last year, we went out there with our boards. We stayed in Kuta in a great hotel, Hotel Sorga, sorga@idola.net.id, which was a haven in the noisiness of Kuta.

We actually did a lot of surfing off Kuta beach as it tended to have the best consistent waves. It is also long, sandy and near some nice bars and restaurant. We managed one or two 'first load' at dawn and 'sunset load' at night. Note it gets dark quickly which makes seeing waves more difficult but still fun.

The one day we went out to the airport and other reefs, which is a fun journey on a junket. It was flat!! The swell was large and we could see the bottom of the reefs..

We went to the south west and had fun there but the waves were more for short boards than mini mals, but at least we tried!

Suggestions:

Definitely worth the trip.
Do a minimum of 2 weeks. You can stop off in Thailand for a weekend while going there if you wanted.
Cheap out there.
Definitely bring your own board. We went Garuda airlines and the boards were free.
Hire a car or taxi sometimes to check out other beaches.
We did one day of sightseeing, but after your first temple, it was enough. More fun just to drive around or go white water rafting.
Need rash vest, swimming costume, suntan cream; booties for reefs. Lovely warm water!!
Not quite the same as Fistral Beach on News Years Day!!!!

Sigh!!

B

[ivanmcp]

Sounds cool. I am looking for my next holiday destination and Bali sounds great. I want to go in December this year for 3 weeks. I am not sure what to make of terrorism issue. Also, can you shed some light on cost of flights, accommodation, food, board rental etc?

I would appreciate your view/advice on this.

Ivan

[Umbu]

After a few trips to Indo, Bali doesn´t give me that many kicks anymore. It´s a good place to start and end a surftrip, but there are so many better places in Indo. One of these is Sumba. The surf is very good there and there are no crowds. Occy´s Left is world class, although the resort is expensive to stay at. In east Sumba there is Tarimbang which has a good right hander and cheap accomodation. An australian, Mr David runs a really cool resort on the south coast near the village of Kalala and from there you can take a boat to Manggudu, a small island which has one of the best big wave spots in Indo. check out their website, www.eastsumba.com. This is the area to make surf trips.