Big Wave Surfing in Bali, Indonesia

Once, when surfers talked about riding big waves, they only spoke of one place, Waimea Bay on the north shore of Oahu in Hawaii. Today, big-wave beaches are part of an international community that includes such faraway places as Jeffery’s Bay in South Africa, Todas Santos Island in Mexico, the cliffs of Mohr in Ireland and Mavericks in Northern California. But even these spots pale in comparison to the consistent, nearly perfect waves breaking on the beaches of Shangri-la -- the lost paradise -- which is what many people call the small Indonesian island known as Bali.

  1. Big Volcanoes and Fearsome Reef Breaks

    • Bali is an island measuring roughly 87 miles long by 50 miles wide, between Java and Lombok Island in the Indian Ocean. It’s one of the 26 provinces of the Republic of Indonesia just south of the equator between the Philippines and Australia. It’s a place of pristine beaches and plenty of volcanoes -- the main one called Gunung Agung is still active and considered by the locals to be the center of the universe. On the island’s south side is Bukit Peninsula, home to hilltop Hindu temples, limestone cliffs, and some reef breaks that can only be described as fearsome. It’s here you’ll find two of Bali’s premiere surf breaks, Uluwatu Beach and Padang Padang.

    Those are the Breaks

    • Uluwatu, on the south side of Bukit near Pecatu Village, is where you’ll find the island’s most famous waves. Uluwatu has four specific breaks: Peak, Racetrack, Inside Corner and Outside Corner. Peak is just outside what’s known as "the cave," and it breaks at mid- to high-tide with short powerful tubes around 8 feet in height. It connects to Racetrack, which produces fast waves with lots of sections that break best at low tide. When Racetrack breaks at 10 feet or taller it connects to Inside Corner, which is actually best around 6 feet. Outside corner works only on big swells 8 feet and higher -- it’s best waves form at extreme low tide. Then you’ll find a succession of big walls as long as 328 yards that hold up nicely and sometimes end in barreling hollow tubes.

    The Bali Pipeline

    • Often called the Bali Pipeline, Padang Padang, a little over 15 miles from Denpasar, is known for its big waves that could be described as a combination of totally epic and just plain scary. These is truly the most serious waves produced on the island. At 10 feet, which is the average size of a Padang Padang wave, it’s almost supernatural. At over 12 feet, it’s out of control. The waves are fast, powerful, hollow tubes from 54 to 164 yards long. There are riptides, serious undertows and sharks in the warm water to deal with. But the real danger of this spot is the fact that these monster waves break in shallow water over a coral reef covered with sharp rocks. This is definitely not a beach for beginners.

    Point Breaks and Motorbikes

    • Other big wave spots found along the shores of the Bukit peninsula include Canggu Beach just west of Despasar and the reef points around Nusa Dua, which include Mushroom Rock Point, Sri Lanka Point, Sanur Reef Point and Sanur Beach Point. The outer reef at Nusa Dua is a long paddle from shore, nearly 330 yards, but the reef is known for big waves that break even when everything else on the island is flat. Access to most of these beaches is by motorbike, which is the main means of transportation on the island. And learning to ride a motorbike while holding a surfboard is said to be a surfer's right of passage on Bali.