Beginner Surfing in Bali

The strong wind and rain have finally disappeared, and we woke up to a clear, windless morning here in the Uluwatu area. Our beginner surfers took advantage of the clean conditions and surfed Baby Padang. The swell is coming in at 3.5 ft. at 12, which was enough for shoulder-high set waves. Our surfers worked on cleaning up their pop-up technique in the smaller, slower waves. Developing an efficient pop-up with your body in the correct position is an essential skill upon which to develop your surfing.

For beginner’s surf lessons, you do not need much swell. Ideally, you would have little to no wind in a calm, a protected environment, and a slow-breaking wave. Baby Padang the perfect location for a beginner’s surf lesson is that we have the channel that pulls the surfers back out into the lineup.

Our beginner groups enjoyed the easy rolling peaks at Baby Padang this morning! Our swell has picked up in size, coming in at 5 ft. at 15 seconds. The swell direction has shifted more west towards 219 degrees. The wind picked up in strength overnight from a straight west direction until it was cleared by heavy rain. The wave height has jumped to slightly overhead with larger sets. At Baby Padang, the wave faces remained clean despite the light onshore wind and slightly textured sea state. With the larger size, the surfers tested their paddle strength and ability to control the board at a higher speed.

The Uluwatu area works well on a west swell as the swells come directly towards the west and north-west-facing reefs. A longer period and a more westerly swell will provide excellent surfing conditions.

Despite the deluge of rain this morning, everyone made it out into the lineup where they were rewarded for their persistence with clean, less crowded waves. The swell has fallen off in size to 4.5 ft at 11 seconds coming from 207 degrees, and the waves were coming in at around shoulder-high to head-high on the larger sets. The heavy rain brought glassy conditions which the surfers enjoyed for the duration of the session. In the line-up our surfers worked on transitioning to hard boards and generating speed down the line.

The wind is looking much better for our side of the island until Friday as the forecast predicts light and variable wind until then. Additionally, the longer range forecast suggests we have made it through the worst of the wind and rain for this wet season. Let’s get out there!

Our beginner group was off to Padang Padang while our advanced group paddled out at Uluwatu this morning as the weather was clear and the sea state was calm. The swell has dropped off slightly in size to 5.5 ft. at 12 seconds, coming from 208 degrees. At Padang Padang, our beginner surfers enjoyed shoulder-high set waves which broke nicely down the reef with clean faces. The wind blew lightly from the west-southwest, but not enough to affect the conditions. Our beginner surfers worked on maintaining enough speed to do a basic turn by staying in the pocket of the wave.

The weather forecast shows the west wind picking up tomorrow, which means we will likely be surfing in Nusa Dua until the wind backs off on Saturday. From Saturday onwards, both the wind and swell are predicted to drop, which opens up more surfing locations around the Island.

After a dramatic night of heavy rain, lightning, and a minor earthquake, we woke up to a bright morning with excellent beginner surfing conditions! With the break in the weather, and the sea state smoothed by the rain overnight, our beginner surfers enjoyed a beautiful morning at Padang Padang. The swell is coming in at 6 ft at 12 seconds, coming from 208 degrees, which provided shoulder-high set waves breaking left and right along the reef amongst a light westerly breeze.

The long-range forecast shows that our consistent run of swell is finally tapering off. When the swell drops in size, we have a wider range of locations to select from for most surfers. During a small swell in January and February, breaks such as Sarangan and Geger left become surf-able for improving surfers, in addition to the breaks on the southern tip of the Bukit.

Our beginner surfers had such a good time at Baby Padang yesterday, they have gone back for another day of excellent beginner surfing. The swell is hanging around at 5.5 ft. at 13 seconds, coming from 205 degrees, and the wind is blowing moderately from the south-southwest. This was good for chest-high waves with the occasional larger, head-high set wave with clean faces and lines, with a small amount of on-shore texture. Our surfers all had several rides where they worked on the basics of surfing.

The reef at Baby Padang is tucked in behind a headland to the south, which protects it from wind from a southerly direction. This means that during the wet season, when we often see west or south-west winds, the break will remain clean while some of the more exposed breaks will be blown out with on-shore or side-shore wind.

We have been afforded another day of a light west wind here on the west side of the Bukit which allowed our beginner surfers to ride the fun waves at Baby Padang. The swell is coming in at 5.5 ft. at 12 seconds from 204 degrees, and the wind is predicted to remain light and from the west, in the 6 to 8 mph all day. At Baby Padang, our beginner surfers enjoyed chest-high peaks with clean faces despite the light onshore breeze. The crowd was lighter than normal as many surfers would have headed straight for Nusa Dua.

A notable characteristic of the wet season is that the wind is light and variable. When the wind stays light, more spots around the Bukit remain surf-able, especially the southern tip of the island, which is often the first place to be blown out by the wind.

The beginner group headed to Mushroom Rock this morning where they found a beautiful, bright, sunny morning and excellent beginner waves! The swell is coming in at 4.5 ft. at 10 seconds, coming from 198 degrees. The waves came in at shoulder-high on the best of the sets, and the waves broke cleanly across the reef at a slow, mellow pace. The wind has improved signifigantly over the previous few days, blowing calmly offshore against the slow moving peaks. The slow waves gave our surfers the time to process how their movements and weight distribution affect how the surfboard moves through the water.

The wind forecast is looking good over the next few days. The strong west wind is finally easing in strength and persistence, which opens up other parts of the island to surfing, such as the southern tip and the west coast of the island.