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In Bali, the surfing community has
contributed a great deal to the well-established lingo. Mind the
undemanding “Kuta English” of the street peddlers and
beach vendors, nonetheless. But this humble island, being such a
magnet for the past decades, has drawn surfers from which to explore
the rest of the wave treasures to be found in the archipelago.
Surfers have explored and ridden remote spots
throughout the islands, with a scattering of treasures still remaining
to be found. Those discovered are autonomously baptized, sometimes
in disregard to their native local names, and then accepted as a
whole. Something like that what happened to America. No one knows
what the land was named prior to Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci.
Several favorite surf spots have been baptized
by the community of wave hunters. Revising their history has somewhat
been somewhat of a task, and sometimes the search for answers has
been in vain. But the surfing community’s ‘folklore’
has some interesting background on some of the names of the notorious
surf spots around the island.
Let’s start from the nucleus of Kuta
where the surf culture grew from and then expanded. This is the
small stretch of coastline where a colorful American expatriate
from Los Angles named Robert Koke first visited Bali way back in
the 30s, and then started all the fuss with the establishment of
the first hotel, the Kuta
Beach Hotel, now Inna Kuta
Beach. We can easily regard him as the Father of Surfing in
Bali, for his pioneering role in introducing the sport to locals
who were initially daunted by the ocean.
Kuta
boasts six prominent spots. One pinpoint is the airport landing
strip in southern Kuta
where the runway divides the swells from the sea into two. The southern
part is distinctively called the Airport Right, while the northern
part, thanks to the beachfront area of the Patra Bali, formerly
known in ‘brief history’ as The Pertamina Cottages,
is simply named Airport Lefts, or Pertamina. Left and right are
determined by which direction the wave’s beaks as you view
it when you flew into Bali (from the ocean, not the beach).
Further to the north we find Kuta
Reef, which shares its sphere with the beach of Tuban. Next, on
the now so crowded road adjacent to Kuta
beach, Jalan Pantai Kuta, is where halfway stands, indeed halfway
down the kilometer-long beachfront. Just before the road turn right
Bob Koke’s reminiscent hotel and the Kuta
Baywatch Headquarters. Halfway is the most frequented division of
the coastline before Legian beach, which might have been far more
intimidating not a single person for as far the eye could see.
Padma is named after the beachfront hotel on Legian Beach, a spot
line up with lefts and rights breaking toward each other, located
north from Halfway. Another spot owing its name to a hotel is Blue
Ocean, with its numerous native names having been long-forgotten.
Such is the case with many.
Some of the spots lining the west coast have retained their native
names. Canggu is located just is from the now-sharing-Kuta’s-crowding-fate
area of Kerobokan. Here you will find a varied beach break set up
consisting a long lefthander and a shorter right. Pererenan nestles
a few hundred meters north from Canggu. Further up the west coast,
there are various secluded secret spots to discover on you own.
But two already well-known ones are Balian and Medewi. Balian, in
fact means ‘traditional Balinese healer’, and is also
named after the River Balian which runs through to it.
Down south, to the peninsular realm of the Bukit.
The karst towering periphery exposed to the powerful sea swells
from the open Indian Ocean, holding a surfing dominion of dreams.
Following the airport across Jimbaran
Bay to the south, we arrive at Balangan, its name referring to a
serene cove and a temple that nestles on its white cliff area.
Around Balangan’s southeast headland and down the coast lines
another idyllic surfing realm that has been passionately named Dreamland.
Why dream… land? Having asked a number of surfers, little
is known on how it became baptized as such. But perhaps it was due
to that fact that everybody visiting the cliff-secluded beach would
be impressed by its paradisiacal panoramic offering.
One access is a long, long road that cuts through the karsts terrain,
a slow-building real estate development project now of the same
name. You can drive to the tip of the hill above Dreamland Beach.,
which provides a vast view from which to check the surf of Bingin,
Impossible, Padang-Padang to Uluwatu.
Bingin, just down from Dreamland, was believed
t being named after the rare growth of a giant banyan that grew
on top of the cliff above, in the simplified local tongue ‘beringin’.
Around a kilometer down from Bingin is a unique spot named Impossible.
Now why regard something as impossible, but still favor to ride
it. It is know to look quite and have perfect from; however the
task of riding this wave for very long turns out to be all but impossible
for the majority. As with most of the waves of this coastline, best
check and have a look from a top the cliff prior to undergoing the
test.
 Padang-Padang
is a certain challenge, strictly for those who know to handle the
fierce left-hander and shallow reef break. Grommets must take heed
here. The left point break to Uluwatu, the most famous spot, is
named after the cliff-perched temple. The waves in the vicinity
of Uluwatu are commonly named ‘Ulus’ for short. The
Ulus’ region has numerous single –out sections, each
nicknamed. There’s The Peak, which rises just to the left
side of Uluwatu’s famous beach wave. To the right of the cave
called The Racetrack, where long –running walls of water during
low tide owe its name to. Another of Ulu’s greatest challenges
is a place refereed to as the Outside Corner.
To the south of the Peak is Temples, a shifty and
fickle wave spot, when it rides are carefully chosen one might find
one self in a surfing bliss, a spiritual fulfillment in a temple
of your very own.
Nyang-Nyang is another native retained name of
a surf spot, down the south coast around from Ulus. The southernmost
tip is the beachfront of the Bali Kencana Resort Hotel, often referred
to as the Green Ball. “What’s soccer got to do with
surfing?” you may ask. The most strenuous act of getting there
is the everlasting flight of stairs that head from the parking spot
down. Scenes are quiet arid and typically dry, adding to the hardship
workout. But ones arriving on the sand, the sweat pays of well.
Although very frequently misconceived as “Green Bowl”
(including a furnished signage at the stairs!), Green Ball owes
its name to a pair of veteran Australian surfers back in 1975.On
first seeing the fine waves from above, a local group of fishing
boats that used green glass balls to float their nets was in the
bay.
Circling further around the Bukit peninsula you
arrive in the Nusa Dua area, where there’s a uniquely named
spot called Sri Lanka, on the beach front of Club Med. What has
the Far East got to do with this place? No one actually knows for
sure….. So, you are welcome, and who knows what new nicknames
may come up from the lingo of the vagabond surfers. Just join in
on the saying “What’s in a name? As Shakespeare said
as he came to Bali and rode the waves.
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