First OS surf trip.

[el rancho]

they do good ding repair in indo.

[el rancho]

dont fly to jakarta if you want to go to lombok.
just fly to bali, it's right next door.

[petulance]

I flew Garuda on my last trip. Apart from the tip of my board's nose being dinged (which probably wasn't their fault anyway), I can recommend flying with them. An added bonus is you can buy the visa at the airport next to the check in counters and they process your passport midway through the flight. So once you land in Jakarta or Denpasar you skip the immigration queues and walk straight to the baggage carousel.

The Bukit in Bali will always be chockers. There are a few breaks around Canggu but expect quite a few Euro learners there.

Lombok is pretty mellow compared to Bali but it is getting crowded. Gerupuk Bay has 4 waves - Don Dons (breaks left and right but it isn't an A-frame), Insides (mostly right as the left doesn't work when it gets bigger), Outsides Right (probably the best wave in the bay but fickle) and Outsides Left (hardly surfed and usually only surfed when everywhere in the Bay is too small). You will need to use a boat to access the breaks. There is also Mawi, Air Guling, Ekas and Segar in Lombok. The waves are fun but other than Outsides Right, Outsides Left, Air Guling and Mawi you might find the other waves to be kiddie waves. Look up some videos on YouTube for an idea of what to expect. Insides would be the most crowded break in the Bay with lots of Japanese, Euros and Russians.

Desert Point doesn't work this time of the year.

Getting from Bali to Lombok is easy. You can get a boat from Padang Bai or fly from Denpasar. Might be easier to fly as the Lombok airport is closer to Kuta / Gerupuk where most surfers stay. And in terms of domestic flights my preference would be Garuda, Merpati and Wings / Lion Air.

Garuda doesn't charge for boards, Merpati charges 10k Rupiah per kg and Wings / Lion Air charges 200k Rupiah per board. And I have noticed that every single Wings / Lion Air flight in the afternoon is always delayed, by up to a few hours.

[el rancho]

Yep, that's what I meant.

If I fly to Jakarta it's to be a stepping stone to somewhere else that is not Lombok.

Don't want to add an extra flight if I can avoid it, mostly because of expense. It's all up in the air though.

I was looking at going to krui at some point, it's on sumatra and it's land based.
mix of beach and reef breaks.

[el rancho]

yes the cheapest option will be to bali then on to lombok. maybe a hundred bucks each way by plane from bali to lombok I guess.

jetstar have a sale on for may onwards too.

[marauding mullet]

Yep, that's what I meant.

If I fly to Jakarta it's to be a stepping stone to somewhere else that is not Lombok.

Don't want to add an extra flight if I can avoid it, mostly because of expense. It's all up in the air though.

I was looking at going to krui at some point, it's on sumatra and it's land based.
mix of beach and reef breaks.

I'm sitting in a low flying toyota, 2 hours into the 6 hour cannonball run back to bandar lampung from krui as we speak. If i survive i'll post some info from the airport.

[brendo]

matticus, if u gunna get booties, get them soon. they aren't everyones cuppa, and personally I HATE surfing in them. feel like a pair of blundstones with Velcro on the bottom.you will want to get used to them before you go. I got a pair of excel's, ive had them a few yrs, but never used them. im a uk9 us 10. if that's your size, there all yours. let me know. are you taking a few boards? do you have a good travel cover? I got a double and a quad I might get rid of, but ill be selling those. got a few hps boards for sale to.
with the booties thing, if you don't plan surfing anything heavy or bigger than 4 0r 5 ft, I wouldn't bother. just starfish when you wipeout. its also added incentive when its shallow to commit a bit harder to make turns if you are surfing over a cheese grater

oh btw, if its hot when u arrive, tell your driver you want to suck a benchong, preferably a big one cause its so hot. it will be most refreshing for you. he will know where to find them.....

[marauding mullet]

If you want to try south sumatra, i think the best thing to do is just book a stint at one of the surfcamps. There is a strip of camps/losmen at the villiage of tanjung setia, all right at the wave known as ujung bocur, a longish lefthander of intermediate difficulty. There are other waves, but ujung is consistent and on your doorstep literally. About 45 minutes north by motorbike is krui, the only big town in the area. It has waves too, but the swell has to be pretty big at ujung bocur before anything at krui is surfable. The advantage of booking with a camp is that they take care of all the logistics from jakarta and back all you have to do is get yourself to jakarta where they meet you at the airport. I just stayed at ombak indah camp for 11 days, it's spartan but ok. Weather and surf were all over the place but we had a few good days. All you pay for is beer and bike rental ($6.50 / day) most of the other camps were closed and for a time my son and i had the entire area to ourselves. I also tied the trip in with 4 days at balian in bali and scored solid glassy waves surfable all day, lovely quiet little spot 2 hours west of kuta, no crowd. There have been several bullshark attacks there in muddy water, and it was certainly muddy when i was there as it's a rivermouth break and it pissed down every night. A shark or sharks were seen jping in the line- up several times while i was there, it was pretty unnerving.

[Beanpole]

I hate booties but I found the ONiell ones heaps better than the others.
As far as reefs go I managed to slice my foot up at Kuta reef one time when it was tiny so I wouldn't say the reefs aren't sharp if you hit them in under overhead conditions. Also good to at least wear one boot so you can stand on the reef. also good to go for a bit of an explore of the reef.

[petulance]

Because I'm a kook I even wore booties out to Ulus when it was a mellow 1-2ft. I have this pair of FCS SP2 reef booties with the split toe design ... RRP $60 at your local surf shop.

[channels]

When I tried booties years ago, maybe 10+ years, they were like having a retread tire on your foot. No feel for the board at all. What I used to do was buy a bumbag and once I got out the back, take the boots off, stuff them in the bag. Slide bag behind you so it doesn't bother you in the waves and only put them back on when it was time to come in.

I'm guessing though that the boots have better feel to them these days.

[el rancho]

i hate booties for the same reason, feels like your wearing gumboot. only wore em once then just figured out how to get out to a reef break properly. almost always a channel to use in indo.

and just pancake it if you get dragged inside.

[Beanpole]

Good idea channels. I have a pair of those fcs ones from a previous trip which luckily I could hand over to my son to use. The ONeills are way better imho. They don't have a bottom edge like a pair of shoes and are bendier without compromising strength much.

[Donweather]

Just got some ripcurl ebomb 1mm boots, $25, ordered 1 size smaller. Best to have em and not need em.

Are these new? If so, where'd ya get them at that price? Also, you'd be best advised to have the ability either via a velcro strap or cord around the top of the bootie/ankle (or both) to tighten the bootie just like these:

http://www.ripcurl.com.au/shop/guys/wet ... -boot.html

Big waves can pull these booties off your feet otherwise.

[Beanpole]

One thing asia is crap for is shoes unless you have little and narrow feet or want to pay full retail in a big department store. Funny since they make them all there.

[brendo]

why don't you just go to Gland matticus?head over in march, pretty cheap, low season and its a swell magnet. its not a heavy wave at all when its small, and even when its big you can stay further up the reef around money trees where its big rolling walls. its a testosterone fuelled sausage sizzle though....

[codswallop]

You're an inspiration !!!


Fuckit, I'm getting back on the horse.

[alakaboo]

Wear them for an hour before you make the decision. I got mine tight but they give me foot cramps after a while.