There are two extremely different faces to the famous ‘Cave’ at Uluwatu, Bali. The cave be holds the entrance & exit to Bali’s iconic surf break and depending on which tide you surf it will give you two totally different experiences. Twenty slippery stairs first then a steep 15 stone staircase with no rails and one way traffic only before you reach the bottom of the cave.
At low tide the cave is absolutely stunning! In the late afternoon it’s an awesome place to swim, play, drink & enjoy the sunset. There are huge ‘pools’ in the gaps of the reef where you can safely swim & snorkel and there is plenty of sand to sit and relax. I have spent many amazing sunsets drinking Bintangs enjoying these moments. My good mate and i call it “Our Pub” on those beaufiful low tide late afternoons. Getting in from a surf is also easier as you walk across the reef with no current to deal with. However, at high tide that all changes. The tide fills in rapidly and covers all the sand and reef. This is when you start to see people’s shoes and belongings getting swept away as the tide catch’s them off guard. A huge sweeping current appears outside the small ten meter opening of the cave. The real chaos starts when you are finished surfing and wanting to come in. The cave is your only option. It is a small opening and the sweep of the currents running past the cave mean that you need to aim your board at least 50 meters up and let yourself get taken by the current up against the cliff face and once at the entrance paddle like you never have before against the current to ‘hopefully’ be washed into the cave. Doesn’t always happen! It’s never too easy but there was this occasion that stands out where I got to a stage of thinking ‘what will I do’.
This one time i was out in some pretty solid 8ft surf. When it’s 8ft you can still get the odd 10ft+ clean up set every hour or so, especially at the change of the tide. It was getting beyond my limits and after a few long rides and long paddles back out, I’m not ashamed to say I was pretty much just looking for a way in. Your best bet is to get in a couple hours before the high hits or a couple of hours after. This way the current is not so ferocious. Of course when I decide to come in it is virtually right on high.
My first attempt I deserved to fail. I took on a left that was a screamer. It was too good to get off but of course when I did decide to turn straight I was way too late and had no chance of making the entrance to the cave. When you get swept way down the reef it’s about a football field paddle back to the line up.
Already exhausted I tried my second attempt. This involved catching a bomb 8ft close out, then getting pounded before trying to catch the next whitewater wave and riding it toward the cave. I actually got into a great position and was sure I would make it then right at the end the current swept me done the reef and I missed again. By this stage I was so exhausted I considered letting myself get washed into the cliff face and somehow scale across to the cave. Then I thought I should just let the current take me and paddle a mile or so down the coast to Padang Padang and drift in there. The whole time the Balaniese “life guards” were yelling at me to paddle out as waves were coming and I was about to get smashed up against the cliffs. I only had just turned to paddle out and just made it under a wave before if would have smashed me onto the reef and cliff face. Damage would have been a certainty. So i again slowly made the long paddle way up toward the cave.
I paddled way up the point this time to give me the best chance of making it on my third attempt. I was pretty keen to get in. The waves were getting a lot bigger and I was almost gone. I took off on a perfect left but went right heading in the opposite direction. As I reached the cliffs i slowly drifted along the cliff face clinging as close to the rock face as I could without been washed against them, let the current take me to the entrance of the cave and started paddling into it. So close yet struggling and although through the entrance I was getting sucked back out as had no energy left. I could not do a fourth attempt! Finally some whitewater shoved me through and I was in. Bounced off either side of the cave a few times, but in. Absolutely exhausted. lesson learnt! In saying this I have missed the cave at least once of every trip to Bali I have done….
There are two extremely different faces to the famous ‘Cave’ at Uluwatu, Bali. The cave be holds the entrance & exit to Bali’s iconic surf break and depending on which tide you surf it will give you two totally different experiences. Twenty slippery stairs first then a steep 15 stone staircase with no rails and one way traffic only before you reach the bottom of the cave.
At low tide the cave is absolutely stunning! In the late afternoon it’s an awesome place to swim, play, drink & enjoy the sunset. There are huge ‘pools’ in the gaps of the reef where you can safely swim & snorkel and there is plenty of sand to sit and relax. I have spent many amazing sunsets drinking Bintangs enjoying these moments. My good mate and i call it “Our Pub” on those beaufiful low tide late afternoons. Getting in from a surf is also easier as you walk across the reef with no current to deal with. However, at high tide that all changes. The tide fills in rapidly and covers all the sand and reef. This is when you start to see people’s shoes and belongings getting swept away as the tide catch’s them off guard. A huge sweeping current appears outside the small ten meter opening of the cave. The real chaos starts when you are finished surfing and wanting to come in. The cave is your only option. It is a small opening and the sweep of the currents running past the cave mean that you need to aim your board at least 50 meters up and let yourself get taken by the current up against the cliff face and once at the entrance paddle like you never have before against the current to ‘hopefully’ be washed into the cave. Doesn’t always happen! It’s never too easy but there was this occasion that stands out where I got to a stage of thinking ‘what will I do’.
This one time i was out in some pretty solid 8ft surf. When it’s 8ft you can still get the odd 10ft+ clean up set every hour or so, especially at the change of the tide. It was getting beyond my limits and after a few long rides and long paddles back out, I’m not ashamed to say I was pretty much just looking for a way in. Your best bet is to get in a couple hours before the high hits or a couple of hours after. This way the current is not so ferocious. Of course when I decide to come in it is virtually right on high.
My first attempt I deserved to fail. I took on a left that was a screamer. It was too good to get off but of course when I did decide to turn straight I was way too late and had no chance of making the entrance to the cave. When you get swept way down the reef it’s about a football field paddle back to the line up.
Already exhausted I tried my second attempt. This involved catching a bomb 8ft close out, then getting pounded before trying to catch the next whitewater wave and riding it toward the cave. I actually got into a great position and was sure I would make it then right at the end the current swept me done the reef and I missed again. By this stage I was so exhausted I considered letting myself get washed into the cliff face and somehow scale across to the cave. Then I thought I should just let the current take me and paddle a mile or so down the coast to Padang Padang and drift in there. The whole time the Balaniese “life guards” were yelling at me to paddle out as waves were coming and I was about to get smashed up against the cliffs. I only had just turned to paddle out and just made it under a wave before if would have smashed me onto the reef and cliff face. Damage would have been a certainty. So i again slowly made the long paddle way up toward the cave.
I paddled way up the point this time to give me the best chance of making it on my third attempt. I was pretty keen to get in. The waves were getting a lot bigger and I was almost gone. I took off on a perfect left but went right heading in the opposite direction. As I reached the cliffs i slowly drifted along the cliff face clinging as close to the rock face as I could without been washed against them, let the current take me to the entrance of the cave and started paddling into it. So close yet struggling and although through the entrance I was getting sucked back out as had no energy left. I could not do a fourth attempt! Finally some whitewater shoved me through and I was in. Bounced off either side of the cave a few times, but in. Absolutely exhausted. lesson learnt! In saying this I have missed the cave at least once of every trip to Bali I have done….
Best Pub In The World 🙂