Virgin surf at ‘Honeymoons’, Jimbaran Bay, Bali.
We were just 4 days in to our Bali Adventure when the surf had become so huge I actually found myself searching the coast for somewhere small enough to go out. With a 12-15ft Indo swell hitting Bali’s Bukit Peninsula, most places were beyond my ability with a few places maxing out. However I was itching for a surf and went on an adventure to find some rideable waves.
We were staying at the beautiful Balangan Beach and had met Andrea who was staying in the villa next door to us. Andrea and his family hailed from Sardinia, Italy. A keen surfer who knew a surf guide who assured us he knew where to find great 4ft waves in amongst the onslaught of swell. He told us to sit tight as he took off on his scooter to have a look before we made the trek. He soon returned with a smile and we were off to a secret wave named ‘Honeymoons’ at Jimbaran Bay where there would ‘apparently’ be some protection from the massive swell. The spot where you park is very small and very hard to find unless you have been there before with a tiny entrance into the bush. Once parked it was a 10 minute walk through the bushes, past the families of resting cows, dodging cacti plants, making wrong turns before you come out way up the point of Jimbaran Bay at a place named “Honeymoons”. A beautiful little beach with a long left that appears from around the protected headland. After watching for around 10 minutes just as Andrea’s guide had said it was much more calmer at around 3-5ft and there were also only a handful of surfers out. Blessed.
There are two options for entering the break. The first is a 30ft jump off the cliff directly landing in the take off zone which meant timing your leap of faith in between sets and avoiding the rocks on your landing. The second a walk down the point, a step off the edge of the reef and a paddle out via the channel. At the exact moment we were deciding what we would do, we saw a guy jump, cut his foot open on the rocks upon landing and paddle straight back in looking for a first aid kit. We chose option two.
The three of us made our way out off the reef and were out the back without even getting our hair wet. We had been out for about 30 minutes getting some great long rides and I was very stoked. Then it came. After one of my waves, I was paddling out when all of a sudden I saw everyone scratching like maniacs and paddling toward the horizon. I though to myself what is hell is coming. I was half way out and pretty much in the worse position I could be for what was about to steam through the line up. I was too far out to paddle in and too far in to make it out the back past the set. Then I saw it. A three wave rogue set easily double the size of any of the other waves that day and the first was about to break on my head.
You see one thing about surfing Bali, where ever you seem to surf, every 30 minutes or so, guaranteed, a set will roll through that can be up to twice the size, or more, of any waves prior that generally cleans the whole pack up. Looks can be very deceiving when checking out the breaks in Bali. The positive is the pack generally halves after these scary rogue sets. I have been caught by these sets at several breaks all over Bali over the years. One idea is to sit out the back for up to an hour just waiting for these bomb sets and possibly get the biggest wave of your life. But thats another story…
I didn’t panic, actually hang on, I did panic. I thought to throw my board to the side and dive under the wave, or even rip off my leggy and bail my board but didn’t, as the swim in didn’t appeal to me. I chose to duck dive under it as it landed a metre in front of me. Boom! As soon as I did the turbulence ripped the board out of my hands and I got violently thrashed around like a pair of socks in a washing machine. It was for a fair amount of time and I bounced off the reef bottom before finally being spat back to the surface almost totally out of breath. Thankfully I was washed so far down the line that the rest of the set didn’t worry me. A few scratches on my feet, a dinged board and a dented ego were the only consequences.
Not to be beaten I paddled back out and enjoyed the rest of my “Honeymoon” virgin surf. For the next couple of hours no more rogue sets appeared and we all surfed until the sun allowed no more.
# The photos show a couple of the smaller sets coming through.
Virgin surf at ‘Honeymoons’, Jimbaran Bay, Bali.
We were just 4 days in to our Bali Adventure when the surf had become so huge I actually found myself searching the coast for somewhere small enough to go out. With a 12-15ft Indo swell hitting Bali’s Bukit Peninsula, most places were beyond my ability with a few places maxing out. However I was itching for a surf and went on an adventure to find some rideable waves.
We were staying at the beautiful Balangan Beach and had met Andrea who was staying in the villa next door to us. Andrea and his family hailed from Sardinia, Italy. A keen surfer who knew a surf guide who assured us he knew where to find great 4ft waves in amongst the onslaught of swell. He told us to sit tight as he took off on his scooter to have a look before we made the trek. He soon returned with a smile and we were off to a secret wave named ‘Honeymoons’ at Jimbaran Bay where there would ‘apparently’ be some protection from the massive swell. The spot where you park is very small and very hard to find unless you have been there before with a tiny entrance into the bush. Once parked it was a 10 minute walk through the bushes, past the families of resting cows, dodging cacti plants, making wrong turns before you come out way up the point of Jimbaran Bay at a place named “Honeymoons”. A beautiful little beach with a long left that appears from around the protected headland. After watching for around 10 minutes just as Andrea’s guide had said it was much more calmer at around 3-5ft and there were also only a handful of surfers out. Blessed.
There are two options for entering the break. The first is a 30ft jump off the cliff directly landing in the take off zone which meant timing your leap of faith in between sets and avoiding the rocks on your landing. The second a walk down the point, a step off the edge of the reef and a paddle out via the channel. At the exact moment we were deciding what we would do, we saw a guy jump, cut his foot open on the rocks upon landing and paddle straight back in looking for a first aid kit. We chose option two.
The three of us made our way out off the reef and were out the back without even getting our hair wet. We had been out for about 30 minutes getting some great long rides and I was very stoked. Then it came. After one of my waves, I was paddling out when all of a sudden I saw everyone scratching like maniacs and paddling toward the horizon. I though to myself what is hell is coming. I was half way out and pretty much in the worse position I could be for what was about to steam through the line up. I was too far out to paddle in and too far in to make it out the back past the set. Then I saw it. A three wave rogue set easily double the size of any of the other waves that day and the first was about to break on my head.
You see one thing about surfing Bali, where ever you seem to surf, every 30 minutes or so, guaranteed, a set will roll through that can be up to twice the size, or more, of any waves prior that generally cleans the whole pack up. Looks can be very deceiving when checking out the breaks in Bali. The positive is the pack generally halves after these scary rogue sets. I have been caught by these sets at several breaks all over Bali over the years. One idea is to sit out the back for up to an hour just waiting for these bomb sets and possibly get the biggest wave of your life. But thats another story…
I didn’t panic, actually hang on, I did panic. I thought to throw my board to the side and dive under the wave, or even rip off my leggy and bail my board but didn’t, as the swim in didn’t appeal to me. I chose to duck dive under it as it landed a metre in front of me. Boom! As soon as I did the turbulence ripped the board out of my hands and I got violently thrashed around like a pair of socks in a washing machine. It was for a fair amount of time and I bounced off the reef bottom before finally being spat back to the surface almost totally out of breath. Thankfully I was washed so far down the line that the rest of the set didn’t worry me. A few scratches on my feet, a dinged board and a dented ego were the only consequences.
Not to be beaten I paddled back out and enjoyed the rest of my “Honeymoon” virgin surf. For the next couple of hours no more rogue sets appeared and we all surfed until the sun allowed no more.
# The photos show a couple of the smaller sets coming through.
