Surfing Nusa Lembongan is a funny old thing. A small Island about 30 minutes off the coast of Bali, it is a place where you can get away from the hustle and bustle of the mainland. A little more laid back and a bit more old school Bali. Palm fringed beaches with a peaceful environment where everything moves a little slower. Your surfing days here will be planned around the tides as you can’t just paddle out whenever you want and expect to score waves. I have mentioned before how much the tide affects the waves in Bali, but on Lembongan, this is even more pertinent. Generally speaking, the waves really turn on just after the turn of the high tide. It can look completely flat one minute, then ten minutes later after the high hits, it’s on. It can also be a playful two to three feet but once the high tide hits can double in size instantly and catch out the unaware. At low tide they are flat and it deceivingly tells you there is no swell.
There are four main spots you can surf on the Island. The first is called ‘Playgrounds’. This wave is a split peak accessed via a short paddle out from Song Lambung Beach. Although the name suggests otherwise, when a decent size swell is running, there is still plenty of opportunity to hit the sharp shallow reef here. The right hander is generally a shorter hollower wave with the left a lot longer with more of a workable wall. It gets crowded due to its name but also its proximity to land. Beware of the strong currents when you are paddling back in. It may appear to be a short paddle but other times a long paddle because you are fighting the insane currents.
You can paddle to the next reef ‘Lacerations’ from here or get a boat trip out from the main beach. Either have the boat wait for you or organise a time to be picked up. You can also paddle in via Playgrounds but after a long session it takes some effort, so keep that in mind. The name says it all. Come off here and you will be donating skin grafts to its insanely sharp and shallow coral reef. When it’s firing, the wave is a barrel machine with fast hollow perfect waves. The challenge is to be ready to go when it’s turning on and the local Balinese surfers that are all over it. The small take off area is very congested and there can be a lot of jostling. I always get chatting to them and if I’m lucky they will allow me a chance to catch one of the better sets. Friendliness and respect goes a long way here.
The third reef is the most demanding spot and always bigger than the above. I have mentioned before my not so nice experiences I have had but in saying that I’ve also had some awesome sessions here. It’s called ‘Shipwrecks’. To access it is a long 15 minute paddled out from the beach right in front of the break. Depending where you are staying on the island a boat is your best option. A right hander with two distinct take off areas that, on its day, reels off down the reef for over 100 metres. Picks up more swell that the other breaks and the bigger it gets, the much bigger the risk. Renowned for rogue clean up sets that mow down the line up.
The last option on the island to surf is Ceningan Point (aka Secret Point or Mahana Point) located across the infamous Yellow Bridge on Ceningan Island. In contrast this is mainly surfed on a low tide and the rest of the island needs to be virtually flat or it becomes very dangerous. A beautiful set up with a warung on the cliff top overlooking the point and diving platforms for when the waves are flat. A left hander breaking from in front of the cliff face that runs off down the reef. Not a perfect wave or nearly as good as its counterparts, but a great option for when you don’t have any other options. Sunset surfs here are absolutely beautiful. Watch out for the massive sweep that can drag you way down the bay and the seaweed sticks on the inside that can inflict a nasty injury. I saw one guy land on one once and came in with a massive hole in his leg.
My routine this trip on this beautiful island surfing wise has pretty much been groundhog day. Rise and shine at dark, cup of Bali tea to wake up, then a paddle out to arrive at my favorite break ‘Lacerations’ to be the first one out as first light appeared, this being about 6.00am. Often being the only one out for 30 minutes or so before anyone joined me. Sometimes it has been so dark at first with not being able to see quite where to sit I didn’t know now big it was or where to position myself until a set would break. One morning a set broke right on my head. In that case I knew I wasn’t quite out far enough. Sometimes I have also just sat there for 20 minutes waiting for the high tide to hit for it to start breaking.
Often these spots only break for about two to three hours at the turn of high tide. Sometimes after that two hour mark it is like someone just turns the switch off and the waves literally just stop. This trip each morning I was out just before the high surfing a few small warm up waves for about 20 minutes before the high hit and the waves really start pumping. Right about that moment the sun starts to rise. No better experience surfing perfect waves while watching a perfect Bali sunrise, for me anyway. Normally after so many waves my shoulders and arms would start to turn to jelly and it’s time to head in for breakfast. The paddle out, and in is good 10 minutes, but through channels so at least so no waves cleaning you up on the way out. It’s normally either your jelly arms and shoulders ending your first surf, or the ‘switch’ is turned off and the waves just stop as the tide gets too low. Then all you can do is to fill in the time until high tide comes around again, which always consisted of a huge feed, post surf massage, a scooter around the Island, talking to our dear friend Ketut in the shell shop and just chilling until the tide came in again.
We had planned this trip so high tide was around sunrise and then again late in the afternoon, so I was scoring perfection twice a day. If high was around lunchtime, you would only be able to surf once a day. Late afternoons consisted of sitting on the balcony watching the surf go from dead flat to two feet to four feet and picking that moment that it starts pumping again and heading back out for some more Bali perfection into the sunset.
On this one particular day, it all came together giving me two of the best barrels of my life on the one day! Every surfer’s dream is to get barrelled. A barrel, or tube, to a surfer is what cocaine is to a drug addict. Bali has plenty of opportunity to bring that dream to life. If you can’t get barrelled in Bali, you can’t get barrelled full stop. The sharp coral reefs allow an array of hollow sections but with these opportunities also comes plenty of risk. Come off at the wrong time and the reef will happily introduce itself to you. I’ve had plenty of these hollow sections gift me the dream but every so often you get more memorable ones.
The first was at Lacerations. I had paddled out at first light and had got a few great waves, but it wasn’t until the back end of my session that the tide allowed for the barrels to make their appearance. I had been waiting patiently for my next wave for a while when I saw a set approaching. I moved into position and to my delight the local Lembongan boys waved me onto the first wave. The nerves kicked in, mainly as I didn’t want to waste the opportunity they have given me, if you fail, they’ll be less likely to offer you more opportunities.
I paddled hard, eyeing off the dangers lurking below. The water draws off the reef so hard here. The hollow ones have you taking off sideways directly into it and you are almost guaranteed a barrel if done correctly. If done incorrectly, you are most likely going to be punished. It’s not called ‘Lacerations’ for nothing… If you make the barrel, you are then given a nice wall of wave to play with down the line. I took off and instantly dropped into the barrel. As I raced through it, I could almost feel my fins scrapping the reef. I could clearly see the opening down the line, praying I would make it and soon enough was shot out like a cannon. I could hear the screams of joy from the locals as I then took off down the line and rode the rest of the wave until it died off in the channel inside. I paddled back out thanking the Indonesia gods, and of course the local Balinese boys. For sure, one of the best barrels I’ve had in Bali.
The second was late in the afternoon at ‘Playgrounds’. The sun was beginning its descent to the horizon over the clear waters of the Lombok Strait. A beautiful time to surf and always a great way to end the day. The surf was not huge but certainly big enough the get the blood running. I had had a few quick ‘cover ups’ but was still burning for another barrel like the one earlier that day. Then it came. I saw a bump at the outer point which was an indicator that a set would hit ‘Playgrounds’ in about one minute so I moved into position. It was the biggest set of the afternoon. As I started paddling the water drew off the reef and I could see through the crystal clear water to the threatening shallow coral reef below. It allowed me an easy drop into a long bottom turn then I was thrown into one of the widest barrels sections I had seen here. At first the roof of the wave was brushing my head and I thought I was gone but then the barrel just opened up and everything seemed to go silent and turn to slow motion. The sun was shining through the back of the wave lighting up the barrel beautifully and after what seemed an eternity, it spat me out so hard it nearly blew me off my board. The wave continued on, but I was so stoked with the barrel I just kicked out off the wave, in awe of what had just happened, letting the Balinese groms take advantage of the rest of the wave. It was super quick, super deep and super wide but it also had this gentle feel about it. Just as good, yet so different than the one in the morning. A surfer’s dream coming true twice in one day. What more could a surfer ask for?
You know your surfed out when the surfs absolutely pumping yet your too exhausted to even paddle out. Two surfs a day for days on end will do that to you. After days of this routine my body was begging for a rest! On our final day I gave up perfect waves, as I just couldn’t acquire the energy to go again. Even if I did paddle out, I think I would probably have drowned.
That pretty much sums up life on Lembongan.
