I had surfed here on a handful of occasions and still felt I had not had that alltime session I was looking for, nor had I got the place fully wired. Don’t get me wrong, I have certainly had some awesome waves here but felt that there was much more it could offer me. The last three days of this trip it showed me exactly what it can offer and from that moment it became my new love.
We decided to stay at South Kuta in the Bandung Regency for the last four days of our trip. A great area of Bali as not as hectic as Kuta itself with a more laid back feel to it. Out hotel was on the beach and right in front were the boats that take you out to the reefs of Kuta. You can paddle to a couple of them, but it could be a twenty to thirty minute effort and after a long surf it would be a gruelling paddle back in. The best option is a Jukung ride which would have you out in just a few minutes. You can either have them wait for you or choose the cheaper option which would have them to come back and pick you up. Most of the time they don’t forget…
There are four reef passes you can surf here and they all offer different characteristics. Airport Rights is on the Southern side of the Airport Runway. A long fast right hand reef which needs a big swell running to even break. I’ve had a handful of awesome sessions here over the years but would certainly love to get a few more in. On the other side of the runway is Airport Lefts. Very similar to Airport Rights but in contrast picks up any available swell. Further North is Middles, a much shorter wave with a heavy closeout end section. You would have read earlier about my scary experience there when I surfed it for the first time and only time to date. The fourth option is Kuta Reef which will provide you with an intense 50-100 metre ride with the hollowest sections of all the reefs.
As you fly into Bali and are touching down you get an awesome view of all these reefs. You are literally landing on the runway in between Airport Rights and Airport Lefts. While surfing you are very close to the runway and can see the planes taking off. You also hear the roar of the engines as they power up for take off. It is quite a unique location and surfing experience.
Airport Lefts (AKA Pertamina) was the reef which I would surf for the whole three days. Although I had surfed it a handful of times before, I had never surfed it this good.
We arrived at South Kuta after a boat trip from Nusa Lembongan followed by a long car ride. Although exhausted from the commute, I wasted no time getting the board ready and heading down to the boats. It was late afternoon, the swell was up, the tradewinds in full force and the tide on its way in. In other words, perfect conditions!
My old friend Andrea from Italy who we met a few years back was already in the lineup as the boat dropped me off. “Pick me up in two hours” I told the captain and jumped. Paddling towards the lineup the waves were looking insane. Overhead and lining up all the way down the reef. Instantly I was re-energised. As I got to Andrea, his face lit up as we hadn’t seen each other in two years, but also as the waves were absolutely pumping. With the tide building every set was a little bigger the last. As the inside started to get more and more crowded, I let myself drift to the wider peak which only broke on the bigger sets. Andrea’s boat had taken him in and we would meet up again the next morning so for the second half of the session, I was the only one sitting here. A longer wait for the waves here but when they came, they came! Huge steep drops followed by a perfect walled up left down the reef. The tradewinds were howling offshore and because the reef is so far out to sea, at times it made it extremely hard to get into the wave. A couple of times I thought I was in, stood up, only to be blown off the back on the wave. Once you were on the wave though it was awesome. I quickly also realised that this was the biggest and best I’d ever surfed here at Airport Lefts.
The other great thing here is that there is a huge deep channel off the reef so once you kick out at the end of the wave you can just paddle wide and back out through the channel without having to go under any waves. If you fall on the wave and get caught inside, it’s a completely different story. Your best option, obviously, is to not fall!
That evening, Andrea and I orgainsed a time to meet the next morning to go back out. We had worked out exactly what the best tide was to surf it and planned to be out there at that exact tide. If you were before that it would be a lot slower and not as good. If you were after that, the tide got too low and it would be not as good. You could most certainly surf it at those different tides but there was a two hour window where it would be at its most consistent and best.
When we arrived once again at the lineup the next morning it was much the same. A little smaller that the previous day but still perfect pumping lefts. I remember one wave I got where it was just manoeuvre after manoeuvre after manoeuvre until I kicked out. It was the most manoeuvre’s I had done on a single wave that length. So much fun! Then paddling out I was about halfway when an insider was reeling off which I caught and went to town on. Then again halfway paddling back out jumped on yet another perfect insider. It was one of the most enjoyable surfs I’d ever had. No intimidation from lurking clean up sets, no heavy beatings, just lots of waves and pure fun.
The next morning it was like Groundhog Day, in a great way. Different time but same tide, same conditions and same outcome. The swell had jacked up a little though, so although still super fun, the adrenaline was flowing a little fiercer. There was one particular set that came in that a vividly remember. It was one of the wide set waves that caught most of the lineup out of position. I thought I had a chance so paddle hard and fast to try and get to the shoulder into a position to attempt a take off. All I was thinking was that ‘no matter what I am taking off, even if I just get thrown down the falls, I’m taking off’! As it mowed down the rest of the lineup, I made it into position. As I was about to take the drop there were four surfers rights below, probably thinking I was about to run them down. I dropped in hands up in the air trying to keep my balance somehow making the drop. If I chose to go around the surfers I wouldn’t make the wave, so I chose to filter through them which again, somehow, I managed to do without running them down. After that it was a long wall of water for me to have my way with. I also remember catching a glimpse of another surfer on a boat just arriving to the lineup as I came out of my first turn. He had a huge smile on his face and I believe he was sharing the stoke with me as it was such a great wave. That’s one thing about most spots in Bali, every surfer is stoked for every surfer that gets a great wave. There are some spots where it’s every man, or woman, for themselves but generally the whole line up is sharing the stoke. Such good vibes. Even when someone might be paddling for a wave, if they know they won’t get it, they yell the next in line to go for it. No one wants to see a good wave go unridden.
Two or so hours passed and the captain was back out to pick us up. We caught our last waves and headed back to shore. That would be my last session as we were flying back to Sydney that evening. Three amazing surfs, three days running. I also got to learn a lot about the reef and the wave over these sessions and absolutely can’t wait to surf there again. So much so that our 2026 trip is already planned to have us stay at the same spot for a little longer to make the most out of surfing this reef. It will also allow the opportunity for a big swell so I can get back to Airport Rights at the other side of the runway. Then there is also Kuta Reef as an option, Middles and ‘Secrets’. So many options depending on what conditions are on offer.
Over twenty trips to Bali and I am still surfing new places, having new alltime sessions. The problem is you can’t surf them all in one trip. There are just too many options. We started with one Bali trip per year, soon that turned into two trips a year, maybe it’s time to add a third…
