Before we dive into my experiences and overall tips for surfing Bali, let me give you my overall top three tips.
Most of us don’t have the luxury of being able to see a swell forecast a couple of weeks or even a few days out and instantly book a flight straight to Bali. We have to plan our trips well in advance because of work, family and other life obligations. However, although we can’t guarantee that the timeframe we choose will deliver, there are a few things that are within our control that we can do to maximise our chances.
The first and most obvious tip to know is which months that Bali delivers the most consistent swell. Bali generally goes by ‘the wet season’ and ‘the dry season’. The dry season runs from April to October and delivers the most consistent run of swells. The wet season runs from November to March. During the dry season months, the swells generally favour to the West Coast so your trips should be based around Canggu, Kuta and The Bukit Peninsula. The southeast tradewinds are blowing through this period creating clean offshore conditions.
During the wet season, you want to be looking toward the East Coast. The monsoon winds kick in from the west to northwest creating the best conditions at spots like Nusa Dua, Sanur and Keramas. During the wet season months, the biggest swells are less frequent, but they still do hit selectively and the lineups are certainly quieter. Saying that, there are also some rare days in the wet season when the conditions might have spots on the West Coast firing with just a handful of surfers out.
Now if your goal is to score massive tow in waves at Uluwatu, plan your trip around the centre of the dry season. If your goal is smaller, more playful waves, then play your trip toward the beginning or backend of the dry season. Although the wet season is a little less predictable, the same principle applies.
My second biggest tip is, if your life allows, plan a two week trip minimum. This will give you a large enough window of opportunity to score swell during the peak months, especially in the middle of the dry season. If you’re lucky, you won’t go more than a couple of days without swell.
I just returned from a two week trip in August and the whole time it was just back to back swells. One swell would be just dying down as the next one was arriving. There was never a flat day. In fact, a lot of the days it was too big and I was searching for refuge, which I found every day. The fact is, no matter how small or big the swell is, there is always somewhere on the island that you’ll be able to surf. You just have to know where to go.
Now, the third and biggest tip of all I can give you is around the tides. The tides play an immense role when it comes to scoring waves in Bali. If you learn how the tides work and, more importantly, how they affect each individual spot, you’ll be able to take the guesswork out and avoid hearing the phrase that no surfer ever wants to hear, ‘you should have been here an hour ago!’.
The tide can also completely change the personality of the same wave. Low tide might be shallow draining lefthand barrels, whereas at high tide, it will transform into a much mellower split peak. Yet it’s the exact same spot.
As far as choosing the best tide period to book your trip, this is something that is largely within your control. Thanks to the lunar cycle (the moon), we can accurately predict tide times and heights years, decades or even centuries in advance.
Although some spots thrive on a low tide, these a few and far between. Most spots need a mid to high tide but the more important factor is the actual amount of water covering the reef. The tidal range fluctuates a lot and can shift up to 2.5 meters between high and low tide extremes. A low tide might mean 0.5 meters on one day while on another day, it may be 1.5 meters. You don’t want to assume that because it reads, low tide, you can’t surf a particular spot. If it is a 1.5 meter low tide, it’s on. Generally speaking, the sweet spot for the tide is 1.2 meters to 1.8 meters. Below 1.2, the reef is becoming way too exposed while above 1.8, too much water flows in and can flood out the spot.
Another thing to consider is that some spots are better on the outgoing tide, while others are better on the incoming tide. The size of the swell can also change where that sweet spot is.
I won’t go too deep into the science but I will say that the sun and the moon are the main two elements that affect tidal movements, including the intense currents that you find around Bali and the Indonesian Archipelago. Tides are driven by the gravitational pull of both the moon and the sun as the earth rotates. With the moon being much closer to the earth, it has the greater influence over the tides.
During a Full Moon or a New Moon, a straight line is formed between the sun, moon and earth. With their gravitational forces combining, this creates the more extreme differences between the low and high tides. This means extremely low tides and extremely high tides. The tide is also moving extremely fast meaning the window of opportunity to score that sweet spot gets smaller. This is also when the extreme and dangerous currents can kick in. These tides are known as spring tides as they are when the ocean is at its most alive and highly active.
One of the reasons why the currents are so strong in Bali and Indonesia is because of the massive ocean current called The Indonesian Throughflow. This generates huge volumes of water moving through the deep narrow channels between the islands. For example, The Lombok Straight shrinks from a deep 1500 meters to a shallow 300 meters in the middle creating extremely fast moving and dangerous currents. The swells also travel thousands of kilometres from Antarctica and the Southern Ocean arriving at full power after travelling across the open ocean through the deep canyons with nothing in its way to slow them down. All of this water eventually rushes back out to sea through the narrow gaps in the reef or sandbars creating extremely fast and dangerous currents.
For most surf spots, the ideal tidal flow to surf is during neap (slack) tides. To know when these occur, you need to understand the lunar cycle. Neap tides happen twice a month during the lunar cycle. First during the First Quarter Moon and again during the Third Quarter Moon. During these phases, the sun and moon are at right angle to each other, with their gravitational pulls working against each other. This means the range between the high and low tide is much smaller and the currents are not as extreme because there is not as much water moving in and out. It also means you have a much longer window to surf at the 1.2 meter to 1.8 meter sweet spot. This is when it may read ‘low tide’, but the tide is actually still high enough for the reef to remain covered allowing you to surf safely. Neap tides generally last one to two days before and after each of the quarter phases giving you a decent five to seven day period of that limited tidal movement.
Now there are exceptions to this. For example, if your goal is to surf massive stand-up barrels at Padang Padang or draining Bingin barrels, then low spring tides are gold. A more detailed guide on each spot is awaiting you at the end of this book. You can use the guide to plan your trip around the phases of the tide, depending on which spots you are surfing, what type of wave you are looking for and which part of Bali you are staying.
What does this all mean?
It means that when you are planning your trip or planning your surf days, you should consider the phases of the moon and whether the tide a spring tide or neap tide? For the most consistent waves, longer sessions and less intense currents, plan your trips and sessions around the neap tides. You may also be able to get two or three sessions in a day rather than just one.
Of course, if your trip is two or three weeks long, you can’t avoid a period of spring tides, but knowing which spots to surf at those tides will help you score. A seven day strike mission planned around the right time of the month can offer you neap tides every single day.
In summary, pick a two-week period in a month that falls within the swell season, whether that is the dry or wet season. Pick the West or East Coast depending on which season you are going and make sure that you consider the lunar cycle and tidal movements during that period. You can look up tide and moon charts to help you with this (seatemperatu.re, moongiant.com).
If you are simply booking your trip based on when life allows it, then use my guide at the back of this book to help you decide which spot will be your best choice to score, based on the time of year, time of day, tides, wind direction and size of the swell.
Remember, no matter what day of the year it is, there is always somewhere to surf in Bali.
If you take these things into consideration and take the guesswork out of your trip, you will give yourself the best opportunity to score more perfect waves in more perfect conditions for a longer timeframe each day.
Now let’s get into my adventures and misadventures around the Island of a Thousand Gods.
