There are two extremely different faces to the famous ‘Cave’ at Uluwatu. The cave be holds the sensational entrance and exit to Bali’s most iconic surf spots and depending on which tide you surf it will give you two totally different experiences. To access, first you must negotiate the slippery stairs which will lead you to the stonemade staircase with no rails. It is one way traffic only so if someone is on the way up, you will have to wait your turn before descending to the cave entrance.
At low tide the cave is absolutely breathtaking! In the late afternoon it’s an awesome place to swim, play, drink and enjoy the sunset on those low tide afternoons. Natural swimming pools are formed in the gaps of the reef where you can safely swim and snorkel with plenty of sand to sit and relax. I have spent many amazing sunsets drinking Bintangs here enjoying these moments. Getting in from a surf is also easier as you walk across the reef with no current to deal with. However, as high tide approaches, this 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 catches them off guard. A huge sweeping current then appears outside the opening of the cave along the towering cliff tops. Paddling out is not much of a drama. Once you start the strong current owns you sweeping you down the line and then you just make the long paddle back up into the line up. The real chaos begins when you are wanting to come in. The cave is your only option. It is a very small opening and the sweep of the currents running past the cave mean that you need to aim your board at least fifty meters up from its entrance, let yourself get taken by the current as close to the cliff face as you can and once at the opening paddle like you never have before against the current to ‘hopefully’ be washed into the cave. If you miss the entrance you are washed down the line again and have to make the long gruelling paddle back up into the line up and try again. Normally when you are coming in you are already pretty exhausted from surfing so it can be a energy sapping effort at this stage. Over my years of surfing Uluwatu, I have missed the cave several times but this one experience was by far the worst.
The waves were a solid 6 feet and as I knew the tide was fast approaching high, I was ready to come in. The size was increasing by the minute and the current gaining strength fast. It was getting beyond my limits I’d already had few long rides which meant long paddles back out and I’m not ashamed to say I was pretty much just looking for a way in. The best option when surfing Ulu is to get back in a couple hours before the high hits or a couple of hours after. This way the current is not so ferocious. I was having such a great session that on this particular occasion when I finally decided to come in it is virtually right on high.
My first attempt honestly I deserved to fail. I took on a left that was a screamer. It was way 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. I tried to paddle against the current for a moment toward the cave but was going backwards and just had to go with it and do the paddle around to try again.
Already exhausted, once I got out the back, I tried my second attempt. I paddled past the cave, past the main peak to where I thought I could get a wave in. This entailed catching a 6 foot close out, turning straight but getting absolutely annihilated. Although the beating had washed me down the line past the cave, the whitewater from the wave behind it was my chance to get a lift right to the cave. I still felt like I got into a great position and was sure I would make it aiming my board toward the cave. I got to the middle just outside the opening but felt the current already trying to take me again. The problem is you can’t just ride the wave the whole way in, in loses steam in the deeper trench before the cave and this is where you need to paddle like a madman as the current takes hold of you. There is a huge rock on the side and I actually had my foot on it, trying to push off to get washed in. No matter how hard I pushed I could feel the current about to take me until I could push no more and the current swept me off down the reef yet again. So close, yet so far. 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 could just let the current take me as far as it liked and paddle a mile or so down the coast to Padang Padang and drift in there. This whole time my Dad, who was seeing Uluwatu for the first time, was swearing profanities at me to get away from the cliff before I would become part of it. I knew eventually I would make it in somehow, but for him, seeing it for the first time, he felt I was in real trouble. To be honest, at this stage I probably was. I only had just turned to paddle out again when I just made it under a wave before if would have smashed me onto cliff face. Carnage would have been a certainty. Then once again I slowly made the long paddle out the back and back into the line up, where at this stage the size had picked up immensely.
I paddled far up the point this time, way past the cave entrance, to give me the best chance of making it on my third attempt. I was pretty desperate to get in at this stage. The waves were a whole lot bigger and I had almost no energy left. I took off on a perfect very tempting left but went right heading in the opposite direction, riding the whitewater into the cliff face up the point as far as it would allow. As I reached the cliffs I slowly drifted along the cliff face pushing myself off the rock face at times while trying to avoid getting completely washed up against them. The current took me along and I reached 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 with the surge. I could not do a fourth attempt! I just couldn’t! Finally, to my absolute delight, a little chop of whitewater shoved me through and I was in. Getting thrashed around from side to side, but in. Absolutely exhausted I scrambled up to the dry patch of sand and sat for about five minutes recovering before making the trek back up the stairs only to have my Dad yelling more profanities at me. I guess he was worried…My response ‘all good, I had it all under control’, which we both knew was a complete lie.
For any one that is trying to come in at high tide, it’s not a matter of will you miss the cave, it’s a matter of how many times you will miss the cave. I see it time and time again but my advice is to paddle way up past the cave, catch a perfect left and go right! The other tip would be to save some energy in the bank for when you are coming in as you will most certainly need it! I have surfed Ulu many times since this event, even when the tide is approaching high and the relentless current is in action. But by following the above advice have rarely had to do the football paddle round to get in. Rarely…
