Jason Lunn.com/ Surfing and life in Indonesia

3 days ago and we had the biggest swell of year so far in Bali, I really wanted to try and surf some big waves and Uluwatu Bombie at high tide was heaving big sets in all morning, there were only 5 people out so I thought, might as well have a go, first time Uluwatu is not crowded. The swell measured at 13.5ft with a 16 second swell period, this day was by far the biggest waves that I have ever been in, It took me about an hour to paddle out to the back sets that were breaking biggest and about an half an hour working out what to do and also what was I doing there. I then decided to paddle for a few and caught one safely wich by todays standards was a smallish one (The one in the photos below) Then I decided to try catch a second much bigger hollower set wave but I could not paddle into it quick enough as I was on a small 6′3 board and as a result was lip launched about 15ft top to bottom and took the biggest most violent beating of my life in the washing machine of heavy white water. When I finally surfaced my board had snapped and I was left with only half a board still attached to my leg rope and ankle,. it was a very long and treacherous  swim back in,  I also missed the entrance cave however….glad to be alive,..I really felt like I  could easily die in such conditions,..

Jason Lunn Outside Bombie Uluwatu

Outside Bombie the biggest wave I have surfed so far,..

5  Star swell according to www.magicseaweed .com approx 8.5ft at 16 second period for the next 3 days. I surfed Canggu, Tugu beach the other day a bit fat but and best suited to a longboard, also super crowded with beginners (including myself) the occasional long left and odd right, then Ku De ta in the afternoon at low tide.

Low Tide in Bali,.. places to surf,

so far from my experience this year when the dry season trade winds are in full effect Dreamlands (Pecatu Indah Resort) works great on an 8ft+ swell from a 0.1 to a 0.9m tide. Ku de ta also works good but gets blown out with the trade winds coming in cross shore so low tide and no wind is a good one there. Also it is a sand bottom beach break so good for learning on. I prefer Dreamlands anyday though.

Surfed Dreamlands this morning super clean and about 6ft to 8ft on the sets only about 5-10 guys out great fun. Lefts running fast then closing out, the rights were a bit more manageable. Definitely got worked and smashed around like a human washing machine by a few of the large clean up sets.  Then surfed Uluwatu in the afternoon on the Bombie. Not so much fun took 2 very large waves in about 3 hrs of paddling against a horrendous rip current, sore shoulders now.

In case you do not know Uluwatu is Bali’s premier dry season wave arena. It is on the South West tip of the island and picks up a fairly large amount of swell and has lots of different waves to surf  within the area known as Uluwatu. The Bukit (meaning Hill in Indonesian) is the South west tip of the Island and has many surf breaks running all along its coast line. They start at the tip with Uluwatu this has various waves to surf starting with, Temples, Main Peak, The Bombie, Outer Corner and Racetracks. At all tides the wave is powerful and heavy, at low tide it is powerful, heavy, hollow, shallow and very dangerous with strong sea currents,  fast sections and lots of different faces to ride depending on swell conditions and wind directions, etc etc..

Basically it is very famous now since it was discovered mid 70’s and has many established warungs/restaurants located on the hill offering spectacular views overlooking all the surfing action. It attracts the best surfers in the world at this time of year and most of them are barrel hungry surf monsters from every rounded corner of the globe. When they are placed in a big group together they start to behave with levels of lunacy and human behavior with more emphasis on risk taking than risk assessment.

To be honest due to my limited surfing experience I havent felt at home within this crowd especially combined with the power and force that Uluwatu breaks onto sharp shallow reef. That was until this week. I knew there was some swell due in fact a supposedly large one and I decided to go down, put my balls on the line, paddle out and try and catch some large heavy waves amongst the 80 or so surfers in the water. It seems the swell was late on the forecast and the waves were no more than about 4 ft and the crowds pretty competitive. However the swell arrived in the space of an hour and the waves and currents started getting really heavy and half the crowd exited the sea. I stayed in the sea and scored 5 super fast long waves in the the section known as Racetracks which is a super quick steep take off into a full speed race down the line..

Jason Lunn Uluwatu Main Peak

I was having a great day and had some great waves and my confidence has increased dramatically in the water as a result. Surfing in a crowd really is a confidence and mind game situation as it involves many different strategies to enable correct positioning in the sea to be in the right place to take off on a wave within a group of equally wave hungry surfers..

Well this was a good morning and I have noticed a real improvement in my surfing since I last surfed here, then the tide got too low for me to surf safely and so after some coffee and cakes went and surfed Dreamlands. This is a newly developed Golf course / holiday resort which is about 1km along the Bukit Penninsula past Padang Padang, Binging and Impossibles ( Some more surf breaks more info soon). I surfed here until sunset. There were 40 or so surfers in the water, many from Uluwatu earlier in the day, Waves really started coming in heavy hollow and hard with a left and a right face off the main Apex. I scored many good waves here as well in fact as many as I could catch , paddle back catch my breath then go again, It was steep and I had many late take offs and fast walls. Today was the best day I have had surfing in Bali since I have been here and my arms are super tired as a result..

Woke up with a glow on my face and a contentment in my spirit, took a morning  rest scooted about on my moped took some photos and decided to go back and surf Dreamlands until sunset again, two great days and life is feeling good..Sliced my feet on the reef unfortunately so a few more cuts and grazes to add to the ever growing list of reef scars.

Still in Kuta, still sharing a room with Ella, still trying to find a moment to update my blog with Ubud pics and more Johnny Rad stories. Also noting posted about my 3 weeks in Sumatra surfing in the jungle.

Surfed Uluwatu today and Dreamlands 84 people in the Sea at Ulu’s and pretty small wave, had fun today a few waves took some photos, sea is getting cold now. Tomorrow should sea a new and large swell coming and hitting Bali so hopefully some good surfing in next few days.

My friend Johan Pontell left for Sweden yesterday after 7 months in Bali, ill post some pics of Johan as a memory to this asap..I miss Johnny rad we had a lot of fun together. I feel like I emotionally need to remain split between a constant state of arrival and departure at the same time bizarre so much change all the time.. had to purchase a neoprene 1mm wetsuit top to stay warm in the sea. The smell of the new neoprene took me back to the day I bought my first wetsuit from my friend Paul Morgan who owns Sharkbite Surf shop in Bristol, missed Bristol a lot the lost few days and felt a bit lonely and discombobulated the last two days..

A picture of me surfing Uluwatu racetracks in my new wetsuit top….

Jason Lunn Uluwatu racetracks

Racetracks is a superfun wave in the Uluwatu arena, like the name sugests you dropin and literally race the wave at full speed to stay ahead of the section as it breaks really fast over the shallow reef. This is a photograph one of the local photographers captured of me this day. This is the fastest wave I have surfed regarding the speed needed to get to my feet on take off and start pumping down the line..great fun