Want to get away and catch some waves... but where?

[peazz]

Hey all,

I am still a beginner but waves over here in hong kong are really inconsistent at current with breaks of over 2 weeks between some decent ( 2 - 4 ft ) waves.

im looking to take a late get away somewhere close to hong kong ( max is austrailia ) with my girlfriend. I want to get some lessons from a reputable surf school so i can really nail the fundamentals, work on my overal fitness and for obvious reasons catch some more waves.

i been looking at bali, around the seminyak / kuta region, but seem to have a decent amount of quality surf schools, with some beginner beach breaks, taking a look at the surf outlook over there atm and it seems to be thumping everywhere, with the beginner spots just be close outs?

Im open to any ideas or locations. hawaii it out of my price zone but anywhere else is fine!

been looking for place's / ideas for days but its all getting a bit to much lol... im looking to fly out on the 22nd july - 6th august.

Cheers guys

[dtc]

If you search around here are a few recent threads discussing beginner surfing in Bali. Short answer is that it exists, but you are mostly on beach breaks that are ok rather than 'great' - Bali has fantastic waves if you are intermediate+, but for beginners you are generally hanging around Kuta Beach (although there are a few resorts that have some beginner waves).

Kuta beach is fine, a bit wild / rippy at times but will generally have waves; and there are surf schools from one end to the other (esp at the Seminyak end). But like any beach it is inconsistent and can be too big or too small or close out etc.

Otherwise you could go to Byron Bay in Australia (fly into Brisbane and drive south for 2 hours) or to Noosa (about the same but heading north); but it is the middle of winter here so its not going to be all that warm (still, water will be 20deg or so and air temp about the same). But beginner waves are probably easier to find and there are heaps of surf schools in both places. More expensive than Bali I would guess. Or, if you dont mind the cold, fly into Sydney and go to Manly/Bondi beaches or head down the NSW South Coast which is stunning and there are no crowds (but there are surf schools). Even colder however. I'm guessing Perth will also be viable, but I dont know the set up over there. There must be surf school.

Or somewhere more 'out there' - you could try Japan (google 'Eugene Teal') or Taiwan (except this time of year you will probably just get monsooned). Vietnam actually has some beginner surfing as well, but I gather the summer months are mostly a miss wave wise - but you can fly direct to Danang from HK (or you used to be able to), so you could keep this as a trip for winter.

But go to Bali and give it a go. If you want a nice independent teacher look up this guy http://silversurfbali.com/ who speaks good english and will give you private lessons for about the same price as a 10 person surf school lesson. The other benefit is that he can take you around the island to find surf suitable to your standard, rather than just having to put up with whatever is going at Kuta. But there are some surf schools at Kuta where you can stay, surf all day, get lessons every day plus boards etc for a pretty good price.

Personally I'm not sure that 2 weeks in Kuta/Seminyak will be that interesting, surfing nothwithstanding, but for a break you can go and spend time in Ubud if no where else. Plus I'm old, so the Kuta attractions (bars, massages, nightclubs etc) are no longer my thing all that much; they might be yours. As a tip - see if you can get a 'villa' in Bali rather than a hotel; often they are just the same price as a hotel but you get a house/apartment, much more space, more privacy etc.

[peazz]

Hey mate,

Thanks! i was thinking Australia as well, i see the southern hemisphere is really active atm... temperature put me off thou.

after 5 days of searching every surf school and location i found silver surf aswell, his reviews are all amazing and one2one will be perfect for me. I can already catch the odd green wave, and most of my white waves. I was planning on getting 5/6 one2one lessons with Ketut while im there.

Im pretty fast learner when being shown how to do things, so hoping i can progress fast with him and get into some decent surf away from the beach and onto so deeper reef maybe? Main reason for wanting to get away was simply because the waves are sparse here in summer and when they do come, they are mainly closeouts on lantau where my board is stored.

I heard that dream land is a pretty nice wave and can be forgiving for beginners?

Im starting that insanity workout to keep my fitness up between sessions today, will be starting a swimming regime and surfing when ever there is swell up till the trip so im hoping i will be in pretty good shape and be able to make it out to some deep reefs if there is any?

Thanks DTC, Been a great help on all my threads!

[dtc]

I have used ketut myself, so I agree with all the others in how good he is. He did take me to a few points that were better than the beach, but the reefs were way too big for me that week. However, he will certainly keep them in mind once he sees your level; and it's worth just watching those breaks as they are v impressive. Often just 3 or 4 tips will make all the difference and set up your technique, then it's up to you.

Take a long sleeve rash vest for the sun.

If its just you he might put you on the back of his motorbike, but he was a good driver so dont stress, although Bali traffic is a bit chaotic. Not too bad for SE Asian standards however.

I used to live in HK (10 yrs ago) and, to be honest, was a bit of a snob and used to laugh at the surf (being from australia) and never even thought of surfing. Regret it now; happy to see not everyone has my attitude. But it must be frustrating, when you start all you want to do is get in the water and improve and you need waves, not flat days and wet season rain.

[Aqualife]

Hey,
If you do decide to go to Bali, a surf school can also take you to the Canggu area where most beginners learn, there are places such as Old Man's and Echo Beach where beginners to actual surfers are in a ratio of about 20 beginners to 1 real surfer. It's deep and forgiving most days as long as you can paddle and duckdive. The other spot people get taken to is Dreamland which is so deep that you can't hit the reef at low tide even if you try and dive for it. Supersafe.
The thing with Indo is that you can get a massive swell at any time during the June-August big wave period and even Kuta Beach can break totally out of control. So take your chances and go.
Surfing in general - whether you are a fast learner or not, the only thing in surfing counts is actual water time. The more time you spend in the ocea, the better you get. Simple as that.