Surfing Waves

Hiya,
I am travelling to Oz and stopping off in Bali for 1 month at the end of November.

As I have never been there before, and have no contacts there I was wondering if anyone could advise on any of the following....

Good / cheap accommodation ? (I’m guessing the best base is kuta beach)
A place to rent a decent longboard ?
Best way to get from Depensar to Kuta as I get in at around midnight ?


Any advice recommendations on Bali and the whole surf scene there would be much appreciated.

Many Thanks.

Gday, just thought I would give you ome info on yoru trip to Bali

Kuta has plenty of accomodation, some poretty dodgy, others good, you really get what you pay for and it depends on your budget, just look around and you can get a few good deals, go to the Bagus Pub, its near poppies lane, ask them where the best place to stay is, they may give you some direction. bagus pub is good for cheap beer, food and it has the lastest movies on a huge screen, casual place to chill out and relax.

Not sure on longboard hire, just walk along the beaches, expect to pay around, as a guess, say 20,000 rupiah per hour. but not really sure. Best to take a board if you can, or pick one up cheap in Oz. If you go to a local board place you may get one for around $400 or so.

Denpasar is not really far from Kuta, in fact its at the end of Kuta beach, well you can see the run way from the beach, the break nearest the airport is called airport lefts, but you cant walk from the airport to Kuta, its way too long. Just get a bemo off the street and dontpay anymore than say 10-20,000 rupiah, they may try to hit you for 30,000 but they are all negotiable.

Keep in mind, you probably earn more in 1 day than they earn in 1 month, or perhaps even 1 year. The balinese are generally really lovely people so a big smile will go along way. As long as you are polite (try to learn the basics in Indonesian such as thank you, good bye and hello) this often breaks the ice and maintains a well being with the locals.

The best place to surf is out of Kuta, such as Bingin, Dreamlands, Uluwatu but it depends on what time of year you are going. Nusa Dua has some good breaks as well, such as little sri lanka, but it is a boat ride out. I would suggest you book 2 nights accom before you get there, getting through customs takes nealry an hour, perhaps more now since the bombing 2 years ago. You should do a deal on line and get transfers thrown in. That way you dont have to wrry about looking around at 2.00am in the morning, chances are you will be sleeping on the beach.

Moped hire is everywhere but be careful, it can be dangerous and the Bali hospitals are very basic and not the most hygenic places in town. You will need transport to get around especially over to the best breaks around Uluwatu. I usually get a driver for the day and this costs me around 60,000. They will drive you anywhere for around 8 hours, and they are happy to sit with teh car while you go surfing. Ask around town for a driver and negotiate.

Last rule, when bargaining, always smile and if you think you are getting ripped off, just remember what you would pay for a similar service back home, pay them what is fair and reasonable and reach an agreemen tthat yoiu are both happy with.

Hope this helps you out

Chilli

chilli wrote: If you go to a local board place you may get one for around $400 or so.

That's some useful information, there, chilli, thanks. Going to Bali myself in early march for a month.

I was planning on buying a board down there, but $400?? Is that real money, or Oz dollars? What do you reckon I'd have to pay for a nice used board? Lot's of local shapers\brands? Any good?

Are all this private drivers to be trusted? ie. would you leave your stuff in the car while surfing?

Cheers.

Hey... thought you might like some of this feedback... Pub Bagus is a great place to start.. its on Poppies Lane II, closer to the main street end (as opposed to beach end). The staff at the pub often receive commisions from locals to get tourists in for accommodation, watersports packages etc, which sounds a little dodgy, but we have never found cheaper prices anywhere. I would definately book into a hotel for the first few days seeing as you are coming in so late and then have a look around for long term accomodation. Try Bali Discovery Tours website... They have some good info and prices on accomodation and you can book on the net if you have a credit card (the surfing tours sometimes include a board - check them out).

Boards can be rented on the beach and on Poppies Lane II. Compare prices and remember you can barter on anything.. Just about anywhere... ESPECIALLY the beach. If they let you walk away without buying from them its a good price. NEVER take first offer and the longer you want to rent the board for, the cheaper it will be.

General info - be polite!! The Balinese will never forget you if you're rude or swear... and they will tell everyone else!! Don't let people hand you things on the streets (like friendship bands or small tokens).. its a promise to buy from their shop. You will get hassled badly on the street by shop-keepers for the first few days... this wears off after they begin to recognise you. When shopping, start bartering at about one quarter or a third of their asking price. Pretending to walk away may mean you will get the price you want.. and if they let you go.. another shop is guaranteed to have the same thing. When you go shopping, the plastic bag they give you is important!! Black bags mean you got a good price, black and white stripes mean you bartered but not well, and orange bags make you a target for shopkeepers as they mean you didn't barter at all!
Don't change any money unless you get at least 7200 Ru to the Aus dollar and count everything twice!! Giving tips to waiters and hotel staff is a good idea... the service you get will be amazing (about 2000-5000 Ru is an ok tip). Most balinese in hotels earn about 18000Ru a day ($2.50). Remember that tax is not included on menu prices in most restaurants, pubs, hotels... you need to add 21% to the price.
The green taxis are licensed but a little more expensive than unlicensed taxis (ordinary cars)... we've never had problems with either but NEVER leave your stuff in one. Remember that these people have nothing and what you have in your bag is likely to be able to be sold... its a big call when it can feed your family for a month. The police are near impossible to talk to and don't care about theft... they are often bribed by locals so don't bother.

And make sure you have $25US before you go.. you need it to get a visa and changing money at the airport is a nightmare!! You also need 100,000Ru to get out.

Sounds terrible huh?!? Once you learn to be a bit careful there its a fantastic place!! The people are really wonderful.. I'm actually going over in a week and can't wait!!

So most importantly... have fun...

katie wrote:The staff at the pub often receive commisions from locals to get tourists in for accommodation, watersports packages etc, which sounds a little dodgy, but we have never found cheaper prices anywhere.

I don't see anything dodgy about this commision system. This is the most basic marketing startegy. It's cheap and effective. Above all, not only the hotels and the tours owner who benefits from it. The bar staff for earning side income above his/her next-to-nothing-salary, and then you, me and all the other thourist for getting the best cheapest price because we're not paying the high price advertising campaign. You said it yourself, you could not find better price.

katie wrote:When you go shopping, the plastic bag they give you is important!! Black bags mean you got a good price, black and white stripes mean you bartered but not well, and orange bags make you a target for shopkeepers as they mean you didn't barter at all!

Where did you get this ?? I nearly peed on my pants laughing. These people are mailny poor by standard. For them to stock up with different colour coded plastic bags does not make sense at all. They barely feed their family on healty regular basis. Let alone affording loads of plastic bag for colour coding. You should be glad they try acommodate you with this facility.

katie wrote:The green taxis are licensed but a little more expensive than unlicensed taxis (ordinary cars)... we've never had problems with either but NEVER leave your stuff in one.

You can be in New York, Paris, London or Milan. You DON'T LEAVE anything in ANY CAB/TAXI period. Simple as that.

katie wrote:And make sure you have $25US before you go.. you need it to get a visa and changing money at the airport is a nightmare!! You also need 100,000Ru to get out.

I've applied my visa-on-arrival in Jakarta for number of occassions and they accepeted credit card. Hard to beleive that Denpasar airport doesn't have this facility considering the majoprity of the incoming traffic is foreigner.

katie wrote:Sounds terrible huh?!?

Yes, according to your posting. Your feedback sumamrise as if Balinese are bunch of thief. But if you've been to Thailand, Hong Kong or even Spain, Bali is no difference than these places. Balinese is no worse than anyone in the world. You have bad people and good people everywhere you go. Just don't generalised them based on few people. Balinese are renowned along with other Oriental people for their friendlyness, You're post is taking that away from them.

I've been checking out baliwaves.com

Hi, We stayed at a great Bed and Breakfast in Canggu only 5 min from Canggu beach they offer surfing tours and lessons too. Great place to stay check out their website www/balibnb.com

Hey y'all,

To clear a little confusion. Denpasar is NOT where the airport is. It's the capital city of Bali province (where all the government stuff going on). The airport itself is in Kuta area. To get to your hotel, take a cab, you pay at their counter at the airport about Rp. 50,000 (US$6)

Anyway, I know a cheaper boardshop in Poppies II, it's called Avocado. I saw a guy bought a board for $200 (American Dollars). But everything is negotiable. If you want to rent from the beach, it's about US$ 12-15/day. Sorry I don't know how much NZ$ is to US$.

As for accomodation, yes, all the info you received are true. They vary from US$6- US$70 that's from crummy to very nice. And yes, Kuta will be a better place for you to stay since you can get food, beer, etc 24 hours (so this should be helpful if you have jet lag).

And there's no bemos around in Bali anymore (unless what you meant by bemo is not what I thought it was). The motorcyle cab is called ojek (pronounce: ojack). The car cab is called as everywhere else: taxi.

There's so much more info to share, but I don't want to ramble on and on, so if you have more questions, just post it here, I'll answer right away.

I go to Bali at least once a month for work, so I know Bali pretty well by now.

Cheers mate,
Indahvoo

Bali hospitals are very basic and not the most hygenic places in town

Absolute rubbish! Have you actually been to a hospital in Bali?

There are two international standard hospitals that are better than you would expect in many first world countries, UK included and even the public hospital in the capital is not that bad apparently, but you would be better off at one of the international ones...

People should not post about things they no nothing about!