Uncle Jaffa Heads to Lombok!

[jaffa1949]

All lobster farms they light up,at night to catch very young lobsters which are then shipped to China for growth and fattening for the markets there sadly the size of the young one is unsustainable and only makes a quick rupiah for all the pontoon owners.

Surfing the Ekas wave is pull out over reef the learners a sand bottom

[Tudeo]

Those waves look enak!
Yeah, it's a problem the guides pushing learners into waves and often into dropins
On the one hand it's about making quick money, and harsh competition among local surfguides. On the other hand u see this kind of behavior everyday in traffic: motorbikes coming from everywhere without any looking jumping in front of your wheels so u must hit the brakes or collide. Very alike a surfing dropin situation.
It seems they only look at traffic in front of them, what's happening behind their back is all taken care of by karma...

[Big H]

Take it easy on the "they" brother....the people I am the most wary of and who do the most unexpected and out of control moves in traffic are always expats or tourists. Traffic looks crazy, but as a veteran of 7 years of driving in Jakarta and now 4 years here I can say that there is a method to the madness, a rhyme to the reason....most of it is based around riders not wanting to put their feet down, but there are common etiquettes that are followed and once you are on the same page you can reasonably know what to expect from riders and what they expect from you......not true with foreigners for the most part who just view the whole scene as anarchy and take part as if there were no rules or expectations.

One protocol that is universally true in all traffic situations is that car drivers are ALWAYS in the wrong....another is that it is expected that all roads that open up to a main road, yields on toll roads and other ingresses, drivers in the main road are to expect and make provisions for traffic that is entering....that they don't even look is crazy but that's the common etiquette.

[dtc]

That yielding to entering roads seems to be the rule across much of Asia.

Jaffa, how was the resort and the non in water stuff?

[Tudeo]

the most unexpected and out of control moves in traffic are always expats or tourists. Traffic looks crazy, but as a veteran of 7 years of driving in Jakarta and now 4 years here I can say that there is a method to the madness, a rhyme to the reason

I agree on both the Bule Gila (crazy foreigners) and the method to the madness, but the point I'm making, and u seem to miss, is the analogy of traffic on Balinese asphalt and waves.

[Big H]

It's just crowded....


I surfed Kuta today with the usual group on the main peak....we were all blocking for each other and keeping the tourists with no respect off the main peak and down the breach....two drop in free hours....your wave is your wave...localism with no confrontation....bliss.

[Tudeo]

....we were all blocking for each other and keeping the tourists with no respect off the main peak and down the breach...localism with no confrontation....bliss.

In my eyes any localism is misguided entitlement. Who are u to block a surfer who's just flown half the world to get there (and who brings the money to keep ur economy going)? It seems to me ur bliss is based on another person's frustration.. Just respect each other and share..

The locals can use their local knowledge to have the edge, that should be enough.

If a learner is in the wrong place at the wrong time all the time then just talk to them. But start with an understanding of the plain fact ur surfing a wave that attracts a lot of learners.

[jaffa1949]

Here comes Uncle Jaffa to take back his tread
Traffic is so very bound to the order in chaos theory. To any newly entered western driver or passenger it seems anarchy but by local terms it just flows.
Go to France looks chaotic, Italy the same it is all relative.
Do you you travel to different cultures and countries and expect it to be the same as where you came from, a resounding NO if you want it to be the same, stay home.
Enough on that.

Heaven on the Planet (HOTP) much enhanced and improved from when I was there last,, there is another surf camp in the nearby village Ekas Breaks .
HOTP has a most amazing view all amenities good, food good, middling prices beyond basic but then so is the service beyond basic.
Staff extremely good and welcoming.
Nightlife non existent, street vendor hassles, non existent, water hassles slight but varied on boats coming across the bay.
Surf quite swell direction dependent and can disappear completely .
Things to do, day tours to a water fall, snorkeling, a two or three day trip to the top of Gunung Rinjani, or else surf eat sleep repeat, swimming pool and a nice swimming beach , your book and your bintang. Neat international world solving conversations during flat spells and meals.
ie Californians, Aussies, Dutch, Norwegian, French, Kiwi, Italian, German and Austrian in the surf!
That pretty much covers it

[dtc]

Sounds like I should put it on my wish list. Thanks for the run down.

[Big H]

I'm going over!

[Big H]

Ok so went to Kuta yesterday....small so the usual crew wasn't really out, just one or two here and there....I destroyed a tourist who was on a shortboard with my 9'6" tuflite longboard....he pursued me against the current and after watching me catch two waves (lefts) and ride them out he paddled for the wave of the set just like I did...I was up first and to my surprise and his eventual shock he decided not only to get on the wave but to ride it as a right....tuflite 1 - PU shortboard 0....really zero; put a solid welt on that board though I did try my best to not hit him....

Same today....german guy shoulder hopped the wave and rode right into the curl going right when one of the local crew was already up and working down the line (the wave is a left and he was on it for a good 40m at that point)....the kid called me into the argument (he's twenty something, about 55kg) as he was yelling at the german and to me in bahasa, verbally trying to hold the german off, who looked like he was going to go after the kid....anyway, after my intercession (I looked at the guy with a serious look, closed my eyes and shook my head and looked at him again....that's it), the german did not apologise, but did leave quickly......


.....last few days the waves have been really small and it's a zoo...Sunday the swell is in and nature will weed the lineup....I agree about the respecting and sharing.....it exists among us.....I go out of my way to surf Kuta because of that very reason....as for the tourists, their dollars and rights....kuta beach is huge, LOTS of waves there....just not the one that we're on.......

[Big H]

Jaffa, you can have your thread back now.......

[Lebowski]

and after watching me catch two waves (lefts) and ride them out he paddled for the wave of the set just like I did...I was up first and to my surprise and his eventual shock he decided not only to get on the wave but to ride it as a right....tuflite 1 - PU shortboard 0....really zero; put a solid welt on that board though I did try my best to not hit him....

Perhaps he thought that since you caught the previous two waves, it was now his turn.

I really have a problem with a lot of peoples attitudes regarding 'respect the locals'. For 'the locals' at busy spots, it often seems to mean that they will take every wave they want, happily block you, call you off waves even if it's not their turn, take several sets in a row, paddle up your inside and generally leave non locals to pick up scraps. Respect works both ways and it's often the locals that deserve a shouting at, not the other way round.

Having said that, I'm well aware that Kuta beach gets ridiculous at times and riding a wave there can be like an obstacle course.

[Big H]

Like I said, the beach is wide open....plenty of "scraps" to go around......I let waves go through btw, pretty much no excuse....guy drops in and rides the wrong way and somehow you have a problem with me? Excuse me while I tune out the rest. Cheers.

[Lebowski]

I don't have a problem with you. I'm just voicing an opinion based on what you told us. If you were letting waves go by then fair enough.

[Big H]

No, you wrote an opinion based on prior negative experiences with localism. If you read what I wrote your have been properly outraged that not on one but toro separate occasions two days running I was involved in different degrees in collisions due to stubborn kooky tourists dropping in and going TOWARDS the pocket when there was a rider already up and coming down the line at them. I wrote two illustrations of what goes on when the boys don't protect each other. Kid who was in the right still needed shielding from the big German. Surfing here can be a complete zoo and the holiday mentality where what happens in Balli stays in Bali is prevalent among short time guests here and is a real consideration on smaller days at popular.breaks as several will take off on the same wave and boards shoot up in the air flying in all directions like a bomb went off In the water when an outside set wave rolls through the lineup. Respect and sharing? Hah, not in these lineups. You have to have a bag of tricks to get a wave some days.

[Tudeo]

It's just not easy to handle crowds in lineups. I read an article about Gary Lopez and yoga, and he said something about how yoga can raise consciousness and how that is needed in lineups. There is so much happening so fast, a mistake is easily made. I know I made plenty of them..
Then again locals taking things in their own hands by blocking.., there is a reason why in sports the referee is not on one of the competing teams

[dtc]

Surf simply, who do the good training videos, also do a podcast. Their most recent talks about etiquette in the line up. Worth a listen - rule no 1 is 'don't collide'

On iTunes and their website

[Big H]

Surf simply, who do the good training videos, also do a podcast. Their most recent talks about etiquette in the line up. Worth a listen - rule no 1 is 'don't collide'

On iTunes and their website

Excellent rule and glad that it is committed to podcast so that the knowledge can be shared....

[Lebowski]

No, you wrote an opinion based on prior negative experiences with localism. If you read what I wrote your have been properly outraged that not on one but toro separate occasions two days running I was involved in different degrees in collisions due to stubborn kooky tourists dropping in and going TOWARDS the pocket when there was a rider already up and coming down the line at them. ............................................................................Respect and sharing? Hah, not in these lineups. You have to have a bag of tricks to get a wave some days.

My opinion is based only on what you have written in this thread.

I'm not going to be outraged by your collision because from what you had written before, it sounded like you were part of the problem. If you'd already taken two previous waves while he watched, why not let him go on this one? Yes you stood up first due to the longboard vs shortboard paddling advantage, but that doesn't give you right of way if he's been waiting.

I surfed Kuta today with the usual group on the main peak....we were all blocking for each other and keeping the tourists with no respect off the main peak and down the breach....two drop in free hours....your wave is your wave...localism with no confrontation....bliss.

So were you allowing 'tourists' with respect to take their fair share of waves aswell, or were you just blocking all non locals? And how do you determine who has respect?

I'm not trying to be argumentative here and I'm well aware of the situation at Kuta, but it sounds like you could just relax a little and be involved in less trouble. I know a few Balinese guys and some of them also have a very negative attitude towards tourists (despite being totally reliant on tourist based income). One of them put a photo on facebook last week where he was dropping in on a tourist. Someone commented 'Drop in!', and he responded 'It's ok, tourists aren't real surfers'.