Helping scoring in January

[Mickyb]

Hey all,
Looking for some decent barrels in January. Leaving Sydney Australia and not wanting to spend more than 12hrs flight time.
Keen for some decent not huge barrels without having to fight for em.
Any suggestions would be great.
Thanks

[BaNZ]

I'd guess the closest would be SE Asia. Some where like Bali.

[Mickyb]

I did think Bali but then I heard it gets pretty crowded and a few other negatives.
Can anyone tell me what it's like?
The other alternative may be Philippines or Lombok.

[Big H]

January is hit and miss around here....rainy season and can be flat for several days in a row.

[jaffa1949]

What he said, it is the rainy season for all of the Indonesian archipelago and all the river discharge a years worth of garbage and effluent into the sea,

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Lombok is no different. Swells are hit or miss.
The prospects of surf are such that all the boat charters are doing their maintenance and seaworthy checks in dock. Indo prime time is really April to October.
Similarly the Maldives swell season is similar.
Don't know what the Philippines is like during that period.
You could seriously consider PNG as that is the working time for its surf window.

[Caine]

For Indo you may be want to try North Sumatra.
Not much info on the net but it is to be said, that there is reliable surf.
Second tip would be the soutwest coast of Sri Lanka.
January is the prime surfing season for this part of the land.
I guess waves are most likely more soft than what you used to, but very consistent on the other side.

[Big H]

Depending on the area, filthy doesn't even begin to describe.....used syringes and other medical waste mixed with dead animals and general garbage washes up daily and paddle outs include breaks to clear the garbage that wraps around the leg rope....bad enough that I paddle out sometimes with the leg rope tucked under so that there are no snags....rainy season really does mean that the islands culverts, ditches, estuaries, and any other runoff areas or hillsides are flushed by constant rains and all the garbage that has collected in said areas over the last 6 dry months is summarily washed out to sea....and beaches.....

[BaNZ]

So you're saying it is like this?

[jaffa1949]

Yep in some places,