The Bali region is blessed with many high quality surf breaks, several of which have international notoriety. And with waves to suit all skill levels, on both reef and sand bottoms, you’ll find a wave to suit what you want on Bali. Keep in mind, the prime swell season is from May to October, and this is when theres potential for big 15ft waves, and winds during this time are generally south east. During wet season, swells are fewer and far between, and dont reach the heights of dry season. Winds during wet season are also straight west predominantly. The wet season also sees a lot of ocean plastic wash up on the west coast.
The best known spots are Uluwatu and Padang Padang, both offer high quality left hand barrels, but also get quite crowded. Canggu also has some good spots on offer, as does Nusa Dua and Sanur. And believe it or not, you can still find your self quality low crowd waves, its simply a matter of exploring!
Keep in mind, the further north you go on the east and west coast, the less the swell will reach the coast, and no waves on offer on the north.
Gili T has a bit of a wave on its southern tip, best during dry season with a light morning wind. Nusa Lembongan has several great spots to surf on its west coast, tho most are about 500m off the beach, there is water taxis who will take you out and bring you back for 60k, or try to paddle it. Keep in mind, currents do get strong, so consider after a 4 hour session, if paddling back against the current is something you want to do. There is also a bit of a left hand point break on the south west of Nusa Ceningan, but offers little in the way of performance rides.
And Lombok has some places worth checking out, the most notorious of which is desert point! A fast but quite perfect left hander. You’ll also find waves on the central west coast just past Mataram, and a few spots around Kuta and Gerupuk on the south coast.
And one final factor to consider, Bali can see very big tidal movement, sometimes as much as 2.5m in a 6 hour period! SO obviously this plays a big role in wave quality, some spots like Uluwatu can handle it, other spots like the beginners playground at Batu Bolong (Canggu) can not as the reef goes DRY, and others such as Padang Padang and the sandbar at Echo work best on a mid tide.
To see some examples of the different waves on offer, check out some of my videos below, shot at various locations and sizes.
Balangan, near Uluwatu on a very decent size swell.
Shipwrecks, the northern most surf break on Nusa Lembongan.
Echo Beach, Canggu, which is just a little way north from Kuta on Bali.
Keramas can be found on Bali’s east coast, just a little way north from Sanur.
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