Category: surf in bali

As you’re already pumped to get started with your first (or maybe 10th surf lesson), you can easily forget to do some warm up exercises to ensure your body is primed and ready for the action to come. Warming up before you get on your surfboard is crucial for preventing your risk of injury, as well as improving your performance on your board. Importance and Benefits of Warming Up There are a few benefits of warming up before any type of physical activity, such as: Improved Performance During exercise, the blood flow to your muscles increases by 75%. This ensures the capillaries (or blood vessels) open up, allowing your muscles’ temperature top increase. As a result, more oxygen is released which will help you perform better on your board. Improved Oxygen When you are working out or taking part in any physically demanding activity, your muscles require oxygen. When you’re warming up, the oxygen is released more easily. Improved Blood Flow When you warm up for about ten minutes, your blood vessels open up, this will help put less stress on your heart. Increase Muscle Contraction During a warm up, your body’s temperature rises which helps improve nerve transmission and your muscle metabolism, which results in better performance. Preventing Injury Warm muscles contract and release better, reducing your risk of injury. Hormones During a warm up, your body produces more hormones, like cortisol, which helps regulate your body’s energy production. Focus Your Thoughts During the warm up, your mind will start to focus more on the activity at hand, thus ensuring you’re focused when you’re ready to start with your surf lesson. Dynamic Warm up Dynamic warm ups are a great way to effectively warm up your muscles and are usually better than static stretching. With dynamic stretching, you stretch through a range of motion. At Surf Bali, our surf instructors incorporate a few dynamic stretches in the warm up. To start, our learners will do a short jog to get their blood pumping. Then we’ll form a circle and do the following: Arm swingsLeg swingsAnkle rotationsArm stretchesJog in one placeUpper body rotationsBodyweight squatsNeck rolls/stretching We try to include various warm up exercises to ensure we warm up our bodies from our heads to our toes! In conclusion, ensuring you properly prepare your body for an intense exercise like surfing, you’ll decrease your chances of obtaining an injury, like pulling a muscle! Remember to cool down as well to allow your heart rate to get back to normal. Try walking at a slow pace on the beach or do some static stretches. Start SurfingWant to take your first surfing lesson? Our team at Indopurejoy Surf School of Surf will ensure you have an unforgettable surf experience! Get in touch to book your lessons.    

Bali’s First Surfers, In the dry season of 1936, two young Americans traveled from Singapore to Bali by steamship, introducing themselves to their fellow guests at the Bali Hotel in Denpasar as Robert and Louise Koke. In fact Louise was the wife of the distinguished but drunken and philandering Hollywood screenwriter Oliver H.P. Garrett (A Farewell To Arms, Duel In The Sun). The previous year Garrett’s affairs had become too much for Louise, so she embarked on one of her own with the handsome tennis coach and stills photographer Bob Koke, who often hung around the Garrett’s Beverly Hills estate coaching Oliver and his pals David Selznick and Charlie Chaplin. It may have even been Chaplin, after visiting Bali in 1932, who planted the idea of the island paradise in Bob Koke’s head. But when he stole off with Louise, that was where they ended up, and soon decided to stay. In her 1942 memoir Our Hotel In Bali, Louise Koke (she had married Bob in 1941) recalled: “On the second or third day we were having drinks on the veranda and who should show up but a dumpy woman in a sarong, horn-rimmed glasses, black hair, and she spoke English. She rented us a car and … showed us Kuta Beach.” The woman was the wildly eccentric Britisher Muriel Pearsen, known in Bali as K’tut Tantri—and as a professional troublemaker—but the Kokes fell madly in love with the broad expanse of Kuta Beach and formed an unlikely business partnership with Tantri to create the Kuta Beach Hotel, the first tourist hotel anywhere along Bali’s southern coast. Top Left: The Kuta Beach Hotel served as the island’s original surf accommodations, spawning a copycat of the same name in its early years Photo: Robert Koke. Bottom Left: Bob Koke on the lawn of the Kuta Beach Hotel. Photo: Louise Koke. Right: Hotel workers with the boards they used for surfing lesson Photo: Robert Koke. Bob Koke, 26 at the time, was a tall, slim, very fit man who studied at UCLA before getting a job in the production department at MGM, where one of his first assignments was to travel to Hawaii as assistant to director King Vidor on the 1932 film Bird of Paradise, starring Dolores Del Rio. Although he had grown up not far from the beach, this was Koke’s first real experience of surf culture, and he loved it. Soon he was riding big redwood surfboards alongside the beach boys at Waikiki. Now, while he and Louise sat up late at night drawing plans for their hotel over gin and tonic, Bob wired to Hawaii for his redwood plank to be sent by freighter. Bob Koke’s photos of the relaxed dinner parties and drinks sessions on the lawn of the Kuta Beach Hotel (now the site of the Hard Rock Hotel) paint a familiar scene, although the custom-made bamboo furniture owes more to the Hawaiian lanai style than to traditional Balinese. But that was really where the Kokes pioneered the concept of the Bali resort, offering a combination of the exotic and the familiar. Part of the Kokes’ package was the surfing experience. Bob had recognized immediately the wave-riding potential of Kuta Beach, and even before his own board arrived he worked with his yard staff to carve out a couple of shorter wooden boards in the Hawaiian alaia style, sensibly thinking that they could be used by guests with no experience to ride either standing or prone. When his own board finally arrived, Koke showed his young Balinese employees how it could be ridden on the Kuta Beach breaks. Koke, no master himself, couldn’t get his boys up and riding on the big board, but they soon became proficient enough on the shorter boards to guide guests through the thrill of a glide along a surging wave. The Kokes had all kinds of takers for their surfing lesson, including at least one elderly aristocratic dowager, as Louise later wrote: “Down from the hotel came Lady Hartelby, in a severe black bathing suit, her stern English features lit with determination. My heart sank. Only a few days before she would have drowned in a deep and turbulent spot had not Bob been there to grab her. She could not swim, she was nearing 70, and now she wanted to go surfing. I tried to dissuade her but the undaunted spirit of the British Empire won … Over and over I pushed Lady Hartelby off, until she was carried all the way to shore, more than enough for the first day. But not enough for Lady Hartelby. Though she was worn out, she struggled back for more…” By the end of 1937 the Kokes and K’tut Tantri were at war over a number of issues and she moved into a bungalow on the other side of the sandy beach lane and opened her own hotel, which she also called the Kuta Beach Hotel, although most people knew it as Manx’s Rooms and Bungalows. The Kokes went to court to try to stop her, and were still in litigation when the Japanese were poised to invade in 1942. Ahead of the occupation, Tantri fled to Java, where she became a collaborator with the Japanese, known on the airwaves as “Surabaya Sue,” while Louise took passage for California and Bob joined the US Army, before being recruited to the CIA. Immediately after the war Bob Koke returned to Kuta Beach, and found that his hotel had been burned to the ground. The only souvenirs of those years were his surfboards, which are still in Bali today. When Louise died in 1993, Bob came back to Kuta for a final time to scatter her ashes in the waves of the beach she loved so much, an old man wading into the surf with a small jar, unrecognized by the surfers speeding by him as the father of surfing in Bali. Phil Jarratt’s latest book Bali: Heaven and Hell—excerpted in issue 24.4 …

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“Why are surfers so mean?” – believe it or not, but this is a commonly used Google search term. The reason why surfers can sometimes seem mean or angry, is because their frustration towards other surfers, especially beginners, comes from others breaching the surf etiquette. Imagine you’re out in traffic driving a car and someone cuts you off by running a red light, almost causing an accident- it’s frustrating and dangerous, right? In the surf lineup, breaches of surf etiquette can feel just as reckless. For example, imagine paddling hard for a wave, only for someone to drop in front of you when it’s your turn, ruining the ride you worked for and creating a potential collision. This kind of behaviour disrupts the flow of surfing and can lead to frustration among surfers, and that’s why you need to learn surf etiquette to make sure you avoid causing these types of situations.  1. Observe right of way In surfing, the “right of way” refers to the established priority given to a surfer in the surf lineup to catch a wave. The general rule is that the surfer closest to the breaking part of the wave (the so called “peak”) has the right of way. This principle helps maintain order in the water and reduces the risk of collisions. 2. Don’t drop-in A “drop-in” refers to catching a wave in front of another surfer who already has the right of way or is in the process of riding that wave. It’s considered a breach of surf etiquette and is seen as disrespectful. The surfer with the right of way has priority, and dropping in on them can lead to collisions, frustration, and a disrupted flow in the surf lineup. To avoid drop-ins and adhere to the rules of surfing, you should wait your turn and not paddle for a wave that another surfer is already riding.  3. Don’t snake First of all, you’re probably wondering: “what is snaking in surfing?”. Valid question! The term “snaking” in surfing refers when a surfer maneuvers around another surfer in the surf lineup, aiming to position themselves more favourably to catch a wave. Essentially, it involves paddling around someone who is already in the process of selecting or catching a wave. This behaviour is considered inconsiderate and goes against the principles of surf etiquette and the rules of surfing. 4. Don’t throw your board Beginners or less experienced surfers might throw their boards unintentionally due to a lack of control or understanding of how to handle the board properly. Throwing a surfboard is generally discouraged in the surfing community for several reasons. A thrown surfboard can pose a serious safety risk to both the person throwing it and others in the water. The board can be unpredictable in its trajectory, potentially causing injury if it hits someone. Instead of throwing your board when a breaking wave is approaching you can push through the wave or to a turtle roll- learn how to do that in this lesson. 5. Don’t get in the way of other surfers when paddling back to the surf lineup While paddling back out to the surf lineup, practicing good surf etiquette includes “going wide of the break.” In surfing, this term emphasizes the importance of positioning yourself or paddling away from the area where the waves are breaking. By doing so, you not only follow a fundamental rule of surf etiquette but also avoid the risk of getting in the way of other surfers who might be riding waves or are patiently waiting for their turn. If you’re paddling back out and observe a fellow surfer catching a wave, it’s crucial to consider surf etiquette. Adjust your path to steer clear of any potential interference. Rather than heading directly towards them, choose a direction that ensures they won’t be in your path as you get closer. Move to the section of the wave they’ve already surfed, positioning yourself behind them.

1. Surfboard equipment Surfing equipment for beginners includes a stable foam surfboard like this one, leash, and fins. Some boards include fins and a leash when you buy them. Also, grab surfboard wax for grip, a wax comb to apply and remove wax, and a bag for protection during travel or storage. Surfboard A beginner surfboard should be stable and easy to paddle, making it easier to catch waves and maintain balance. Look for a board with a larger volume, such as a foam board. Surfboard leash A surfboard leash keeps your board attached to your ankle, preventing it from drifting away after a wipeout. For beginners, a longer leash is recommended. Surfboard fins Surfboard fins help with stability and maneuverability, providing control and direction when riding waves. Beginners should opt for a tri-fin setup, which offers more balance and stability. Surfboard bag A surfboard bag protects your board from dings and UV damage during transport and storage. Choose a bag with sufficient padding to ensure your board stays in top condition. Surfboard wax Surfboard wax is applied to the deck of the board to provide traction and prevent slipping. It’s essential to use the right type of wax for the water temperature to ensure optimal grip. Wax comb A wax comb is used to roughen up the wax on your board, enhancing its grip and removing old, dirty wax. It’s an essential tool for maintaining the effectiveness of your surfboard wax. 2. Wetsuit equipment Wetsuit equipment is necessary for cold water surfing. The type of wetsuit to choose depends on the water temperature. In very cold conditions, booties, gloves, and a hood are also good surfing equipment for beginners. Wetsuit and rashguard Wetsuits provide insulation from cold water, while rashguards offer sun protection and reduce chafing. Choose a wetsuit or rashguard appropriate to the water temperature. Wetsuit booties Booties keep your feet warm and protected from sharp objects like rocks and reefs. Look for booties with a sturdy sole and snug fit to ensure comfort and prevent water from entering. Wetsuit gloves Wetsuit gloves provide warmth and grip when surfing in cold water. Select gloves with insulation appropriate for the water temperature and a flexible design for ease of movement. Wetsuit hood A wetsuit hood covers your head and neck, providing additional warmth and protection from cold water and wind. Consider getting a wetsuit hood if you’ll be surfing in colder water. 3. Surfing accessories Surfing equipment for beginners does not just come down to surfboards and wetsuits – there are also essential accessories to consider. Items like earplugs and sunscreen will enhance your surfing experience and protect your health while enjoying the waves. Surfing earplugs Earplugs help prevent water from entering your ears. Earplugs are essential to protect against surfer’s ear, a common condition caused by prolonged exposure to cold water and wind. Towel poncho A towel poncho is a convenient accessory for changing in and out of your wetsuit at the beach. It offers privacy and warmth and it’s a cozy cover-up after a day in the water. Surf change mat A surf change mat provides a clean and dry surface for changing in and out of your wetsuit, helping to keep sand and dirt out of your wetsuit. Surf sunscreen Surf sunscreen is specifically formulated to withstand water and sweat, providing long-lasting protection against harmful UV rays. It’s crucial to choose a surf-appropriate sunscreen.

First time surfing? Take a surfing lesson! Many beginners might be tempted to grab a board, head to the beach, and figure it out as they go. While there’s a sense of adventure in that approach, it can also lead to frustration and a slower learning curve- trust me, I’ve been there. For your first time surfing, my top tip is to take a surfing lesson. Here’s why a surfing lesson should be your number one priority for your first time surfing: 5 reasons to take a surfing lesson your first time surfing 1. Safety first Surfing, like any water sport, comes with risks. A professional instructor can teach you how to navigate the waves safely, read the ocean’s currents, and avoid potential hazards. They’ll also ensure you know how to handle your board in various situations, which is crucial for yours’ and others’ safety. 2. Learn proper technique Learning to surf isn’t just about standing on a board; it’s about balance, paddling, timing, and wave selection. A surfing lesson provides you with the fundamental techniques to get you up and riding faster, and with more control. 3. Get equipment guidance Understanding the what is the right surfboard, wetsuit, and other gear for your skill level and local conditions is crucial. In a lesson, you’ll get recommendations tailored to your specific needs, saving you from making costly mistakes. You can learn more about beginner surfing equipment in this post. 4. Ensure efficient progress and get a confidence boost Surfing can be challenging, and frustration can set in quickly if you’re not progressing. A qualified instructor will give you immediate feedback, helping you correct mistakes and improve, which can be a game-changer for your learning curve. In addition to that, a surfing lesson boosts your confidence. Knowing you have the guidance of an experienced instructor can help calm those pre-surf jitters and keep you focused on having fun. 5. Find people to surf with Surfing lessons aren’t just about riding waves; they’re also about making new friends who love the ocean as much as you do. So, taking a lesson is your ticket to meeting fellow beginner surfers that you can bond with and learn to surf together with.