Earlier this year, Karina (who is part of our lovely BGSC community) spent 3 months traveling around Indonesia, island hopping and catching the waves (and wipeouts!) of her life. She shared her experiences with BGSC to help you plan your own trip and give you something to mind surf in the meantime.
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A bit about me
Hi, I’m Karina, an intermediate surfer in my early 30s. I grew up on a cattle farm in rural Australia (no surfing, alas!) and began learning to surf shortly after I moved to Bristol 6 years ago.
Surfboard history
- First board: 8’0 Surfworx Banshee foamie, 86L
- First hardboard: 8’0 Cortez Prism Fugitive, 61L
- Current board: 7’2 Lost Libtech Crowd Killer, 52L
- Indo board (’borrowed’ from my partner’s quiver!): 6’8 Channel Islands M23, 42L
My next goal is to move onto a smaller board and learn to duck dive!
Karina in Indonesia
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My trip
We spent 3 months in Indonesia from March to May 2025. I took a sabbatical from my job, whilst my partner Lloyd worked remotely. Our friend Zara (who you will recognise from this year's BGSC Advisory Committee) came out to join us on holiday for the last 2 weeks of the trip. We had a phenomenal time and would recommend Indonesia to surfing tourists; it’s beautiful, the locals are so lovely, and the surfing is sensational! It also has insanely good internet coverage, we got better internet speeds than most places in Bristol!
Surf spots
We surfed on Bali, Lombok, and a couple of more remote island locations. We travelled via a mixture of car, ferry and plane.
Favourite moment
We had some really dreamy tropical surf sessions, but a particular one comes to mind: it was a beautiful blue-sky morning, glassy conditions, crystal clear water, peeling waves, and in the lulls there were turtles swimming through the lineup. We also spotted a pod of dolphins playing far out to sea, flipping their tails out and playing around. Absolute magic, a session and feeling I will always remember.
Favourite anecdote
A favourite memory from the trip is of Zara’s first wave after joining us. We got a boat to a right hand reef break, and when we got there the waves were overhead, with 20 hungry surfers in the lineup. After joining the lineup and anxiously waiting her turn, Zara then begins paddling for an enormous wave.. The whole lineup was quiet as we held our breath, watching her paddle on and pop-up.. as she made it and rode down the line we all erupted into cheers and “yewwws!” as she flew past us. Total respect for Zara being so brave and sending it on her first wave! Yasss! I loved how total strangers were cheering her on too.
Karina’s best ever wave (she was shaking after this one!)
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Would I recommend it?
Absolutely, Indonesia is a fantastic place for a surf holiday. Which islands to visit depends on what you are looking for.
Bali/Lombok cater to all surfing abilities and are very popular destinations for reasons other than surfing. They offer all of the holiday comforts and conveniences, like a multitude of cafes/restaurants/bars, shopping, spas, surf camps/schools/rentals, hostels, co-working spaces, tourist attractions, and so on. Lots of other activities to do if the surfing conditions are unsuitable. The lineups tend to be very busy (typical surfs involve a lineup of 30-200 surfers, often with surf schools pushing on guests which can destroy the lineup etiquette).
The other island locations we went to are relatively undeveloped and most tourists there are there for surfing only. There are generally no surf camps/schools/rentals, limited accommodation/food options, no bars/clubs, no nearby medical facilities, etc. The quietness can make it harder to meet other travellers. The surf spots are less forgiving (sharp reefs, strong currents, faster waves) and are generally suited to more advanced surfers. I would only recommend other islands outside of peak season (when the waves are less likely to be massive), and to those that are at least an intermediate surfer (to make some generalisations: those with a solid pop up, consistently surf the Advanced setting at the Wave, and can paddle out and catch their own waves in the ocean). The lineups are less crowded (typical surfs involve a lineup of 15-50 surfers) and can be very competitive.
There are many many more surf location options than where we visited on our trip! Sometimes the options and research feels overwhelming, and many aspects are outside of your control (swell, wind, busy-ness, fellow travellers, etc). So if you do go, make sure that you are open to curveballs and things not being how you expected them to be - it’s part of the experience!
In particular, please don’t travel anywhere for surfing expecting “uncrowded” lineups; if you know about a specific location, then so do many other keen surfers! Sometimes uncrowded sessions happen, and when they do they are glorious, but they are not the standard case. So get comfortable with lineups, smile and chat to other surfers, and relish the shared joy of this silly sport we love so much.
One of Karina’s many wipeouts (internal commentary: “errrggghhh”)
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Evidence that we did a few things other than surfing (not going to lie, it was mostly surfing)
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Keep an eye out for part 2 of Karina's Indonesian Adventure 👀
If you're part of the BGSC community and would like to share one of your surf stories too, drop us a message on our contact form. We'd love to hear from you!