Surfing Padang Padang, Bali 🇮🇩
Right after me and my wife Veronika scheduled our trip to Indonesia in August, we knew that the thing that we had been looking forward to the most was surfing on the shores of Bali. We are newbie surfers. We had only surfed once before in Lanzarote. We picked Padang Padang beach in Uluwatu because it is beginner friendly. It also has a gentle rip current acting as a channel that helps you get into the ocean fairly quickly without fighting the waves and ducking them. We had hired a local instructor who could help us enhance our balance and catch the waves. We had a short theory refresher, and we hopped straight into the water.
Indian ocean hitting the cliffs of Uluwatu, Balu
I was quite anxious, the ocean was stuffed with many surfers, and I was afraid of crashing into others. Veronika and our instructor paddled way ahead of me while I struggled to catch up with them because of my inefficient paddling. Soon we were in the surf zone. There were dozens of surfers around us, waiting for the next swell. It was Veronika’s turn. While she was trying to catch the first wave, I still fought with the ocean to stay balanced on my board. She caught the wave and managed to ride it well without falling. An excellent start of the day for her.
Padang Padang beach
Now, it was my turn. My heartbeat was ramping up. It was my first time on the deep end of the ocean to catch a fairly high wave. Soon an incoming wave swelled up. I performed all the choreographed steps and managed to stand on the board. However, my joy lasted only a few seconds because two surfers showed up right in front of my board, and I quickly bounced off while the board rammed into them. That was a really poor start and a very embarrassing one, even though it was not my fault because as per general instructions, surfers were not supposed to hang around in the breaking zone.
I quickly collected myself and got hold of my board. Thankfully both the folks were fine. I began paddling back into the channel to catch my next wave. On my way back to the surf zone, I wondered - “what am I doing here? This is so hard…but also, quite exciting“. At the same time, I saw Veronika riding another wave gracefully. She was having the time of her life; at least, that’s what it looked like from a distance. I was ready to ride the second wave. The wave started to swell up, I started paddling and smoothly lifted off the board again. This time I managed to ride the wave without crashing into somebody until it finally broke. That was my first green wave, and it was a freeing experience. That feeling lasts for mere seconds, but it’s so fulfilling. The moment you are standing on the board, your mind stops wandering, and the only thing it is focusing on is trying to keep you balanced. It is breathtaking, and I could compare it to meditation despite the two activities being very different from the outside.
Riding the green waves for the first time at Padang Padang
After that, I managed to ride a handful of waves, and I enjoyed it until that one wave crashed so hard that I hit the reef under the ocean and bruised my palm. It was not too bad, and I came out of the water, gasping for air. While I was trying to get on top of my board, I spotted myself in the impact zone of another wave that was coming hard at me. I braced for impact, took one last breath and let myself be thrown around by the wave. “It’s washing machine time”, I said to myself. I was so sure that I was going to hit my head on the reef. In such situations, a couple of seconds feel like minutes, and no matter how much you try to stay calm, your heartbeat goes through the roof. I finally managed to come out again and started gasping for air. I quickly paddled out of the impact zone before the third wave crashed. At this point, I was sure I was going to die if I were to be crashed by another wave. Getting caught in the wipeout zone can quickly become life-threatening. Luckily, I managed to paddle to the beach when I finally took some rest.
It is funny how quickly your mind can forget the bad parts and just takes away the good ones from any experience. Right after a few hours of our surfing session, I found it so fulfilling that I took on this activity and was already wondering when will I do it again. I would be lying if I’d not admit that I feared for my life out there, but would I do it again? Definitely. I’ll take a step back, go for some smaller waves, and feel more comfortable before going back to the size of the waves that we had here in Padang Padang.
