The Bukit | PALU | BALI INDONESIA

Dreamland Homestay is situated at Dreamland which is on the “ Bukit “ (bukit means “hill”). The Bukit is bali’s southern peninsula and is famous for it spectacular beaches and surf breaks. You can drive to the “Bukit” via the main highway/bypass south to Nusa Dua. The bukit has more than 30 kilometers of jagged and curving coastline and has at least ten world class surf spots worth checking out. Whatever the prevailing wind and swell conditions one can find a break that is offshore and lining up. Some of its better known breaks like, Padang-Padang, Nusa Dua and Uluwatu, are only for the the hard core surfer but other breaks like dreamland, balangan or greenballs (when the surf is small) are simply fun.

Balangan and Dreamland are amongst the most picturesque surf spots on the bukit.

Balangan beach is a beautiful little cove which has been earmarked for resort development, but for now is still serene. Traditional style huts line the beach and the surf can get really good, which makes this spot a great hang-out place for a day. Surfwise, Balangan features a usually soft left that breaks off a lava stone headland and zippers down the secluded beach. It needs swell, but not much. If Uluwatu is four feet Balangan will start breaking, and during strong swells, say six to eight feet and up, the wave here can get very classy. On most good days it is simply too fast, providing a speed run section and a final and brutal pounding. On certain mid tide days, however, it can be super bagus. Dead low tide days accompanied by a smaller swell tend to generate a Bingin type wave. Just around Balangan’s southern headland and down the coast a bit lies another idyllic surfing beach that has been romantically named Dreamland.

Dreamland is an A-frame peak break that provides one with a short righthander and an even longer left. The righthander features a good drop and some wall, before it mushes out into a chanel. It doesn’t hollow out much, but does give up the occasional barrel. Beware though, as most seemingly easy barrels can end up clamping shut. The left is a different story. Much longer and hollower with a tasty barrel section just off the take off. Following that takeoff, the wave quickly winds down the reef with a lined up wall, and if you are lucky and well positioned, you might score another tube before the dream stops!. One good thing you don’t have to worry about here is hitting the bottom. The water here is very deep, even at dead low tide, so this makes for a slow moving, heavy water peak and late drops-ins. Unfortunatly, developers have moved into dreamland and the once fun, hippy hangout is no longer. Luckily, the surf remains the same, and can still be enjoyed by all.

Next on our trip around the bukit is “ Bingin”.

Bingin , a leisurely stroll down the beach from dreamland, is yet another one of those nearly mechanically perfect waves that have made Indonesia a land of surfing renown. When it is happening, it is a perfectly lined up left hander that dashes over a shallow reef, spills on down the line and feeds you a fast shutdown end section over dry reef. Bingin is not a long wave ride, but it is famous for its consistent and finely tuned barrels. It’s like, if you can’t get barreled here, then you can’t get barreled anywhere.

Next is “ Imposibles “. This break is about a kilometer down the coast from Bingin and just to the right and inside ( facing seaward ) of the famed Padang-Padang headland and point break. The imposibles reef shows three definite peaks most of the time.

Whilst you are surfing imposible, you can look south and see padang-padang breaking, it lures you over there, but beware!

Padang-Padang is often referred to as “ The Balinese Pipline”. It is vicious left hander that tubes into the channel here. Water literally seethes off the reef here in the wake of pulsing wave sets that wrap around the Padang-Padang headland like an unfurled oriental fan. When this place is up to par it is posibly the most intense wave on the island of Bali.

The most popular surf break, which also means most crowded break on bali would have to be Uluwatu.

Famous Uluwatu or Ulu’s has a number of excellent surf breaks.

The peak rises just to the left side of Uluwatu’s famous beach cave. The peak’s left peels off splendidly through makable section until it just about reaches the front of the Ulu cave. At this point the wave usually ends, although a solid set wave may see you right through with a total barrel section. If the swell is strong, watch out here! Just to the right of the paddle-out cave is another spot called Racetrack. During a mid/low tide this particular wave produces long-running walls of water and “racetrack” style surfing conditions. Other things produced by these waves are a fierce and unrelenting shorepound and a savage wave surge near the paddle out zone. Time paddle outs here carefully.

If you haven’t yet gotten your fill of Bukit buckets, then continue on down to its south coast and check out Nyang-Nyang.

Nyang-Nyang catches nearly any swell. Most of the time it is big, fast and closed out, so the best time to surf N-N is when the rest of bali is relatively flat. Indeed, if it is flat at Nyang-Nyang, then you can basically forget about surfing in Bali, period, on that particular day. Southeast trades are onshore, and westerlies are sideshore, so early morning dawn patrols and after rain glassy session are recommended here. Five foot is max before close outs. Optimum tide is high.

From Nyang-Nyang head east, as a garuda flies, to the Bali Cliff Hotel, then turn off to the left side of the hotel before you reach its entrance. From a parking lot there walk around to a grand cliff staircase that accordions on down to the beach. From here you can gaze at waves as at Nyang-Nyang, the hike down and up here is a bitch, but if the wave here is working it is worth the huffing and sweating involved. In fact, you’ll probably find your self flying up and down the many stairs here if you catch Green Balls on a day when it is smoking.

Greenballs setup is a shifty deep water right which first cranks up fast, then winds down slow, and, finally, provides a grinding bowl section at the edge of a chanel. Green Balls catches the same swell you will see at Nusa Dua, but because it faces south, like Nyang-Nyang, southeasterlies are onshore and westerlies are sideshore. Glassiness and rare north winds are best here.

Smack in front of abeach that is literally studded with five star resort hotels is not where you’d expect to find one of Bali’s premier righthand reef breaks, but surprise! That’s exactly what you find at the south end of the Nusa Dua Beach resort complex. What we have here is a sometimes overwhelming and lengthy break simply called Nusa Dua. This place can comfortably handle waves up to 12 feet no problem.

Last on our Bukit surfing jaunt is Srilanka, a snappy righthander that coughs and spits in front of the Club Med Bali at the northernend of the Nusa Dua resort strip. Sri lanka is one of the special treats of the Bali’s wet season, and though it’s not a long ride, this wave is not short on hollowness.
On a good day at sri lanka ( nobody knows why it was named “Sri Lanka”), you can get fully barreled-sometimes all the way from take off and on through to the kick out channel. The final section here tends to snap shut, but it can also remain wide open and sucking. Sri lanka regulars patiently wait and pray for such days.