Destination: Bali

"We'd discovered the biggest candy store for surf there could ever be."
-Surfing pioneer Gerry Lopez, talking about the discovery of Bali in the 1970s.

The time has come for one of the most coveted surfing pilgrimages known to man. On June 4th Jordan and I will be traveling to the Indonesian island of Bali for what will likely be the trip of a lifetime. We will return to Sydney on June 14th, just in time to prepare for final exams. Words can hardly even begin to describe how I feel.

Planning this adventure had been on both of our minds since we arrived in Australia, and when the opportunity arose to book an affordable flight a few weeks back, we seized the moment. There was no point in waiting around any longer and continuing to dream about how awesome it would be to go to Bali. Thus, we decided to make that dream a reality.

In case you don't know much about the island of Bali, it's widely recognized as one of the world's top surfing destinations, and has even been referred to as "The Disneyland of surfing." As one of the 17,000 islands that comprise the Republic of Indonesia, Bali is home to over 3 million people, 90 percent of whom adhere to Hinduism. Compared to Australia, prices are incredibly cheap in Bali, making it one of the most popular tourist destinations for traveling Australians. Besides world class surfing, Bali also offers beautiful beaches, exotic wildlife, bargain shopping, and active nightlife. That being said, this will be a surfing intensive trip, so we won't have much time for anything besides eating, sleeping, and of course, surfing.

In terms of the waves, the southern portion of the island receives consistent swell nearly all year round, due to the fact that both its east and west coasts are exposed to the Indian ocean. It features a wide variety of waves to choose from, ranging from expert reef breaks to beginner beach breaks. On top of that, the island sits near the equator, so both the water and air temperatures remain warm all year. I checked the weather yesterday and it said that both the air and water temperatures were around 84 degrees, which would be the warmest ocean water I've ever been in. The photograph from above is a stunning view of the lineup at Uluwatu, one of Bali's most iconic reef breaks, located on the west side of Bali's southern peninsula. The island is littered with barreling waves, all of which are easily accessible within a short drive.

We're currently working out the specific logistics of our trip, but we'll likely be staying around the Kuta beach area for the first couple nights after we arrive. We've bought an Indonesian surfing guidebook as well as a Lonely Planet guidebook for Bali in order to help us do a bit of research. The overall plan at the moment is to warm up with some of the beach breaks and then make our way toward some of the reef and point breaks. There are plenty of waves to choose from in Bali, so we should have plenty of fun no matter where we surf. I'll have more information about the trip once we get closer to departure. If you know of anyone who has been to Bali, definitely let me know, as I'm trying to gather as much information as possible.