I bought a surf lesson online to surf 2 hours at the beach in Canggu (Bali) during February. This is around the area of Old Man’s – which is both the name of a bar, as well as a surf break at the beach in front. I’ll link to a few Bali quality surf classes at the bottom of this post. But for now, lets get into what you could expect during a surfing lesson, to be better prepared.
Contents
The Bali Surf Lesson
If you haven’t surfed in a while, you don’t need more than 2 hours to recap the concepts and get back into it. Even if you’re a total beginner, 2 hours is definitely long enough for a first lesson.
The waves in Canggu are not the most basic in the world. Kuta looked like more tame waves for the complete beginner. Canggu (Batu Bolong) waves are a little more powerful.
There are different beaches and spots at every neighborhood in Bali. Thus Canggu, Kuta, Uluwatu and so on, can be subdivided into a few different surf spots along the coast line. So you can’t over-generalize.
On that day, there was even a 9 or 10 year old girl with her surf coach, riding the waves. Thus, its reasonably safe to surf over here. The main risk is collisions with other surfers.
Collision Course
While in the water next to my own board, a woman was riding a wave and speeding directly in my direction, with her on top of her board.
I held out my arm and managed to stop the board solely with my arm (the arm was a little sore afterwards, but I could continue surfing). Days like these I do feel grateful that I work out at the gym. As without my gym routine, my arms may have been too weak to simply stop her surf board in its tracks while it was speeding towards me.
According to the surf coach, ideally you’d dive down underwater below the approaching board’s fins. But there was no time. It happened in a split-second. Plus, something tells me this may not be the best idea, unless you’re a pro. Because what will happen if the fins of the board hits your head if you don’t dive “deep enough”? I’d rather take the possibility of a light shoulder sprain rather than the risk of a cut to the head.
Bad Fall
The other uncomfortable moment was when I got onto a powerful wave, then fell off and had a bad fall.
In Cape Town I’ve never really had a bad fall, as Surfer’s Corner is extremely beginner friendly. But in this case, my back fell flat on the ocean. It hurt a little for a while (although its definitely not an injury).
Ironically, it was only 1 or 2 minutes after this when the girl on the surfboard was speeding in my direction. So I had 3 minutes of bad luck. But the rest of the surf was really good.
Afterwards I asked the coach about falling while riding a large wave. He recommended not falling flat on the back or stomach. Rather penetrate the ocean surface sideways, or with an arm or your feet. However, it happened fast, so there wasn’t much to do with my limited experience with Canggu’s bigger waves. Plus, this was my first time ever surfing outside of the greater Cape Town area.
Big Waves and Lessons
My last wave of the day was revelatory. I was, compared to Cape town, quite high from the ocean surface in front of me. I would’ve liked to GoPro this wave. But its best to avoid GoPro distractions while learning surfing.
I could tell why my back hurt a little with the fall. Because you fall around 2 meters slap bang on the ocean surface. The waves are often much higher than at the beginner-friendly Cape Town spots.
So during this last wave, having experienced a bad fall 20 minutes ago, I kept telling myself to keep my head up. The biggest lesson I learned from my surfing coaches in Muizenberg (Cape Town), is your body will follow your head. Thus, if you look down, you fall down. If you look up & in front of you, you’ll speed on ahead (mostly).
But if the head is up, it’s the same kinda technique you’ll find in other sports. For example, in cricket, focus on where you want to plant the ball when bowling in cricket. Or in rugby when kicking at the posts, the head should remain down, while striking the ball.
Surfing is the same, your board and surf will usually follow where the head is looking at.
Meanwhile the Bali surf coach was only trying to get me to get my footing right. He wasn’t as smart with the head positioning. But you can’t expect one coach to teach you the A to Z of surfing in only one lesson. It takes time.
Anyway, I rode out this last wave almost right upto the sandy beach and finished the session on a high note.
Sunburned Surfing
I wore a surfing vest that covered my upper body and arms. This protected me fully against sunburn in the upper body. Plus, I covered my face with a lot of sun protector.
However, I got very bad sunburn on my hammies which was exposed while lying down on the surfboard in the noon sun of Bali. While standing upright, you don’t realize the hamstrings will be exposed behind your swimming trunks while lying on the surfboard. Thus I didn’t apply sunlotion on the hamstrings.
Not only are the waves potentially better in the morning, but avoid the 11am to 2pm window with peak sun, at all costs. Unless you have no choice and have strong sunscreen. Bali’s strong noon sun can be underestimated if you’re not from this part of the world.
The pharmacy gave me some Silver Sulfur to put on the burns (Burnazin to be exact). It turned out to be grade 2 sunburn, since there was also swelling. While only redness equals grade 1 burns. The Burnazin did seem to help with the swelling and pain.
I ran out of my 100% pure aloe, which I brought from home, after the first day. And I couldn’t source this high quality Aloe immediately again in Bali. Pure Aloe is also great for sunburn as a natural “aftersun” cream. While the aloe they sell at the supermarkets in Bali have a lot of trash chemical additives.
Paddling Fit
The paddling reminded me that I haven’t surfed in a while. As you also need to get paddle fit. If you’re not paddle fit, the shoulders get tired quicker, and you can’t paddle out to the waves quick enough. This is one of those physical benefits of surfing, toned attractive shoulders, thanks to continuously paddling out to the waves.
Some may argue surfing is fun, but not great exercise. This could be true to some, e.g. I have met surf coaches who had flabby upper torsos. In the same way I’ve met yoga teachers who are extremely flexible in the legs, but they have a fat belly.
However this doesn’t need to be the case. If you’re out there paddling daily into strong waves, you could get a really nice toned physique. Especially, if you mix it up with gym workouts, a jog once in a while, healthy clean diet, etc.
Will I surf in Batu Bolong again?
A week later I’m still recovering from the sunburn. Now at the skin peeling stage. Thus, still taking a break from surfing for now.
Ideally I wanna check out Uluwatu’s beaches. Then compare with Canggu. The main thing is to avoid noon sun at all costs in the future while surfing.
Bali has a nice vibe: Sunloungers with coconut water, reading a book next to the beach. The dayclubs where you chill in the daytime. The worlds’ most dense concentration of healthy affordable restaurants in Canggu. And surfing daily at sunrise or sunset.
Find a Surf Coach
There’s many willing surf coaches both at the beach, plus on Get Your Guide. The benefit of the apps, is they have review ratings. Thus, in this way you can tell, e.g. the rating is 4.9/5, thus they’re definitely not gonna scam you. They care for their name. However, approaching a random coach on the beach, you don’t have this benefit. They don’t have an online review profile to worry about.
Being a surf coach is definitely not the easiest profession as you’re constantly exposed to the sun. Anyway, these coaches try to make sure you get in a good surfing session and lesson. If you book online, they also have these huts they share with other coaches where it seemed reasonably safe to keep your belongings.
To avoid the mid-day sun at all costs, try to finish the lesson before 10am. Otherwise, consider the afternoon around 4pm to 6pm instead. Apart from the strong sun, the surf is otherwise awesome.
Anyway, I was taught well in Cape Town, also safety precautions. Like holding out your arms to cover your head if you fall underwater and the surfboard is somewhere above you. So if you’re a complete beginner in Bali, the coach should also teach some safety skills.
To conclude, I’ll enjoy surfing in Cape Town now even more when I get back over there. Nothing opens your mind with regards to a sport, than by practicing it in another part of the world. And if you can get coached in the sport, in a foreign country, that makes it even so much better. Thus, you’re almost guaranteed to go back home to wherever you’re from, enriched by this experience, even more than the $21 to $29 you pay for the lesson (depending who your coach is).
Check out Get Your Guide’s surf experiences in Canggu, Bali. Here’s 4 highly rated suggestions for 2024, but don’t feel limited to only these. Read the reviews and pick the one that resonates most with you:
Have you surfed in Bali (or anywhere else)? What’s your favorite surf spot in Indonesia and/or Bali? Comment below your suggestions, questions and tips!