Surfing Bali in January | Sōleïa Surf Academy - Week 3

Mushroom heads during rainy season

Week 3 at the Sōleïa Surf Academy (SSA) in Bali was a tale of two cities, or a story of Jekyll and Hyde, or <<insert preferred saga of polar opposites>>. A fresh SW swell came in this week, gracing Bali's eastern shores with fun peelers while whacking western beach breaks with the ugly stick. On the windward side of the island, onshore winds crumpled an already messy wilderness of shifting peaks.

The spring tide brought on by the full moon brought in wide tidal ranges and hence strong currents. Wherever you went at mid tide, you were paddling, paddling, and... paddling some more. You were either up against the current on the east side of the island or fighting to get past the breakers on the west side. Thankfully, we had sunny, dry mornings to keep our solar-powered spirits up.

Sunset view from Sōleïa Surf House in Bali

A day-by-day account of a week at Sōleïa Surf Academy:

Monday

Monday didn't happen. We hate Mondays. SSA declared Monday an official rest day so we could rub our asses back to life after a numbing car ride back from Java.

Tuesday

Tuesday also didn't happen. At least not for me. I was sick with the flu or HMPV. The other students went surfing at Kedungu. They said it was okay but it sounds like nobody got the ride of their life that day.

Wednesday

My search for good waves resumed with a fruitless session on Wednesday, when a new swell came in and tore apart Canggu. My surf instructor Dandi and I checked out 4 different spots (Berawa, Pigstone, Yegangga, Kedungu) and couldn't find anything worth getting wet for. Big, messy closeouts were the order of the day.

Seminyuck showing off the typical look for the day

No one went out to the outside breaks, not even the locals ("We don't have insurance," they said). Playgrounds at Kedungu was the only spot surfers dared to enter, but they were beginners happy (maybe?) to frolic in the white water and deal with the swift westward current.

Berawa was the least icky of the day

There was one clueless surfer with a longboard at Kedungu who tried to get out at the main peak. He had no surf instructor nor guide to talk some sense into him. We feared for his life as we watched him get slammed by the waves. We were relieved to see him finally emerge on the sand, his shirt halfway off, after a heavy beating from a shore break sent him all the way back where he belonged.

Thursday

Following the Wednesday debacle, we started going over to Nusa Dua on the east side to catch a more tame version of the 2.4m swell. It's a longer drive (1-1.5 hours from Canggu) and a long paddle to the break at Mushroom Rock, but it was well worth it for the rideable waves and light offshore winds. We parked by Bay Bali and Le Bleu and walked through well-manicured lawns of Nusa Dua's high-end resorts to a cliff between Mushroom Rock and Blackstone for our surf check.

What I saw was a beautiful right-hander point break, my favorite kind. The takeoff was unusually slow and the waves peeled in orderly fashion for dreamy, down-the-line rides. The water was a clean, inviting blue, with just a touch of texture from morning zephyrs. There was only one surf school out and they based themselves at the inside break. The point itself was up for grabs. I wanted to jump in right away.

Mushroom Rock, the dream

Then the bubble burst. By the time we finished gearing up, putting on sunscreen, and paddling out to the peak, the point was stuffed to the hilt with other surf camps who had the same idea. Our dream of unencumbered rides was brutally dismembered by chaotic party waves, where often your only choice was to go straight.

Mushroom Rock, the reality

Staying in place required almost constant paddling against the current, which died down as the tide rose, similar to breaks in the Maldives (north and south). Despite it all, I managed to catch some fun ones and enjoy the session.

Snagged a gem despite the mess

In the afternoon, we took advantage of the dry spell to go surf skating at Amplitude skate park. It was my first surf skate session ever and the entrance fee was covered by Sōleïa Surf. It was not as painful as I thought it would be despite falling a few times on concrete. Sōleïa Surf provided knee pads, elbow pads, and wrist guards to protect against the inevitable falls.

Adrien showing how it's done

My instructor Adrien did an excellent job of introducing me to the world of surf skate - and skating in general. He gave newbies like me some helpful exercises for bottom turns while more advanced skaters worked on figure eights in the bowl. I learned to lean more and hold my twist longer to tighten up my bottom turns. I also learned that leaning forward and out towards the 2 o'clock position (or 11 o'clock for the backside) made my turns more stable than my habitual lean to 3 o'clock (or 9 o'clock for backside).

Friday

On Friday, we decided to go back to the Nusa Dua peninsula but try a different spot in the hopes of less crowding. One group went in at Lembeng in Mengiat, a sand-bottom beach lined with A-frames. From what I can tell from the videos, conditions were glassy, shoulders short, takeoffs mellow, rides fast, and exits graceful going out the shoulder.

Lembeng smooth as a baby's bottom

My group drove another 15 minutes to Cucukan, a reef break where the right-hand is longer than the left. The takeoffs are steeper and faster than Mengiat and the bottom is sharp volcanic reef. If Lembeng and Cucukan were tequilas, Lembeng would be the smooth, sipping kind while Cucukan would be the slamming kind.

Lembeng: short but smooth

I saw my surf instructor Dandi get barreled a couple times. I went over the falls once on a late takeoff and bounced off the reef. I thank my hispanic heritage for the ample cushioning in my butt. I also thank the deep channel to the left of the stairs that made paddling out and escaping breakers easy peasy.

In the afternoon, we had a surf theory lesson about the different levels of surfing ability and how to progress to the next level.

Saturday

For some silly reason, we decided to stay back in Canggu the next day and surf Berawa. The overhead waves and shifty peaks shut down the channels. Nonetheless, I had high hopes because I've seen Berawa when it's good (back in November 2024, during the ISA exam week, there were a couple days of A-frame bliss where I had a blast snaking up, down, and around on slightly overhead waves). Saturday looked very different from those halcyon days but I tried going anyway.

Berawa on a cranky PMS day

It was a donkey show. (Yeah, look that up). I paddled for 30 minutes, tried 2 different "channels", duck dived a million times yet Could. Not. Get. Out. I never liked beach breaks anyway, and this experience proved again to me why. I was already bone tired from the last two days of paddling a new board that's 33% less volume than my usual board. My right shoulder was screaming for mercy (I tore my labrum in October last year). I was still mouth breathing from the flu that left my nose clogged. Perhaps, Berawa during the more mellow mid-to-high tide would have been better for my level than the burly low-to-mid tide meant for berawlers (see what I did there?).

Refueling after another week of surfing

At night, we had our usual Saturday night BBQ, though the fried items outnumber the grilled ones.

Sunday

Sunday is rest day for SSA. Do whatever you want. Sleep in. Pick your nose. You can still surf if you want, but it's an unguided, or "free surf", session. Sōleïa Surf offered an optional excursion to Ubud with a sightseeing tour of a monkey forest, waterfall, and rice terraces. I hopped on the free ride to Ubud but opted out of the sightseeing tour. I went to a spa instead then ate some healthy food and joined a cult.

I had lived in Ubud about a decade ago so I had already done the sightseeing stuff before. I came back for the massages. Ubud is the massage and yoga retreat capital of the world outside of Thailand, made famous by the Julia Roberts movie, Eat Pray Love. People from all over the world come here to study from masters of their craft. It's a damn good place to visit for some TLC.

Looking forward to some Tender Loving Care

In many ways, Ubud reminds me of my home, Sedona - the New Age capital of America. Like Sedona, Ubud is chock full of commercialized spirituality - woo woo rituals, crystal healing, sound healing, shamanic healing, any kind of healing, etc. Ubud lies on the intersection of two ley lines! It's esoteric, I know, I know. But if you know, you know. I just went from one energy vortex to another.

I sprang for a 2-hour, 4-hand (as in, 2 therapists massaging me simultaneously) massage at Jaens Spa. Its prices are lower than the nearby luxury resorts and certainly lower than spas in Europe, America, and Australia. But the quality of service is superb from the customer care down to the cleanliness of the facilities.

Snoozing in the lounge post-massage

Then I stuffed myself silly with raw vegan food at The Raw Temple. It was a gamble to eat raw food on an island so notorious for food poisoning, a.k.a. Bali Belly. But I got away with it and ate my cake too - a very pretty, rainbow-colored Unicorn Cake that got its hues from beetroot, spirulina, tumeric, and butterfly pea flower.

Unicorn cake at The Raw Temple

Belly stuffed, I waddled out of the Temple and wandered into a rice field in search of peace and quiet. I found a white house in the middle of the field. "School of Unified Healing" read the sign next to it. The door was open, and nobody sneezed at degenerate randos like me walking in. They advertised "Free Classes!".

Found some quiet in a rice field

Curious, I ventured into a class on Ancestral Healing. It was like a guided meditation with some interactive exercises where the instructor Yanice relied on serendipity to help us connect with our higher selves. The room looked like a baptist church, with vaulted ceiling, wooden floors, and stained glass. Except, there were no pews. Just yoga mats and pillows.

School of Unified Healing

Yanice handed out one random oracle card to each student. I accidentally (or not?) got two: Flight of Freedom and Divine Justice. Once again, the Universe threw some synchronicities along my way. I always get the Freedom card. Could be coincidence. Could be attention bias. Freedom is something I value and have been struggling for throughout my life, whether it's financial freedom or freedom of movement in surfing. As for Divine Justice, I don't know yet what that plays in my life, but it's got me wondering.