Saturday, April 11, 2009

Surfing off Gili (Trawangon)




Damn I got a wicked sunburn. Today I went surfing at the southern portion of Trawongan, one of the Gili Islands. I rented a 7 foot board that was weathered and beat up. To my surprise it did a pretty good job. The surf break was out over a reef. It was a very fast right. I paddled out over crystal clear water looking down at the coral and other sea creatures beneath. I had to paddle a good 120 feet just to get to the breakers, and at that point the water was only 4 feet deep! The reef was sharp and hard to walk out on. I also had to be careful and try not to land head first on the reef. After a short ride or so I was in 3 feet of water. This normally wouldn’t be a problem, however, it was well overhead and it was a reef bottom, not a sandbar like I am use to in So Cal. The waves were great and so were the locals. In my morning session there was only one other westerner out there, the rest were super chill locals. I didn’t get barreled but I saw a local get a sweet ride and get a picture perfect barrel, pretty cool to see in the water. After a while the tide started to kill the waves, I went in and Melis and I ate at Coco restaurant and had killer meatball sandwiches. I caught more waves during my late afternoon session, however, the waves were a lot smaller, head high with an occasional overhead set. Overall, the surf was great. I am so excited to get out there again.



Attached pics are from the beach where I surfed.

3 comments:

Holly Teetzel said...

Hey there - glad you could get in some Indonesian surfing - sounds a wee bit different than So Cal, no? Bkz you're south of the equator does that mean the surf is backwards? i.e. "fast right?" I'd be afraid of the sharp coral, but how very cool to be out in the surf in some really great waves! More pix pls!!

Todd said...

i think it has to do more with the reef itself. yeah it was pretty awesome. i hope to do more later on this year. off to merapi tomorrow night.

Melissa said...

Unlike watching you surf in SD, it was relatively easy to pick you out of the bunch:)