Bali opening season 2010

And finally after some basic delays I arrived in Bali on the beginning of May.

The island was already crowded and with an increasingly chaotic traffic. After a few days of rushing to organize everything for one more season I could finally relax and catch some waves at Uluwatu.

Right upon arrival I was blessed with a nice tube in front of the cave coming out at the start of Race Tracks in front of all my local friends who were shouting for me...I could not imagine a warmer reception... I was forced to raise my hands and thank God before shouting from the bottom of my lungs to be heared on all the warungs "BALI BAGUS”. Later, the celebration continued into the new warung of my local friend Made Lana but that's another story ...

What has marked most the start of this season were climate change and the high price inflation compared to last season...

From what I’ve heard, this last rain season rained a lot less than usual and sunny days without wind or with a light offshore breeze at Uluwatu were common between the months of January to March when it should be raining almost every day with strong onshore wind blowing on the west coast (Uluwatu). In addition, the inflation on the prices of many things like losmens and hotels, car rentals and other things really show that the cost of living is becoming more and more expensive on the island of the gods.

In terms of surfing, the start of the season was very good with the month of April being marked by excellent conditions at Ulus with many days of light winds or no wind at all and waves at around 2-4 feet almost daily.

During these first days of May we had no significant swell but we had many small and medium days between 2-5 feet with good conditions at The Peak, Temples and Race Tracks. Almost every day there was good weather in the morning with a light offshore breeze or no wind but on the afternoon was very common to see black clouds coming from Kuta towards Uluwatu bringing strong onshore or sideshore winds and many nights and even some afternoons were marked by heavy rain showers… a typical scene from the days preceding the "rain season" during the months of November and December.

But despite all these changes, Bali is Bali…the Balinese people still always smiling and welcoming and on the right times of the day the barrels are still breaking making every sacrifice worthwhile. Now we wait and hope for the weather to get right and the trade winds to start blowing all day again making the tube machine work non-stop daily.

After a few days surfing at Uluwatu and meeting friends I began the preparations for my first trip of the season.

On the 19th at night I had a trip scheduled with a group of Brazilians to the Mentawai Islands on board the boat Aileoita-2 where I would go as a surf guide. The first BALI SURF CONNECTION EXPEDITION was scheduled to start the season 2010 with the right foot.

After all the initial rush was time to once again go live the dream of wake up, eat and sleep thinking of perfect waves with a group of friends without any worry on the mind except where to surf, which surfboard to use and what to eat at lunch and dinner ...

It was time to embark to the islands of Sumatra and go live the liquid dreams that are in the minds of almost every surfer on the planet... surf the Mentwaii islands!!


ALOHA!!