Kristen and I are a month and half into our second straight summer based out of Bali. Since 2017 we’ve spent nearly two combined years here. We love it.
Every season is different. Last year, a high pressure system blocked storm development in the Indian Ocean, and there were only a handful of swells during our 5 month stay. Bali’s premiere wave — Padang — only broke once.
This season is a complete 180. There’s been six swells in six weeks, and people are already getting tired. There’s only a dozen surfers in the lineup at pumping Uluwatu as I’m typing this. If you’ve been to Bali, you know how rare that is.
Speaking of Padang, before this trip, I’d surfed it twice. The first time, years ago, I mistimed the inside slab on low tide, got smashed on the bottom, and ended up with serious whiplash and a gash on my lower back. It rattled me. The second time, the crowd was so thick I paddled out and back in hours later without standing up once.
I was ready to give up on Padang completely.
A few days ago, a beautiful 6-foot evening drew me back in. I had to give it another go. My goal paddling out was just to catch one set wave, no matter how long it took.
10 minutes into being out there I was casually chatting with Betet Merta out the back about a really good tube he’d wrangled as I was in the channel paddling out. Another set approached. He was in poll position again, but rather than paddle for it, he looked straight at me and just yelled, loud enough for everyone around to hear: “Zander, Go!”
I swung around, put my head down, and paddled as hard as I could. With Betet’s blessing, I didn’t care if anyone was behind me. And when I stood up, nobody was. After an easy drop, I casually set my line and rolled into the big green Padang cavern I’d always dreamed of riding.
With the self imposed pressure of catching a good wave at Padang finally off my shoulders, I was able to truly enjoy the rest of that session, and the next day as well, which was nearly as good. While I never got another wave as perfect as that first one, I did manage to pack a few more fun tubes, and at the rate this season is going, it looks like I’ll get plenty more opportunity before heading home in August.
