Thinking taking the wife & daughter to Ekas next April, has anyone been there with any recommendations. Can I get a SUP there?
I was there about 10 years ago - good left hander, no one at all at the so-called 'resort' that used to be there (still there?) and only 3 of us out in the water. That's probably all changed now, tho.
Went to the bay before Ekas last year, If I am geographically oriented. (Bumbangku, which is the other side of the bay from Gerupuk)
Halfway down a dirt road in the dark, with hot dusty, smoky conditions, the Mullahs moaning in the mosques every couple of hundred yards that the villages were apart.
Out of nowhere the driver/manager of the 'resort' turns around and says, we Muslims but we not kill you"!
**** me we were grateful!!!.
Now for your question, ask the resort (and I use the term loosely) if they provide transport. Make it clear what your needs are, as my 7'6" short board (Yes I'm a largish ****) barley fitted into the wagon, and roof racks weren't a concept.
Having said that, whatever you take, GO!!
I hope that it is still relatively uncrowded, as I canoed out behind the island to 40 Germans and Brazilians, who did not know the rules of drop in, nor did they give a ****. I didn't know Germans could surf!
I didn't go back out, as my recollection of Indonesian surfing from the 1970's was of few surfers if any, and relaxed crowds when there were some.
I clearly come from another planet!
I surfed Ulus with 3 blokes out, Sanur with 3, Sri Lanka with 4, Kuta with 1, etc.
They told me it had changed!!!
"Out of nowhere the driver/manager of the 'resort' turns around and says, we Muslims but we not kill you"! **** me we were grateful!!!"
Went there in 1992.
NO one around ,surfed on our own for days.
Stayed at Kuta, only two huts to stay at.
Had to get a boat across the bay each day.
Good L/hander wave would suit SUPPING , nice & deep out the back.
Thanks for the info everyone. Wife has done research into the "Resort" & not to keen to take our daughter there, waves look awesome there, so I have my bottom lip dropped. Looking for another place on Lombok, or similar.
Im here right now with my sup and its pumping. Been here twice. One of my favourite waves in indo. Will post some shots when I get back to goldy. I will say its 3 times more crowded than when I was last here 4 yrs ago. Apparently cos of the new lombok airport
TommyL, thanks for rubbing it in. Wife not keen to go now, she read a lot of bad reviews on Tripadvisor about the resort there. Normally we would take them with a grain of salt, but with our new family member, things change. What is it like there? ok for a family, or more a boys surf trip?
Lombok is much poorer than Bali, and the locals seem to hawk without pause. The atmosphere is not unpleasant, just different to Bali, given different religion and culture.
The countryside is cultivated a lot, but the remainder looks fairly barren in the dry, which should be about now.
Technology is far behind Bali, and the locals can't understand why we would go for walks away from the 'resort. Where you go?' 'Why you go?' What seemed primitive for us was clearly quite upmarket for them.
There have been a few incidents of hostility towards westerners, and although these are apparently isolated, there was a woman assaulted with a machete last year near Deserts if I recall correctly.
We had one incident only when a local clearly didn't like us. We had walked to a fruit stall from our accommodation near the airport, just prior to flying out. He was most unpleasant in his demeanour, and was clearly saying unpleasant things to his fruiterer friend, who thought it was hilarious. When I greeted him with 'asalam aliekam' which is their polite greeting, (and acceptable from non muslims by the way, my muslim colleagues are, and the other locals were most pleased at the effort to accommodate their culture)he became real sour, and questioned why I used this address if I am not a muslim. I simply said that I was being polite and left it at that. He was clearly looking for trouble.
It's not predominant, but if you mix with the locals as I like to, it may rear it's ugly head.
It's only a 30 minute flight from Bali and it may be worth considering a stay there with the family, and a short side trip for Dad for a few days.
Beerdead, thanks for the info. Have to say Bali is not what I enjoy in a holiday, although Balian seems to be a little more of what we like. Went to West Java a couple of years ago & loved it, people were so friendly, food was fantastic & surf great, wish I had taken my SUP. Lombok seems to be in between the 2. Just with our new edition comes a whole other way of thinking for holidays.
Thanks to all for the info, think we have the spot picked now.
Yes I surfed this on a shortboard many full moons ago back in the 90's, stayed at the village in South Lombok and caught a boat across, its more a fatter walled wave at higher tide which IMO suits SUP quite well as maybe opposed to some of the shallower waves, I remember a wave also in the middle of the bay a right hander that was quite shallow when Ekas was too big.
Yes you get the full Muslim experience in Lombok, just make sure your accommodation is away from a Mosque unless you like waking up at 4.30am each morning.
