A Bingin Surfing Tale

With just over a week of being in Bali, I’ve experience (in no particular order & not limited to) birth, epic surf, breathtaking sunsets, made new friends, started Bahasa Indonesian Classes, attended the Global Mala for yoga in Ubud & saw a woman be treated with some sort of smoking acupuncture to reduce the size of her thyroid. It feels like I’ve been here a month already. I can only imagine what could come with 6 weeks left. Here is a small surf tale to tell.

Bingin Beach. A small surfing village built into the side of the cliffs between the infamous surf break Ulluwatu & the ridiculously beautiful, Dreamland. I arrived after a two hour drive looking for “Anna’s Place.” Arriving in the parking lot, I was swarmed by whom I renamed the Nyoman-TriSister-Mafia. First, they smile. Then, they greet you with their hand extended asking your name. THEN, they follow you, follow you and keep following you until you allow them to carry your surfboard to the homestay. Since they seemed to know where Anna’s Place was, I allowed them to carry my board. The whole way down one of the Nyoman-TriSister-Mafias is hackling in my ear about, “how much you pay. How much you pay.” As we negotiate price she responds with the most high-pitched, ear cackling laugh as if my offer is an offensive joke. Yeah, yeah..it’s all tactic, I get it. Just as we turn the corner to arrive at the top of the cliff stairs, I see the swell. HoRy cLaP!! Even from afar, I can see mountains of waves rumbling towards the shore. I was mesmerized. I couldn’t take my eyes off them. The N-Tri-Ms are trying to get my attention, but I can’t stop gawking. I nearly biffed it down the stairs. The only other time I saw something like that was the 1st week in December in 2007 at Swami’s. This kind of swell is a frequented occurrence here, not a bi yearly event.

So, Anna’s Place is actually called Stiky’s II. Great Place! Gabriel was right, the views from the deck upstairs are spectacular. It’s super clean and Nyoman (NOT of the Nyoman-TriSister-Mafia) is an incredible cook. I spent hours watching guys eat shit (with reef wounds to prove it) and shred over a shallow reef at Bingin. Impossibles, the break just out to the left of the beach was a long paddle past the reef with the most impressive moving mountains of water I’d ever seen. Perfect, perfect lefts just peeling for hundreds of meters. The 10-12 foot swell was too big for my comfort on the first day but lounging on the beach, receiving a Nyoman-TriSister-Mafia massage (they hustled me all over the beach), drinking Bintang, reading & listening to music in paradise suited me just fine.

After my best night of sleep since I arrived in Bali, I woke to a more tolerable swell size with perfection peeling on. I surfed my ass off for 2 hours catching some of the bigger waves of my life. As I carved up down these water walls, I strangely welcomed the lactic acid build up in my thighs until they pleaded with me to pull out. I often forget about that part of surfing in California. My day ended with a second sunset surf at Impossibles, another Bintang, some Mie Goreng and the sound of the ocean as I laid my weary head on my pillow. I love surfing. It’s a dance with the Great Mother I hope I never lose.

The next morning I left with the Nyoman-TriSister-Mafia fighting for who was going to carry my board. Funny, just yesterday they were sisters who shared all their business and therefore each needed to be paid a fair wage. Hhhmmm.