Indonesia surf guide
Surfing East Bali
Keramas and the wet-season coast, power rights on black sand.
- Spots7
- LevelsAdvanced, Intermediate, Pro
- Best seasonMay-September
- RegionBali
The waves at East Bali
Keramas
- Reef Break
- Advanced / Pro
- 3-10 ft
- May-Oct
- Crowd 4/5
Bali's high-performance stage. Keramas is a fast, hollow right over black-sand-and-boulder reef that the world tour made famous, a wave seemingly engineered for progression surfing: a barrel on takeoff, then a wall that begs for full-rotation everything, ending in a rampy inside section.
Dry-season mornings (May-October) bring the magic combination: SW swell wrapping in and light offshore land breeze from the west, but only until mid-morning, so this is a genuine dawn-patrol wave. The Komune resort's floodlights added the other window: night surfing under stadium light, booked ahead, unforgettable.
It's a competitive lineup, local rippers, visiting pros, and everyone who watched the webcasts, so wave count demands patience and position. Sit slightly deep and commit late. Board: your best shortboard, maybe a slight step-up; the wave has real power. Hazards: shallow inside at low tide, and rips along the black sand. Watching a session from Komune's beach club with coffee is a legitimate plan B.
-8.585, 115.345 · S-SW swell, W wind (mornings)
Sanur Reef
- Reef Break
- Advanced / Pro
- 4-10 ft
- Nov-Mar
- Crowd 3/5
Sleepy Sanur's serious secret. Most of the year this is a gentle resort lagoon, then a proper wet-season swell arrives (November-March), the west wind blows offshore on this coast, and Sanur Reef becomes one of Bali's best and heaviest rights: long, hollow, board-snapping walls over sharp coral three hundred metres offshore.
It needs size to break at all, the outer reef only wakes up around 4ft-plus of raw S swell, which acts as a natural skill filter. When it's 6-8ft and grinding, you'll share the lineup with a small, capable crew who've waited weeks for exactly this.
Access by paddle from the beach (long) or a quick jukung ride from the jetty area. Mid tide gives the barrel room to breathe; low tide is unforgiving. Board: step-up, 6'4"+ for most. Hazards: the reef is genuinely sharp, and the channel current runs hard on big swells. This is the reward for being in Bali during the 'wrong' season, while the Bukit blows out, Sanur turns on.
-8.694, 115.27 · Big S swell, W wind (wet season)
Serangan
- Reef Break
- Intermediate / Advanced
- 3-8 ft
- Nov-Mar
- Crowd 3/5
The wet-season workhorse of the whole island. When the west wind ruins the Bukit and Canggu from November to March, the entire surfing population of Bali migrates to Serangan, a wide reef off Turtle Island with multiple peaks, lefts and rights, and enough space to absorb the crowd it inevitably draws.
The wave is friendlier than its size suggests: open faces, defined channels, and takeoffs that give you a moment to set your line. It handles from 3ft to well overhead, and on solid swells the outside peaks show real power while the inside keeps working for intermediates.
Access changed the spot's history: the causeway means you drive nearly to the paddle-out, and warungs plus board-repair shacks have grown around the parking. Go early, by 9am on a good wet-season day, it's the busiest lineup in Bali. Mid tide is safest; the reef has urchin fields at low. Board: everyday shortboard, step-up if the forecast says so. Not glamorous, absolutely essential.
-8.775, 115.243 · S swell, W wind (wet season)
Sri Lanka
- Reef Break
- Advanced
- 3-8 ft
- Nov-Mar
- Crowd 3/5
Named after a WWII aircraft wreck, not the country. Sri Lanka is the connoisseur's right on the Nusa Dua reef strip: shorter and punchier than its big neighbour, with a wedging takeoff, a fast bowling section, and the occasional clean barrel when the tide and swell align.
Wet season (November-March) is its time, W/NW winds groom it while raw south swell pushes through the deep channel. Mid tide, 4-6ft is the sweet spot: enough water over the reef, enough energy in the wave. It shifts around the peak and rewards surfers who read lineups rather than follow crowds.
The paddle from Geger beach is long; most sessions start with a jukung from the beach instead (a few euros, worth every one). The crowd is a step calmer than Serangan, locals who know the reef and visitors who've done their homework. Board: everyday shortboard with paddle. Hazards: sharp coral heads on the inside, and afternoon glare that makes the sets invisible until they're on you.
-8.79, 115.24 · S swell, W wind (wet season)
Nusa Dua
- Reef Break
- Advanced / Pro
- 4-12 ft
- Nov-Mar
- Crowd 3/5
Bali's big-wave arena. The outside reefs of Nusa Dua sit in deep water at the island's southeast corner and catch every joule the Indian Ocean sends, when the rest of Bali is 4ft, Nusa Dua is 8ft; when a proper wet-season monster arrives, it holds sizes that close out everything else on the island.
The main peak is a long, powerful right (with a left on the other side) that shifts across a wide takeoff zone: reading the lineup is half the skill here. Wet-season W/NW winds are offshore, making November-March prime; dry-season mornings can work before the trades swing.
Everything about it demands preparation: boat access from Geger beach through resort waters, a step-up board (6'6" minimum for most), and honest self-assessment, the channel is safe but the impact zone is open-ocean serious, with long hold-downs and currents that relocate you fast. The reward: genuine size with a small, competent crew, twenty minutes from the airport. Bali's most underrated serious wave.
-8.8, 115.24 · Big S swell, W-NW wind
Green Ball
- Reef Break
- Intermediate / Advanced
- 2-6 ft
- Apr-Oct
- Crowd 2/5
Down three hundred concrete steps at the bottom of the Ungasan cliffs hides the Bukit's south-facing secret. Green Ball catches direct S swell that the west-facing spots miss, and turns it into punchy A-frame peaks over reef and sand, with a lineup that rarely exceeds a handful because of that staircase.
The geography does something valuable: when dry-season trades (E/SE) sideshore-ruin the west coast's afternoon, they blow clean offshore-ish here; and when the west coast is flat, south pulses still light this stretch up. It's the Bukit's forecast wildcard.
The wave suits confident intermediates and up: quick takeoffs, punchy walls, both directions, 2-6ft ideal range. Beyond that it gets rippy and lonely, not the place to swim for a lost board. Bring everything (water, snacks, wax); there's one seasonal warung at the top on good days and nothing below except cliffs, monkeys and the occasional photographer. Board: shortboard. The stair climb back up after two hours of surfing is the price, and the emptiness is what it buys.
-8.849, 115.168 · S swell, N wind
Padang Galak
- Beach Break
- Intermediate / Advanced
- 3-8 ft
- Nov-Mar
- Crowd 2/5
The black-sand banger north of Sanur. Padang Galak is a beach break with volcanic power: dark sand, shifting peaks, and wet-season swells that hit with more punch than its 'beach break' label suggests, fast walls, sudden barrels, and rip currents that mean business.
Its season is the inverse of the postcard: November to March, when west winds groom this coast and the tourist spots across the island are blown out. On its days it delivers genuinely good waves with a mostly local, high-standard crew, this is a proving ground for east-coast surfers, and visitors earn their waves through etiquette and patience.
The setting is pure east Bali: Mount Agung on the horizon, kite-flying festivals on the beach, ceremonies passing to the sea. Mid tide is best; the shore-break at high is a board-breaker, and the rips at size demand real ocean sense. Board: everyday shortboard, a step-up when it's pumping. No infrastructure beyond a couple of warungs, which around here counts as a feature.
-8.65, 115.28 · S swell, W wind (wet season)
Where to stay near East Bali
- Yulia Homestay — Homestay: A Sanur institution: simple garden rooms in a family compound off the promenade, run by the same family for decades. Old-school Bali hospitality.
- Maison Aurelia — Boutique hotel: Colonial-style boutique on Sanur's main street with a courtyard pool and consistently excellent service. Great value in the mid range.
- Komune Resort & Beach Club — Surf resort: The resort directly in front of Keramas, pool, beach club and the famous floodlit night-surfing sessions on the right. Wake up, look at the lineup, paddle.
Beyond the surf
- Sanur sunrise promenade: Five kilometres of paved beachfront path facing east, the best sunrise walk or ride in south Bali, with jukung fishing boats silhouetted against Mount Agung.
- Keramas black-sand coast: Volcanic sand, glassy morning walls and rice paddies running almost to the tide line. A very different Bali from the Bukit, rural, quiet and dramatic.
- Sidemen Valley day trip: An hour inland: emerald rice terraces under Mount Agung, weaving villages and barely a tour bus in sight. The Ubud experience without the crowds.
- Serangan Turtle Conservation Center: Rescue and hatchery centre on Serangan island, ten minutes from Sanur. Meet rehabilitating turtles and time it right for a hatchling release.
Best time to surf East Bali
East Bali works best around May-September. See the full month-by-month breakdown for Indonesia.
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