Watch: Padang Padang weekend
Nothing but the facts, Ma'am.
When you watch the YouTube channel 'Surfers of Bali', you receive no side order of salad, no garnish in your drink, no cherry on top. Instead you get raw footage of surfing in Bali, presented without music or editing to distract, and a new camera angle whenever old mate needs to stretch his legs.
Slip into the cadence of the waves, listen to the ambient sound of whitewash, and the clips, though lengthy, lope along hypnotically.
The latest vids are from Padang and were shot over the weekend.
Comments
Such a great wave.
Every surfer needs to stare out from a pit like that at least once in their lives. Perhaps not Padang but somewhere , sometime at least once.
Come on, Huey, we need more Padangs in the world !
First few waves, Vid two is Joel Fitz on a single fin I think.
Whoever it is, f....ing good.
Comment on youtube suggests Bruno Santos.
And the bloke who takes off same video at 9:52 mark?
Reckon he'd rather stay anonymous.
Yeh, haha.
Took off in the perfect spot too.
Maybe I could snag a wave out there after all.
Oh dear, haha and wow it's sooo perfect, what I'd do to surf that with a minimal crowd!
The young kid in the steamer in the first vid got some smokers and did it with style too!
How good were the waves the kid in the orange wetty got...
Surprised how many with 'priority' didn't even look to go and how well behaved they were. Is it as easy to get a wave there as it seems?
I was there myself, left Bali yesterday. Absuletely pumping, and the crowd was very manageable for Padang... surfed it late afternoon with less then 30 people, and most just stayed in the second barrel section. I am not a great surfer myself, but got some nice barrels there, including a really long and deep one. Made my whole trip.
There were quite a few drop ins, and during the day in the higher tide the crowds were a bit worse, but not too crazy. I've seen that place with 200 people in the water a few seasons ago.
Is Padang a difficult wave to navigate? I surfed Ulus (Racetracks) a few years ago only around the 3-4ft range, but didn't feel confident enough to try Padang. Would be tempted to give it a look at this size on my next trip.
Wow........so less than 30 people out is the new 'uncrowded' at Bali's main breaks in 2019.
The future looks bright!
Few of observations, that rip between Padang and the little right can be serious I remember getting stuck in it with my son years ago. That new path to get down the beach is chocka now they charge to get into Padang however we are probably arguing over a couple of bucks so I pay as the last steps are hard work. Finally, it used to be a relatively quite little beach but is now bursting and not much fun to hang on, however the wave is still amazing would love to have it without all the heroes out there.
What a difference a couple of weeks can make to crowds. Paddled past Padang2 at similar size but far less quality on my way to Impossibles in July and there were at least 100 people in the water. This looks like bloody perfection..
That’s the most refreshing surf vid I’ve seen in years. Felt like I was just cruising around checking the waves myself. Brilliant simplicity.
agreed
Always good to watch those vids. They had everything, great waves, funny beach scenes, kooks, bikinis,bintang,broken boards, love the mad scramble not to get caught inside. Go wetsuit boy!! Vid 2 5:50 little kid mimicking lads stretching hehe!
Surfers of Bali is going to do horrible things for the already woeful Bali crowds. The way the channel’s vids are shot - it gives all the ‘secrets’ away.
I tend to agree. Particularly as it shows how some of the reef breaks can have their tame moments. Thousands of people watch their videos within hours of them being put online. I imagine flicking the channel a message asking them to do their best to not increase crowds would be received favorably.