As with any swell chasing mission it is never a good idea to get your hopes up too much. The swell might be too big or too small, the direction could be slightly wrong or the winds not quite right. Nevertheless, when the year's biggest swell is forecast to hit Indonesia for days on end and you are only a mere three hour scooter ride from one of the world’s best waves, it's certainly worthwhile rolling the dice.

The mission to Desert Point is one that many surfers have undertaken and, not dissimilar to the cave at Uluwatu, is a spiritual rite of passage for an Indonesian adventure. Dodging trucks on crowded roads, asking directions in broken Bahasa Indonesian (‘Di mana Banko Banko?’), and descending the final hill after the last few kilometres of the dirt track, make the view upon arrival all the more special.

And what a view it was! Perfect 6-10 foot waves breaking along a shallow reef, producing the longest and most mesmerising barrels I had ever witnessed. All my prior uncertainties about whether or not the swell would be working were instantly diminished as the first few sets rolled through providing surfers with the barrels of their lives. 

Desert Point surpassed anything I had ever seen in real life and exceeded all expectations with its length, consistency, and shape. The barrels are not almond shaped, but rather are cylindrical and wide, allowing lucky participants to get deeper in the barrel than you can imagine. This, combined with a sun setting directly behind the wave, and a shallow reef you can walk on, meant that the photography opportunities were incredible. I perched one afternoon on a rock about 50 metres from the breaking waves and was able to shoot beautiful backlit barrels. 

I didn’t ever expect to surf with such a huge swell, however there were a few windows where the waves were a little smaller. I didn’t score the backhand barrel of my life as I would have liked, but my last wave on my last day was a decent overhead barrel that I came out of. Whilst photographs are great, the image imprinted in my memory of a Desert Point lip folding over in front of me in aqua marine water with verdant green palm trees in the distance, will be the best picture I take away from the trip.

Enjoy the photos!

Cheers,
Simon

Simon is currently exploring Indonesia with a surfboard, camera, and scooter. Follow him on Instagram@drifterphotos.