A Look at the History of Surfing in Indonesia

Nowadays Indonesia has become one of the most popular surf destinations world-wide but where did it all start? Surfing has evolved exponentially in the last century, all the way from big wooden and finless boards to glassed PU and EPS foam boards with several fin set up designs. As the technology applied to surfboard designs grew, so did the desire of surfers to travel the globe in search for the perfect wave. The journey of surf discovery in Indonesia comprises thrilling adventure stories that can exceed your wildest imagination. It all started in the 1930’s. The first person to surf in Indonesia was American born Bob Koke. He and his wife Louise moved from the US to open a hotel in Bali at Kuta beach which was a virgin beach at the time and only accessible by boat. Bob teached some of the locals how to surf on the finless wooden boards he had, and that's how the surfing seed was planted in the country that would later on show the world the level of quality in its surf breaks. But it would have taken years for Indonesia to start shining on the global surfers map due to the start of WW2. It would have taken over 30 years for surfers to discover the magical left handers of Uluwatu and Padang Padang just 20 kilometers down south from Kuta beach. The first images to put Indonesia on the map came from the movie Morning of the earth released in 1971. The movie showed Gerry Lopez and other surfers unleashing the potential of Uluwati riding perfect long barrels cero crowds to deal with. After the film was out other elite surfers started the quest to explore the other thousands of islands of Indonesia, sailing and flying over the Indian Ocean to find other perfect waves. During this time world class breaks like Nias and G-Land were discovered and put on the spotlight. At around the same time in the early 70’s a group of surfer friends sailing in search of waves had stumbled upon what some consider one of the best left hand barrel waves in the world. They had discovered the wave that would ultimately be named Desert Point. Locally known as Bangko Bangko, located in the southwest edge of Lombok island, Desert Point was beyond perfection. They decided to keep the spot secret for the next 10 years! No pictures, no talking, no maps. These surfers lived the authentic soul lifestyle with the bare minimum infrastructure and the break all to themselves. The surf documentary “Secrets Of Desert Point” depicts the epic story of the beach’s history from back then to the modern day. A couple of decades after the discoveries of these iconic waves the search continued and in the early 90’s the Mentawai Islands were first surfed. Later on the surf exploration continued to islands like Sumbawa and West Timor where more dream beaches like Supersucks and T-land were discovered. With over 18,000 islands there are high chances that some surf spots are still to be discovered. In the present surf tourism contributes to a huge part of the Indonesian economy and is constantly on the rise. If you are thinking of visiting Lombok then ask about our custom surfboard orders in Kuta at Flow Surf Store and safe yourself from the troubles of taking your boards on the plane here!