Wild West Sumbawa

the island of Lombok and several kilometres of sea may seem to be all that separates Bali from West Sumbawa, but just as Lombok is significantly different from Bali in geography, culture and religion, the same can be said about the island of Sumbawa, itself having two very distinct identities. Welcome to the last frontier of Indonesian surfing.


About three times the size of neighbouring Lombok, Sumbawa is home to approximately 1.5 million inhabitants and is essentially divided into two parts: West Sumbawa and Bima. The two main ethnic groups are the 'Tua Sumawa' in West Sumbawa and the 'Dou Mbojo' in the eastern area of Bima, the former revealing influences from its neighbours to the west and the latter from the eastern islands and from Sulewasi to the north. And while both have the Muslim religion in common, it seems like West Sumbawa has taken a more progressive attitude towards an otherwise very orthodox faith. Trying to find a beer in the city of Bima is like trying to find a slurpee in the Sahara, but by contrast, the town of Maluk in West Sumbawa has beers aplenty and karaoke bars to boot.

While the Bima area of Sumbawa is best known to the international surfing world for its famed 'Lakey Peak' break in the Dompu Regency (where you can find that elusive beer by the way), West Sumbawa is lesser known - although it has managed to establish a reputation of its own for having several world class surf spots, namely Scar Reef, Supersucks, and yo-yos. The surf charter boats based in Nusa Lembongan have historically accessed these spots, but recently more and more travelling surfers are making the overland trek and enjoying the complete absence of rampant tourism in this area that is still pristine and full of unspoilt beauty.

A little known fact to the surfing public and to most Balinese for that matter is that West Sumbawa was at one time ruled by the Balinese kingdom of Gelgel.


There are still traces of the Balinese language evident in the local language and several thousand Balinese immigrated to the area years ago in a transmigration effort. They say that history repeats itself, and so it came to pass that a few adventurous Balinese relived history recently by invading West Sumbawa once again, not on some imperialistic land-grabbing mission or for the expansion of their trade routes to line their pockets with gold, but on a quest to find perfect waves to surf. Admittedly their motivation could be likened to the Balinese of old in the fact that there was a prize to be had (the winner took home IDR 20 million prize money and ISC tour championship tour points in addition to the status of winning a first-ever in West Sumbawa contest), but as a whole these guys were just stoked about surfing a new spot that most had only heard stories about and seen a few photos of in the surf magazines.

And although not known as ardent travellers, (why would they be with some of the world's best and most consistent surf spots on their very doorstep?) the lure of the infamous lefthand wave at Jelenga Beach known as Scar Reef was too strong for even these Bali boys to resist, so they braved a sixteen hour bus ride from Bali through Lombok and over to West Sumbawa just to give it a go. The ride was long, the accommodation at Jelenga Beach basic (most had to sleep on wooden platforms under army tents near the beach), but the food was excellent and plentiful and the waves and the water pristine.

So in the end the Bali boys finished their week in West Sumbawa by claiming a Balinese dominated victory over Scar Reef, with Kuta Beach locals Rahtu Suargita, Garut Widiarta, and Wayan Wirtama all on the podium at the end of the Rip Curl Scar Reef Pro, with Java's Dede Suryana (now Bali based) rounding out the remaining surfers in the winners' circle. But they not only had the experience of surfing the legendary Scar Reef at low tide in 4-6 foot barrels:on the first day of competition they travelled to picturesque Yo-Yos Bay about an hour's drive away from Scar Reef, where beautiful righthanders were reeling down the reef in all their squeaky clean and deep blue glory, giving the natural footers a chance to slash, carve and get barreled in this stunning wave playground for a few hours before returning to Jelenga Beach and the Scar Reef setup.

After the awards ceremony and the closing party, the boys all piled into the bus for the ride home, tired but happy. They carried with them a lot of great memories of an overcoming new challenges, and the experience of seeing and enjoying this beautiful part of Indonesia.

Land and boat trips to Sumbawa can be booked with Bali based Surf Travel Online (Jl Benesari, T: 0361 750 550).