Welcoming the Surf Season Bali 09!

The month of April was a busy one, as the end of March banished the rainy season and welcomed the steadily increasing trade winds blowing from the east, signaling the 'official' start of Bali's surf season. Not that there weren't a few cloudy and rainy days here and there mind you, but a late afternoon walk on any beach on the west side of the island where you could watch the wind blasting showers of spray off the backs of the breaking waves, highlighted by the slowly setting red-gold sun, will create that energetic optimism that surfers always get at the beginning of a new season.

First up in April was the Rip Curl GromSearch crew heading off to the island of Sumbawa on their tireless search for Indonesia's best grommet (grommet/grom is the surfing term for a boy or girl surfer under the age of 16). They found some excellent wave conditions and some twenty plus groms from the age of 8 to 15 that were already very adept at charging the world famous reef break of Lakey Peak. Lakey Peak is a hotbed for grom surfing in Indonesia, having already produced two ISC Junior Champions already, Oney Anwar in 2007 and his brother Gazeli Hamzah in 2008.

15-year-old Muhlis Jaffar took home the coveted 'Ticket to Bali' first place prize in the Under 16 division, with Firman taking second spot and also receiving a 'Ticket'. These two stoked groms will be heading to Bali in October to compete with the other Indonesian GromSearch winners and runners up in the National Finals at Kuta Beach, the final winner receiving an all expense paid trip to the GromSearch World Final at Bells Beach in Australia in the spring of 2010.

On the very same day here in Bali, Kuta Beach was the dramatic setting for the final of the Rusty GromFest series. Over 80 frothing groms gathered on the beach to compete for the grand prize of a trip to Lennox Heads in Australia for the 14th annual Rusty GromFest this coming July. After having taken first place at both the Keramas Beach and Pererenan (Canggu) contests, Nusa Lembongan's Putra Hermawan was primed and ready to complete the trifecta. But his fellow Lembonan compatriot Agus Frimanto had other plans. Both of the boys surfed their guts out, but at the end of the day it was Agus that stood atop the podium, having won the event and the series due to the increased number of points available in the final. Final series points total: Agus Primanto – 5,850, Putra Hermawan – 5,500. So it's off to Australia for Agus in a couple more months, but rumor has it that Putra may be going along too, due to a special invitation by Rusty for his great surfing during the series.

Moving on to what the pros' got up to, each year Bali plays host as a stop on the Japan Professional Surfing Association tour, and this year from April 8 – 12 Keramas Beach was the venue for the Garuda Indonesia Travel Scene Pro. Smallish conditions over the first few days resulted in a frenzy of mental surfing during Sunday's final when conditions improved considerably, with big hacks, tube rides, aerials, and all manner of crazy maneuvers being the order of the day.

Indonesia's Pepen Hendrik competes on both the JPSA and on the Coca-Cola ISC Tour, and captured 3rd place in the contest. After the Men's and Women's finals, a select group of 8 Indonesian surfers were invited to compete against their Japanese peers in what was called the 'Bali-Japan Friendship Game'. Last year's 2008 ISC Champion Dede Suryana from West Java headed up the group that included young rippers Garut Widiarta, Mustofa Jeksen and Raditya Rondi from Kuta, Robot Susiana and Putra Hermawan from Nusa Lembongan, and was rounded out by veterans Made Awan (Serangan) and Dedi Santoso (Kuta).

When the horn blew the end of the twenty-five minute final, it was Dede Suryana who claimed the win, with the contender to the throne from Japan in second, Made Awan in third, and Japan again rounding out the podium.

And not even a week later, just after the midpoint in April, was the official launching of the 2009 Coca-Cola ISC Pro Tour at the Hard Rock Hotel and Hard Rock Café at Kuta Beach. A Balinese ceremony, opening speeches, a surfing demonstration, live music, dinner, a movie premiere, and lots more made for a full late afternoon and evening on Saturday the 18th.

In addition to announcing the star of the pro tour, it was also a great opportunity for Coca-Cola Bottling Indonesia to educate the media and the community about their corporate social responsibility programs in Bali, not only sponsoring the Indonesian Surfing Championship tour but through their 'Coke for Bali' program supporting the Bali lifeguard department, Reef Check and GUS (Gelombang Udara Segar), the East Bali Poverty Project, and even buying a special beach cleaning tractor to get Bali beaches back into pristine condition.

But from the surfing perspective, the event was all about getting the word out that the ISC Pro Tour was about to begin and how exciting a year it will be.

Surfing is one of the simplest yet exciting sports to both watch and do; yet many in Indonesia have no idea that their country has arguably the best and most consistent waves in the world. Thousands of surfers from dozens of countries come to Bali and Indonesia each year, stoked to surf the perfect warm Indian Ocean waves.

This year the tour's first stop is the Rusty 'Rumble in da Jungle' event at Sanur Reef. Due to the fact that this wave, known as one of the best and most intense waves on the island, is a bit fickle and needs a big swell to cooperate, there is a three week waiting period from the 26th of April to the 16th of May to allow the contest to be run in only the best wave conditions. Next month we'll be able to show you the results…. but we encourage you to check the ISC website at isctour for daily updates during the waiting period and when the waves are cranked up come on out for a real live look at Indonesia's best surfers competing in Indonesia's best waves!