Surfing in Bali

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Being in Bali, one of the more famous surfing spots in the world, I definitely wanted to give it a shot and see what kind of skills I had. I went to some of the surfing schools along the beach, and after comparing some prices, decided on one and signed up for a few hours of lessons. My instructor was called Erik, actually it was an Indonesian name, but since it sounded so much like Erik I decided that's what I'd call him. At first we did a bunch of theory like board anatomy, ocean awareness, safety, etc. and then stuff like mounting the board and proper distribution of weight on it, and so on. All fine but I wanted to actually get into the water and do it! Besides I'm the type of person that has to actually try something to learn from it, you can lecture me for a hundred years on something but unless I actually put the knowledge into action it won't go too well. I guess that's why I wasn't one of the top students during my studying years.

We finally hit the water and at first I was only allowed to attempt small incoming waves, but Erik was surprised at how fast I was getting the hang of it and honestly so was I! Before I knew it I was riding those little waves like they were nothing. The most difficult thing at first was getting the timing needed and hit the wave at the right moment but that just comes with practice. Also my paddling technique as the wave would come in needed more work but got much better as it went on. Probably the most difficult part of surfing!

Eventually I started taking the bigger waves and learned how to accelerate my board. Towards the end I got basic turning down and could ride the waves at different angles, my first proper turn was out of complete necessity, as I was about to run over a chick who was swimming too far out, so I managed to swerve and just miss her. Overall it was really fun and next time I'll just need to rent a board and practice since I got the basic skills down. Check out more pics below.

P.S. Don't know if it's cuz there's tons of tourists here but man is there a lot of trash in the water and on the shore. It's sad.

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Comments

[Lorraine]

Looking good!!!!Ride Danny riiiiide!