Just back from 2 weeks in Lombok n Bali got 2 good swells and 2-3 surfs a day
the Katana Quad was excellent
The whole planet Surfs now - Germans Norwegians Danes Israelis and RUSSIANS!!


Plenty of this going on!!!! Dam fine German round tail with SHAVED rails




Short Promo for ya Dave - NEW KATANA SHOP in Gerupuk

Nice stuff. That second right with the light onshore wind looks mighty smack able.
On katanas, do you surf slightly thinner dimensions with the epoxy to compensate for the extra boyancy? Thinking of getting a quad katana as well but not sure whether to go epoxy.

tell me thats you smashin that left mocha looks like racetracks

Select to expand quote

swalkington said...
Nice stuff. That second right with the light onshore wind looks mighty smack able.
On katanas, do you surf slightly thinner dimensions with the epoxy to compensate for the extra boyancy? Thinking of getting a quad katana as well but not sure whether to go epoxy.

swalkington, I've came down 3 inches when Dave shaped my board to compensate for the boyancy, i kept the same width and added an extra 1/4 inch to thickness. Feels great, only notice the extra boyancy a little bit. As i said on another post, i was a little sceptical about the hole epoxy range but since I've ridden one I wont be going back to pu,they ride so smooth. Got the quad set up one mine, liking the extra speed.

mocha1 looks like you had great waves at lombok. Inside and outside gerupuk such fun waves, good to hear your stoked about your quad, loving mine. Bet you were paddling behind that chick all day

spot on about the universal appeal of surfing Mocha, same place last year had lunch with some dudes from Finland! They had the worst case of sunburn I'd seen in years they'd spent the day surfing inside Grupuk without sun cream, looked like the crays we ordered for lunch

Select to expand quote

swalkington said...
Nice stuff. That second right with the light onshore wind looks mighty smack able.
On katanas, do you surf slightly thinner dimensions with the epoxy to compensate for the extra boyancy? Thinking of getting a quad katana as well but not sure whether to go epoxy.

i think with the extra boyancy you can afford to thinner in the rails out which will give you more drive thru tighter turns and more hold in suckier waves.

The outside right was super smackable but a few turns needed before the inside wall up, the top foto was a skatey park, i think I even released the fins and put some, say 3 inches, of air under my qwaddy on a few. Unfortunately I had a nemises...Tony Red Board Nakamoto was always 2 inches on my left shoulder never knew if he was gonna go or not!! He even got on the plane back to Bali at the same time...at least we didn't share a seat
Our guide called it Japanese Pussy Wave and there were on occasions a full karaoke bar worth of japeng and the inside was littered with lost snowboarders!!

Kuta beachies going off at sunset, never seen so many big airs landed or ripping turns and DROPINS.......far**n hard to get a wave off the locals

Greedy wave at outer reef, went too far looking for the last wack...paid the price as 5 wave 4-5ft solid set pushed me to no mans land...paddle back toward land till boat takes pity 200m from land, at least I had company as another bloke did exact same thing on next wave

Uluwatu Racetrack was smokin that arvo but unfortunately that wasnt me, Balangan was smokin for the next 2 days - even f$%$ked up the return date on the ticket had to coff up $600+ to fly home a day late...all big f&*&^k up but that did mean instead of sitting in a plane we were surfing head high superfast but makeable Balangan...prob watched my flight take off.................wife happy

Lombok surf guides hanger on mate named BLACK (anchor boy board strapper eran runner general gopher) surfed my 6'4 most days Dave...he loved it he was about 5'11

all in all though great fun with good boards

Select to expand quote

mocha1 said...
The outside right was super smackable but a few turns needed before the inside wall up, the top foto was a skatey park, i think I even released the fins and put some, say 3 inches, of air under my qwaddy on a few. Unfortunately I had a nemises...Tony Red Board Nakamoto was always 2 inches on my left shoulder never knew if he was gonna go or not!! He even got on the plane back to Bali at the same time...at least we didn't share a seat
Our guide called it Japanese Pussy Wave and there were on occasions a full karaoke bar worth of japeng and the inside was littered with lost snowboarders!!

Kuta beachies going off at sunset, never seen so many big airs landed or ripping turns and DROPINS.......far**n hard to get a wave off the locals

Greedy wave at outer reef, went too far looking for the last wack...paid the price as 5 wave 4-5ft solid set pushed me to no mans land...paddle back toward land till boat takes pity 200m from land, at least I had company as another bloke did exact same thing on next wave

Uluwatu Racetrack was smokin that arvo but unfortunately that wasnt me, Balangan was smokin for the next 2 days - even f$%$ked up the return date on the ticket had to coff up $600+ to fly home a day late...all big f&*&^k up but that did mean instead of sitting in a plane we were surfing head high superfast but makeable Balangan...prob watched my flight take off.................wife happy

Lombok surf guides hanger on mate named BLACK (anchor boy board strapper eran runner general gopher) surfed my 6'4 most days Dave...he loved it he was about 5'11

all in all though great fun with good boards

ah, the old forgot to get on the flight trick
(I have surfed balangan too and know its worth going home a day late for.)

Select to expand quote

swalkington said...
That second right with the light onshore wind looks mighty smack able.

Of all the photos I thought there was another one which was more "smack able"

Select to expand quote

Daneli said...

swalkington said...
That second right with the light onshore wind looks mighty smack able.

Of all the photos I thought there was another one which was more "smack able"

I thought that was what Swalk was talking about untill i read on..Had to keep checking back up to see it was still the second shot

Great picks..

Hey mate, the photo's from your trip are brilliant. Looks like you had a great time and may have convinced me to pop by Katana's when I'm back from Lombok later down the track.

Just a few questions if you'd answer would greatly help me. Been having second thoughts about the trip after reading about people's misfortunes in Indo. There's a few threads on intimidation and scams (e.g. stealing hired scooters etc) by local 'mafia' or bad people. While I know that those are the minority and not the majority, did you see much of that over there? How did you go in making sure you were safe with everything and aware of any possible problems?

Cheers mate, I am even tossing up just going for an interstate trip over to your joint to Margaret River (never been over to Perth) instead of booking the tickets my mates have been pestering me to book over the last few days.

Hope you get waves over there mate, your WA forecast is looking decent!

Its cheaper to go to indo, but i'd do margs if I were you. Just bring yr shark mesh suit.

Have not had any probs in the last 4 years of going to Bali, did hear of a robbery at Mawi in Lombok and the odd scam but you just gotta travel with ya wits about ya
Dont go to Mawi alone maybe even take a local guide
Dont do business (hire scooters, change money etc) when ya on the piss
Be respectful to locals even if they continually drop in!!
Always travel home together after a night on the piss - take care of each other
Always leave your gear in a Warang, buy some food n drink before the surf then do it again after a surf, our gear has always been looked after

Enjoy ya Holiday - Bali is pretty safe if you are respectful, Lombok is safe but is a little different to Bali but there are 100s of young Euros traveling alone and in small groups and they seem to be ok

Like all travel it comes with risk

Select to expand quote

mocha1 said...
Have not had any probs in the last 4 years of going to Bali, did hear of a robbery at Mawi in Lombok and the odd scam but you just gotta travel with ya wits about ya
Dont go to Mawi alone maybe even take a local guide
Dont do business (hire scooters, change money etc) when ya on the piss
Be respectful to locals even if they continually drop in!!
Always travel home together after a night on the piss - take care of each other
Always leave your gear in a Warang, buy some food n drink before the surf then do it again after a surf, our gear has always been looked after

Enjoy ya Holiday - Bali is pretty safe if you are respectful, Lombok is safe but is a little different to Bali but there are 100s of young Euros traveling alone and in small groups and they seem to be ok

Like all travel it comes with risk

Thanks mate, will take all of that on board.

Select to expand quote

mocha1 said...

Just back from 2 weeks in Lombok n Bali got 2 good swells and 2-3 surfs a day
the Katana Quad was excellent
The whole planet Surfs now - Germans Norwegians Danes Israelis and RUSSIANS!!

Recently returned from Bumbangku which is behind the island at Grupuk.
40 people in the water and they all spoke German!
Absolutely no quarter given.
Worse than Merewether on a crowded day.
First thing I did on my first surf at home was to abuse the lids that snaked me. Left over annoyance I think.

You are right about the Lombokis being different. Apart from them being Muslim, they don't have dollar signs in their eyes like a lot in Bali. Soon to change though, with the infrastructure that is going in as roads and the airport.

Remark of the trip was as we were being driven down a bumpy dirt road in the dark by two guys from the bungalows, "We Muslim but we not kill you. We not terrorist!" Reassuring! Followed by "No shark, no crocodile". Crocodile? Fark! Never even thought of that!

we did a bit of exploring last year in lombok not far from gerupuk found a pretty sucky long left only to find when we returned to the beach we were told we cant surf there again its for locals only they were not happy. after some negotiations we agreed on a reasonable rate to surf there again .good or bad it was gettin pretty heated maybe some do have dollars in there eyes

Select to expand quote

katana said...
we did a bit of exploring last year in lombok not far from gerupuk found a pretty sucky long left only to find when we returned to the beach we were told we cant surf there again its for locals only they were not happy. after some negotiations we agreed on a reasonable rate to surf there again .good or bad it was gettin pretty heated maybe some do have dollars in there eyes

There is an undercurrent of problems among the locals in and around that general area with rivalry and jealously running deep that you wont see as a tourist a lot of it comes back to who is making the RUP.

Some thing to be very careful not to get caught up in as it can get pretty ugly usually starts with some one getting stabbed in the eye and losing the eye.

Now I'm glad I didn't leave the Missus alone!

But seriously, we were treated with the utmost respect by the locals. They couldn't understand why we left the bungalows to go for walks though. "Where you go?" "Why you go?"

Sitting at the Surfers Inn in Kuta Lombok right now. Just back from surfing Mawi with about 4-5 others. Everyone here is much friendly than I seem to remember from just 18 months ago. New road to Mawi makes it soooo easy too!

Hey airhead, do me a favour and drop past the Rasta Surfshop, Alim runs it, he was our guide in Lombok. Say g'day and if you can give him some of your leftover or easily replaceable gear( wax, leggys fins ) failing that buy him a beer I will buy you one in return!!

Recommend K
Jawa2 for some grub and The Spot

Ok will try too. Just on a quick side trip here after a month in Indo.

Select to expand quote

IFocus said...

katana said...
we did a bit of exploring last year in lombok not far from gerupuk found a pretty sucky long left only to find when we returned to the beach we were told we cant surf there again its for locals only they were not happy. after some negotiations we agreed on a reasonable rate to surf there again .good or bad it was gettin pretty heated maybe some do have dollars in there eyes

There is an undercurrent of problems among the locals in and around that general area with rivalry and jealously running deep that you wont see as a tourist a lot of it comes back to who is making the RUP.

Some thing to be very careful not to get caught up in as it can get pretty ugly usually starts with some one getting stabbed in the eye and losing the eye.

Riding out of Mawi yesterday could have sworn I saw a young kid on the back of a scooter with a rifle over his shoulder

Mate, you got it great over there! Not to mention inspired me to get my new stick made from, you guessed it, Katana Think he should give you some commission for your advertising haha .

Had a quick question though, how much do you think a 18 day trip to bali will require altogether? Currently have about $1800 saved for the trip so about 100 per day for everything. Hoping to work a bit more to bring that up but it will be the bare minimum.

Cheers Mocha

Select to expand quote

newguy said...
Mate, you got it great over there! Not to mention inspired me to get my new stick made from, you guessed it, Katana Think he should give you some commission for your advertising haha .

Had a quick question though, how much do you think a 18 day trip to bali will require altogether? Currently have about $1800 saved for the trip so about 100 per day for everything. Hoping to work a bit more to bring that up but it will be the bare minimum.

Cheers Mocha

At $100/day you would be living like a king!

Accom anything from $15-25/day with breakfast. Scooter $4-5/day, lunch $3-5/day, dinner (with drinks) $8-15/day = $30-50/day

Phew! Cheers Airhead, not keen for that either as hoping to mix it with the locals and actually keep it as simple and cheap as possible while surfing all day. Means I can keep some stashed for another board when I come home

Still going strong in lombok Airhead or back to good old trigg close outs in Aus? Either way, hope you getting good waves!

Select to expand quote

newguy said...
Phew! Cheers Airhead, not keen for that either as hoping to mix it with the locals and actually keep it as simple and cheap as possible while surfing all day. Means I can keep some stashed for another board when I come home

Still going strong in lombok Airhead or back to good old trigg close outs in Aus? Either way, hope you getting good waves!

Having breakfast before heading to airport for flight back to Bali then xfer straight to intn'l and home. Looking forward to a nice big steak and a glass of red for a change...

Select to expand quote

airhead said...
Having breakfast before heading to airport for flight back to Bali then xfer straight to intn'l and home. Looking forward to a nice big steak and a glass of red for a change...

What wrong with nasi goreng and Bintang?

Select to expand quote

airhead said...
Riding out of Mawi yesterday could have sworn I saw a young kid on the back of a scooter with a rifle over his shoulder

Saw a bloke in Kuta (Lombok) with a large air rifle. Must be OK.
Doesn't bother me. We used to ride our pushies from town to someones farm with shotties and 22's and camping gear. It didn't raise any eyebrows in the 60's.
It's hard to eat a bunny while it's still hopping.

Newguy you will p155 it in on $100 a day as airhead said. If you wanna go to Lombok I suggest staying at the many home stays/ Losman around instead of the hotels. In kuta you got lots of option but recommend The Spot ($15-17 a night) if you wanna go Grupuk, choose of 3 waves + others close by and some sneaky ones behind the island stay at sea monkeys, Aussie owner but run by the in laws of the surf guide we used..($15-$20 and the food is excellent) but again plenty options in Gerupuk. Ekas bay has a few in Awan but you could live it up at Heaven on the Planet and surf at night...exclusive for the hotel guest!!!!
I reckon inc bed, boats to waves ($5 a trip),food and bin tangs $50/day and still livin it up.
I do recommend a guide for at least 1-4 days to get the layout plus they surf with ya, tryout ya boards drink ya piss but block the japs for ya look frat ya gear and generally add to your experience
Alim at Rasta Surf is cool, (main road Kuta)he will bring his mate Black or Bobby - negotiate about $35/day inc car hire, guide fee and funny ****!
In Bali you can't miss at Ulus try Galeh Homestay right on blue point 2 min walk to the break $20-25 Balangan Bingin right on the beach same price or Bali Diva in kuta poppies 1 close to kuta beach, boats to the reefs and the nightlife trap!!!

Mocha 1 I stayed at Heaven last yr. Night surfing?...Unless they upgraded their generator there would be no night surfing there. When they did try it it only lasted about 20secs. I"d love to see them try to stop anyone else surfing there if they had the lights on. The manager at the time loved snaking waves off the paying guests on his farking SUP. Thought nothing of it. Mind you there was a visit by a 'gentleman' who left his sub-machine gun on the bar when he went for a walk. There could be a link there. Great surf though and pretty consistent uncrowded wave albiet a little on the expensive side.