Hi all
I just returned from a Bali holiday (the first return since the mid 90s and while I didnt surf this time as it was just a family holiday ,it was a fabulous holiday. But in some ways I was disappointed in that Bali has some major issues which I will come to later. Surprisingly I saw no SUPers out at Ulus when the outside break seemed perfect for it. The surf was very good for the duration i was there with easter friday as big as I have seen it at Kuta with waves breaking half a km out then reforming at the shore break. The planes landing at the groyne seemed to be landing in the sea at times with the swell hiding the rocks. Mind you it had been up to 10m down in Margaret River prior to that so its understandable. Needless to say the beaches were closed to swimmers and not many were attempting to surf.

The offshore sewerage outlet must be located in the outside breaker line and raw sewerage was washing up on Kuta and Legian beach in a toxic brown scum.
Besides that, plastics litter the beach and it is not difficult to work out where it is originating. A drive to Ulus will show you that every village is dumping its waste in the gully and creeks next to the houses. This is the only spare land available and when a torrential downpour occurs into the ocean it goes.. As tourists we have contributed to that in that the affluence created by tourism extends to the villages but the education doesnt.

Global warming is having its effect with rising sea's leaving the the beachfront roads covered in huge quantities of sand, something I had never seen before.

Now to the good news.
You can get SUP board bags made there for $25 for the stretch cloth type, $60 for single protection layer quality covers and $80 for double layer protection. The shop is Next Generation Board Bags in Jalan Benesari. I was impressed but found it too late, they want about 3 days to knock up a bag.
email; nextgenerationboardbag@yahoo.com - guys name is Edy.
Also we used a very reliable driver while we were there and his name is Putu (1st Born)
phone +6281337345686 if u have global roaming. $30 for round trip to the safari park roughly 5hrs driving and waiting. Most probably could have got it cheaper but the car was near new and everything worked and hes is very easy to deal with.
If you plan on shopping there for the usual clothes, saris, trinkets and much more dont buy on the street. Go to Krishna which is a bit like a big W but owned by a balinese, there are two of them one near the airport and one the main road to denpassar.. Stuff is so cheap and its just one stop and you have it all. Not many westerners know about it yet. The missus will love it and can spend hours there while u surf and u wont go broke..
Otherwise it was a great holiday with all the right ingredients for success.
Cheers Mike