The type of wave you hope for when you pull the trigger on a strike mission. Photo: Kirra Point Surf School//screenshot
When a big Indian Ocean swell graces the reefs of Bali’s Bukit Peninsula, there are plenty of places to find quality surf. But if you want to upgrade really good surf to potentially world-class surf, the famed left-hand reef of Desert Point is just a couple of hours by boat to the island of Lombok.
That’s precisely what James Wood of Kirra Point Surf School did on a recent foray to Indonesia. When he saw swell charts of 2.5 meters with an 18-second interval headed toward Indonesia, he dangerously skipped a 36-hour chunk of his girlfriend’s birthday trip in Bali to see if he could wrangle a few of Lombok’s perfect tubes.
Between a boat ride and a bumpy drive with surfboards precariously balancing on the roof of a car, the crew made it to Lombok to find a tricky, big swell with the occasional perfect wave sprinkled into the madness.
Wood explained that, as perfect as it looks in videos, Desert Point is difficult to surf well. Timing the variable speeds of the tubes takes expert knowledge. It’s “one of the most difficult waves to read,” whether on your forehand or backhand, he said.
Still, goofies and regulars alike found plenty of tubes during the day-and-a-half swell event, and the crew motored back to Bali with a successful Desert Point strike in the books.
