October 25th, 2010
Somewhere in Nicaragua
Back in Bali and my trip has come to an end. Wow, a month sure flies by when you are over here. Looking back through all my photos, I definitely had a great trip. I caught some killer waves, made some friends and saw lots of interesting sights. With all the recent development on Bali, it would be easy to discount the place – which would be a huge mistake. This is still one of the most magical places on earth and it’s holding tons of surf. Even though you won’t surf by yourself, you will get plenty of waves and the experience more than makes up for the hassle. Here’s a shot of Padang Padang on my last day here. That set is just a tad overhead and it’s breaking pretty fast. This is still one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen.
You think Kuta beach is feeling the economic downturn? I don’t. Have a look at all those cranes in the background. This place is fueled by international tourism from Asia, Europe and Australia. It’s going off and shows no signs of slowing down.
This shot is from Ulu’s, the day before I left. The swell just started to come up and there were some really fun waves coming in. There were a few guys on the cliff’s taking shots so I bought a few. This is me trying the double-hand stall, which in this case, didn’t work. It was super fun out there though and I got tons of waves. I had forgotten just how much I like Uluwatu.
The best part of Ulu’s is the racetrack section at lower tide. It looks like it’s going to run away from you but it doesn’t. It opens up and you can actually just sit in the barrel for long way. The hardest part is jockeying with the crowd to pick off a set wave. Once you get one, it’s on. This one was just a tad overhead and peeled perfectly.
Not everybody comes to Bali to surf. One of the local pastimes are the massage ladies who roam the beaches. All you have to do is stop and they will start in on you. …and once they start, it’s hard to say no.
You know you are in Bali when Ronald McDonald gets on a surfboard!
A lot of times at Ulu’s, you have to fend for yourself. I found the “Jacksonville Cutback” a useful tool for keeping poachers off of my waves.
On my last day in Bali, the swell finally came up (figures, right?) I had a 5pm flight so I took the morning and went back out to Uluwatu. When I walked down the cliff with my board in hand, this is what I saw! It’s not a perfect wave, but with overhead sets coming in, I was stoked to paddle out. It doesn’t get much more beautiful than this.
This is about as big as it got on my last day. Not scary or anything, but big enough to make you think twice about pulling in over shallow reef. I actually got a pretty good barrel on this one and it made my last day worthwhile. Even though I’d love to stay here and surf this next swell, I’m really looking forward to getting back home to my family.
If you are a surfer, and you’ve never taken a trip to this part of the world, do yourself a favor and go. It’s a long trip and it costs a lot but it’s worth every bit of money and effort – trust me on this. That’s all for this trip. I hope you’ve enjoyed the updates. I’ve got some long flights ahead of me – Bali to Jakarta to Singapore to Moscow to Houston to Orlando to Nicaragua. I’ll be back in a couple of days. Until then…
What’s up party people? We are the NSR family from down here in Nicaragua, posting a couple shots in for our daily surf report. The waves were super fun today, running a tad over head on sets and the winds were a little onshore. Check it out!!!
There were some sick waves coming in and Jeremia sat in the right spot to catch some of the better ones. Here he is racing down the line of this nice looking right.
We tried to shoot from some different angles and it worked out pretty well. This is Nicolas picking up a nice and clean right over Machete Pt.
This is AB diggin’ a deep bottom turn from a cool angle. Next time you gotta hit it man, and it would have been a killer shot.
Since the lineup was almost empty, there were lots of waves rolling in with no takers. This one barreled by itself right in front of the camera.
RECENT REPORTS
Hey everyone! Welcome to the second day of 2025’s surf report from Panga Drops. There were fun waves all day today. Not huge, but playful. The folks out at low-tide this morning even lucked out.
Welcome to 2025 everyone! Happy New Year! Josh back behind the lens for the next few days. I basically pulled an all-nighter and woke up early to surf after the late night fiesta. The lineup was empty even at 8:00am and the waves were fun. I surfed then took photos.
Happy Tuesday and the final report of 2024. It was another fun day of waist to occasionally bigger surf at Playa Colorado. Warm water, light winds, and pretty empty line up. @tonyzphotos reporting.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Hi folks, this is the NSR family bringing you all the action for this Sunday surf report. Today we went to the beach in the afternoon, there were a few people out in the lineup. It was running about waist to chest high on sets with nice offshore winds. Check out the lineup!!!
First thing we want to say hello and welcome D-lite’s family to Nicaragua. They are going to be down here for a week sharing time with the NSR family. Here we have a shot of daddy taking his daughter for a swim.
The two day event started with a mass trash pickup on Monday. Approximately 300 kids participated in cleaning the streets and beach. It was pouring down rain but everyone was still charging. The event was aimed at teaching the kids environmental awareness. You want to see what can happen if everyone works together? Check out..