Bali is one of the best places on earth to learn to surf: warm water, no wetsuit, consistent small waves on long sandy beaches, more schools than you can count and prices that make a daily lesson realistic. It is also a place where a beginner can walk down to a famous break and paddle out over shallow coral into a fast wave and a crowded line-up, which is how a good week becomes a clinic visit. The learning is easy here. Choosing the right stretch of coast is the part that matters.
Where to learn
The long sandy beaches on the west coast, from near the airport running north, are the beginner coast: sand bottom, whitewater, gentle sections, and a school every hundred metres.
Sand underneath you is the requirement, not the wave size.
Schools cluster on these beaches because the conditions are right, which makes choosing easy.
Morning sessions are calmer and the wind is offshore.
The same beaches get bigger and better as you improve, so you do not need to move for a while.
Where not to learn
The southwest peninsula. The famous reef breaks are fast, hollow and shallow, with entries through caves or across rock, and they injure competent surfers regularly.
Any break described as a reef unless somebody who has seen you surf says otherwise.
Crowded line-ups, where a beginner and a board become a hazard to everyone.
Low tide over coral, which is when the reef is at its sharpest and closest.
Our guide to the best surf beaches in Bali by level sets out which breaks belong to which stage, and it is worth reading before you go anywhere near the peninsula.
What a first lesson is like
On the sand first, learning the pop-up on a board on the beach.
Whitewater second, in shallow water, with the instructor pushing you into broken waves.
Standing up usually happens in the first or second session, which is the moment people book the rest of the week.
Ninety minutes to two hours in the water, which is genuinely tiring.
Soft boards, which are large, stable and forgiving, and are what everybody learns on.
After the lessons
Hire a board and go back to the same beach at the same time of day.
Take a second block later in the trip rather than assuming you have it.
Move to green waves when the instructor says so and not before.
Learn the etiquette before joining any line-up: do not drop in on somebody already riding, do not paddle through the peak, and let the person closest to the breaking part have the wave.
Practical notes
Sun is the biggest hazard for beginners, since you are face down on a white board in tropical sun for two hours. Rash vest, reef-safe sunscreen, and reapply.
Rash from the board on your ribs and thighs is normal and reduced by a rash vest.
Ear and eye protection matter for anybody prone to infections in warm water.
Insurance, since surfing sits in the hazardous activities clause of many policies.
Board hire is cheap and buying is unnecessary for a trip.
Where this fits in a Bali trip
The beginner beaches sit along the west coast, which is also where much of Bali’s accommodation and nightlife is, so a surf week and a beach holiday are the same trip.
For the wider coastline, including the calm bays for swimming rather than surfing, our guide to the best beaches in Bali covers the island.
And for the cliffs and temples of the southwest peninsula, which is worth visiting even if the waves there are not for you, our guide to Uluwatu covers what to see from dry land.
The short version
Learn on the sandy west coast beach breaks, never on the southwest reefs, and let the school pick the beach after you have told them honestly what you can do. Book three consecutive mornings rather than three scattered lessons, because that is where the progress is. Expect to stand up in whitewater in the first or second session and to need much longer for green waves. Wear a rash vest and far more sunscreen than feels necessary. And learn the line-up etiquette before you paddle out anywhere with other people on it.
