Surfing
is one of the reasons that tourists come to Indonesia. Surfing
is probably the number one reason that tourists come to Sumbawa.
To be right up front about this, Sumbawa is known as a strongly
Muslim island, and in this day and age, that scares many tourists
off. On a number of the tourist forums that I am a member of,
this issue comes up either subtly, or at times quite openly. There
have been reports - from years ago as I understand it, of tourists
being harassed. This certainly has not been my experience here,
nor have I heard of anything like this from tourists that I talk
to that have been traveling around Sumbawa on the surfing trail.
Sumbawa is not known for the colorful Hindu ceremonies that are
found on Bali, nor does it have the reputation of being a cultural
center like Yogyakarta in Java. Tourists come here basically for
the surf. This page will discuss the major surfing areas in Indonesia
and Sumbawa and offer links to surfing sites.
Bali
Bali
has many excellent surfing sites, as well as a lot of support
for surfers in terms of lessons, tours, and equipment. Baliwaves
Surf Report has daily updates on the surfing conditions and runs
charter tours to Lombok and Sumbawa.
Sumbawa
As
I mentioned above, surfing is the major reason that tourists come
to Sumbawa. The major surfing areas in Sumbawa are well-known
to the surfing world. The area that I live in (Southwest Sumbawa)
has a number of excellent surfing sites. This photo is a view
from the hill overlooking Yoyo, one of the surfing sites in my
area.
General
Links
Surfing:
A Surfer's Directory, calls itself the largest web guide to
online surf sites. I haven't spent much time here, but it does
have a number of links to surf schools around the world.
International
Surfing Museum, is located in Huntington Beach, California.
This site has exhibits, lengends, music. Check it out you surfers.
Surf
the Earth, Surf the Earth is all about putting you in the
line-up at some of the best surf breaks on Earth, at the best
time of the year ... and hassle free, as they say on their website.
They have links to some of the key surfing places in Asia and
in other parts of the world as well.
WannaSurf, is another surfing site that has some outdated information about Sumbawa. Add your own information and it maybe more relevant.
