After Oz we hit Indo for some early season action. Even after summer in Oz Indo was hot and humid. A swell hit as soon as we arrived so we bolted for Sumbawa which is 2 islands to the east of Bali. Lakeys in Sumbawa is a little like Bundoran with at least 6 reef in walking distance with the main wave being a peak with a left and right. March is normally early season in Indo when swells can be inconsistent but the winds and crowds can be lighter. The water is so warm that you often sweat in the water while paddling and sunburn is a major hazard. Good tip is to buy board shorts with a zip pocket were you can keep zinc for your nose The first swell was pumping but dropped quickly and left us gagging for more. The next swell wasn’t looking big on the charts but it was 6foot plus. Unfortunately it also coincided with full moon tides meaning that it was super shallow on the low tide. Also with a lot of water moving around some of the waves were nasty rather than ‘indo perfect’. It is possible to surf Nungas a long left a little like Tullaghan left on these swells which never really gets crowded.

About 6 of us headed out for the early low tide surf with Rick a fellow bundoran resident charging on his backhand. After a few early ones we got rattled as one of the Hawaiian guys had a suspected broken neck and the reef was pretty try. The take off wasn’t too bad but once the wave doubled up in the inside you didn’t want to fall off. Definitely some of the most perfect waves I have seen in my lifetime. When we got in the Hawaiian guy was on a spinal board trying to get a helicopter to Bali. A few nervous people were busy on the internet trying to get travel insurance, it is a necessity as copters often cost over $20 000. The copter didn’t come for two and a half days and the poor guy was just lying there contemplating his fate. The surf continued to pump. After many excuses the helicopter was too take him to the local airport were a medivac plane was going to whip him too Singapore. Unbelievably the plane at the local airport over shot the runway and crashed. Not sure what happened after that. Definitely made you think when the reef was shallow.