Batu Karas Surf Fever - A tranquil fishing village

Once upon a time.. there was a little village in West Java which was serene and tucked away from the busy city life.

Simple village life

If you follow me for a while, then you probably know that I started longboarding around 1 year ago and I got totally hooked. Don't get me wrong, I still love shortboarding, but the 25-30 secs ride that you get to experience on a log, is another deal. It's been a while that I kept hearing about this known longboard gem, hence I decided to visit it myself. And this is what I can share with you.

Log hire- 100-150K per day (6-10 euros)

Flights

So let's start with the ways to get there. If you are coming from Bali:

1) DPS-CGK 2hrs (Jakarta) and then a short plane ride with Susi air to Cijulan.

From there around 20 minutes drive.

Note: the small plane doesn't accept longboards. Shortboards may be accepted , depending on the capacity.

2) Another option from Jakarta: via car (10 hours) -around 2,5 mil rupiah (150 euros)

3) Fly to Yogyakarta (example DPS- YKIA) Bali- Yogyakarta with direct flight (2hours). Then car ride 5-6 hours, cost 1,5 mil (90 euros)

Notes: Choose Garuda flight, as they accept longboards and it's free of charge.

If you take Lion Air flight, the cost is around 200K (12 euros).

Accommodation:

There plenty of options for accommodation, depending on your budget and preferences.

I choose to stay in a more serene area, a little hidden paradise at the end of the main road and directly in front of the beach. The name is Slow and Sea, which truly reflects on the scenery , as well as the slow life of Batu Karas.

I booked a mezzanine room with sea view, waking up with the sunrise every morning and an incredible sea view.

Sunrise with a view @slowandsea_

Some things I love about this place:

They have fresh bakery called Amelia bakery and I literally saw the fresh sourdough loafs coming out of the oven, early morning. As well as the best banana bread. You can dine-in, the restaurant is open from 7 am until late evening. One of my recommendations is the focazzia sandwich, I asked to replace chicken with tofu, as I am vegetarian and it was delicious.

There are 2 pools, few different types of rooms (standard, sea view, mezzanine).

You can rent a bike directly from the hotel with daily cost 50K a day (3 euros per day). Please make sure you are a confident driver the least and respect the village, by keeping it slow.

Slow and Sea accommodation

Surf spots:

There are two main spots. The point and the reef.

The point works better with lower tides and offers a long right hander wave-perfect for longboarding.

The reef needs bit higher tide (mid to high or high to mid), as it can be dangerous at low tide.

Good all year round-avoid August (blue jellyfish) and onshore winds.

Also, keep in mind that it needs bigger swells for the spots to work.

Wearing @naiad_surf suit

Favourite restaurants:

• Swell dough: good breakfast and amazing desserts (mango cheesecake,carrot cake, choco cake)

• Hang 5 coffee: best coffee spot.

• Kedai mini warung: best local and international food (burgers, pasta etc)

• House of Sawah-Sawah means ricefields : enjoy the ricefield view. Great taco Tuesday and Burger deal on Sundays.

• Slow and Sea: as mentioned above, great fresh baked goods and meal options.

In case you forgot your best surfsuits, you can get new simwear (Ninefoot, Noserider ) at Surf Batukaras shop (@surfbatukaras).

Drone videos: @dronezonebk

Underwater photos @jenal_kupu_kupu

Land photos: @batukaras_bagus // @yogiar15

I hope you found this blog post helpful. For more, follow @rallou12 and share the surf fever and her reels, to support her surf journey.

Enjoy the rides!

x

Love