Day 5: Swells
Though I’m staying on a cliff, the beach is just a 20-minute drive away. I’d set my sights on Padang Padang long before actually booking anything for this trip and yesterday, I took a Grab car (one of the Ubers of Bali) to the drop-off point where a trio of tiny monkeys greeted us beachgoers before we ducked down the cave-enclosed wooden staircase. I was too self-conscious to stop for pics, but yes, they were tiny, mischievous, and cute.
The cave path gave way to an unreal view of turquoise-blue water and white sand, and an already tight cluster of rented umbrellas. I claimed one of the few naturally shady spots just in front of a large boulder that two roving beach dogs were already nestled against and watched as the surfers tossed their boards into the crystal clear water and paddled out past the large rocks marking the shore.
The beach got more and more crowded as the tide rose higher and higher, inching ever closer toward my towel. Sadly, I only got one perfect swim in before I had to relocate to a new spot, this one unprotected from the sun. Soon, I made moves to Single Fin, the cliffside surfer hang above Suluban Beach that both my instructor and Max had recommended and spent the afternoon there ordering things one by one so I could perch on my barstool overlooking the massive swells for hours on end.
Surfers, like lines of black ants to abandoned fruit, followed one another out from shore and across the series of challenging breaks in search of a long wave amid the churn and foam of the white backwash. Am I getting too poetic? In summation: it was really stunning and meditative to watch. I think I’m addicted.
Speaking of addiction, not one but TWO different Korean couples wound up occupying the two stools to my left over the course of the afternoon. I secretly willed them to ask me to take their picture so I could surprise them with my tiny Korean, but alas. No such luck. Still, it was nice to try and catch a word here and there, and the familiar sound of their speech was as comforting as my dramas.