Surfing!

First impression - not so good!

The beach in Kuta is nasty. Litter lines the beach and it’s quite visually unappealing. But it looks like a nice spot to watch the sunset. Despite all the litter, it appears to be a place where numerous people try to learn how to surf. Guys approach you every minute as you walk along the beach asking if you’ve ever surfed before and if you want to learn. I kind of wanted to try and seeing that so many other people were in the water, I figured what the hell.

Appropriately enough, since the beach was nasty, the water was also disgusting. I can say without a doubt, it was the filthiest beach I have ever swum in. There was not a second of my two and a half hours in the water when garbage was not touching me. Not a single step on the ocean floor when my feet were not standing on trash. Ack!! Seriously disturbing. They need an ocean trawler to drag nets near the shore to collect all that shit.

I don’t regret learning to surf there. Not at all. But it did become difficult to concentrate on the incoming waves when something was constantly – and I mean all the time – wrapping itself around my ankles. Is that trash? Seaweed?  Or the leash wrapping up around my leg? I often found myself screaming to myself in disgust. This is fucking nasty!!

But I tried to ignore it. Impossible. And I missed some waves removing bags from my legs when only seconds later another would stick to my arm. Fortunately, I was wearing a surf shirt and I couldn’t feel much on my upper body. That might have been too difficult to bear. I can’t imagine what kind of crap is in my body right now. What I swallowed. I could have taken a shit in that water and nobody would have noticed. Well, as long as it didn’t float.

I got out of the water just before sunset. My fingers hurt. And I was tired of waiting for shitty waves. And really tired of being in that water. My hair was matted together and sticky to touch. I had to shower before doing anything else. I used twice as much shampoo and scrubbed my head for twice as long, but even after rinsing it still felt dirty. And despite all the soap and water, I still felt as if my body was coated in a greasy residue. Probably still is.

Probably the best thing about all the trash was that it convinced me that no sharks would be in the water. Probably too toxic and they’d never be near that place. Probably couldn’t see in that shit. And well, I wasn’t really ever neck deep so I felt even safer still. I know shark attacks are rare and I’ll probably experience a Bali nightclub bombing before a shark bite, but the thought of a shark arising from the water jaws open is enough to keep me happily watching from the shore.

Oh and one more thing. I hate salt water! At least I hate it in the eyes. Couldn’t even see toward the end and also missed a number of decent waves trying to cope with that stinging feeling. Open eyes and quickly close. Open again, close again. Open, ahhh I can see. Oh no, another wave. Crash! Close eyes and duck under water. Open eyes and they sting again. Wait and repeat again. An exhausting experience.

Definitely want to try again. But if I could just focus on the waves it’d be a hundred times better. No trash. Eliminate the possibility of sharks and the salt water and it’s my new hobby. Or better yet, but highly unlikely, get over my fear of sharks and adjust to the saline and there you go. 

Update: Talked to a guy this morning who said that the beach is usually pristine or not at all like I described above. Apparently there was a big storm a few days ago and everything has washed ashore. Perfect time to learn how to surf!