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Guided surfing, Medewi, West Bali
A private surf guide for Bali’s west coast
You can already surf. What you are missing is which break along this coast is working today, at what tide, and where to sit once you are out there, and that is exactly what a local guide is for.
Who this is for
This is guiding, not a beginner lesson
We say this first because it saves everybody a wasted morning. A guided session is for surfers who can already paddle out on their own, catch an unbroken wave and ride along the face. What you are short of is not technique, it is local knowledge: which of the breaks along this coast is switched on today, at what tide, and where to sit once you are in the water.
If you have never surfed, or you are still working in the whitewater, this is the wrong page. Medewi Point breaks over boulders and the entry takes a bit of know-how, so we would rather start you with a proper lesson and get you guiding later in the trip. Intermediates, advanced surfers, longboarders and people with only a few mornings to spend are exactly who this is built for.
Why a guide
The west coast does not give itself away
Bali’s west coast is spread out. The breaks sit far apart along the coast road, most of them are not signposted, and they only come alive with the right mix of swell, tide and wind. You can burn three days of a two week trip driving up and down that road and still turn up an hour after the good window closed.
That is the whole job of a guide. Daffa looks at the forecast the night before and at the actual water in the morning, then decides where we go. Some days that is Medewi Point at first light, because it is glassy before nine. Other days we drive twenty minutes and surf a quieter corner instead, because the wind came up early. You do not have to guess, you just have to be ready when we pick you up.
This is also the difference between a Canggu operator and someone who lives here. Nobody drives over from the south to guide a two hour window on the west coast. Daffa is in the water here most days, and that is the only way to learn a coast this conditions-dependent.
The lineup
The breaks we guide around Medewi
Medewi Point is the anchor. It is a left point break over boulders, around 300 metres of wave on a good one, with a wide forgiving take-off that gives you time to get to your feet instead of throwing you straight down the line. It works on all tides and it is better on the high. April to October is the season, and before nine in the morning it is usually glassy. It is one of the longest lefts on the island, and there is nothing here like the crowd in Canggu or Kuta.
From the point we spread out. Yeh Sumbul is on the doorstep, Pulukan and the Righthander are close, Balian is a drive up the coast, and there are a few corners in between that we go to when the main spots are not doing it. Which one you surf is decided by the day, not by a schedule.
The session
What a guided session includes
Every session runs the same way, whichever break we end up at.
- A forecast check the night before, and the real call made in the morning once we can see the water
- Free pickup from where you are staying in Medewi or Yeh Sumbul, and the drive to whatever is working that day
- The entry and exit explained before you paddle out: where to step over the boulders, where the current runs, where it lets you back in
- Positioning in the lineup and a word on the etiquette here, so you sit on the right part of the peak and the session stays friendly
- The whole session filmed from the beach, with drone footage on the good days
- A video review afterwards, so you see what you actually did instead of what it felt like
- A board and a rash guard if you are not travelling with your own
Your guide
Daffa grew up in this village
Daffa was born and raised in Yeh Sumbul, a few minutes from the point. He has surfed this stretch of coast since he was a kid and he has been coaching for more than four years, with everyone from first timers to people who have been surfing for twenty years. He is out here almost daily, which is why he can tell you on a Tuesday evening what Thursday morning is likely to look like.
He also films. Every session is recorded, and on good days the drone goes up. Most surfers get more out of ten minutes of video than out of anything shouted across the water, because you finally see how far outside you were sitting and how late you started paddling. We currently have a 5.0 average on Google from 35 reviews.
Good to know
Questions travelling surfers ask
If something is not covered here, message us and ask. We would rather talk it through before you drive out than have you arrive with the wrong expectation.
What level do I need to be?
You should be able to paddle out on your own, catch an unbroken wave and ride along the face. You do not have to be good, you have to be independent. Medewi Point has a wide, forgiving take-off, so it is a friendly wave for a solid intermediate and a very good wave for a longboarder. If you are not there yet, ask us about a lesson instead and we will be honest with you.
What happens if it is flat?
Then we say so. If the forecast is empty we will tell you the evening before rather than take your money for a paddle in nothing, and we look for a better morning instead. April to October is the reliable window here. Outside it there are still good days, they just sit further apart.
How many people does one guide take?
Private guiding is one to one. Semi-private is a maximum of two people with one guide, and it only really works if the two of you surf at a similar level, because we go to one spot and sit in one part of the lineup. We do not run big groups.
Do I need to bring my own board?
No. Boards and rash guards are included. Most surfers who book guiding travel with their own quiver, which is fine, but if what you brought is wrong for a long soft point wave you can use one of ours for the session.
How do we get to the spots?
We pick you up from wherever you are staying in Medewi or Yeh Sumbul at no extra cost, and we drive to whichever break we picked that morning. Some are a couple of minutes down the road, Balian is more of a drive up the coast. Boards come with us.
Can you guide me for several days in a row?
That is when it works best. The coast changes with every shift in swell, tide and wind, so a run of sessions shows you far more of it than a single morning does. There are five and ten session packages for exactly that, and we can spread them across your trip however the forecast falls.
Rates and booking
Book a guided session
Pickup, board, rash guard, the filming and the video review are all in the price. There is no extra transport fee and no surcharge for driving further up the coast on a day when that is the right call.
Booking runs over WhatsApp, because it is quicker than a form and because plans on this coast move with the forecast. Send us the dates you are around and a sentence about what you surf, and we will tell you straight what that week is likely to do. Medewi is about two and a half to three hours from the airport, so it is worth knowing that before you make the drive.
- Private, one session: IDR 450.000
- Private, five sessions: IDR 2.100.000
- Private, ten sessions: IDR 4.000.000
- Semi-private, maximum two people: IDR 400.000 per person
- Semi-private, five sessions: IDR 1.600.000 per person