Surfing in Bali: How it all began

Surfing began in Hawaii and the first westerners to see it were the crew of Captain Cook's ship, HMS Discovery, in Kona Hawaii in 1779. Back then the locals were carrying on like they were on Kuta Beach, riding the waves and enjoying life. Surfing came to Bali probably the first time in 1936 when American Bob Koke and his wife opened the Kuta Hotel at a location that is close to where Jl. Pantai Kuta reaches the beach and starts to curve north. Bob has surfed in Hawaii and his board, made of redwood is still in Bali. Must have been great back then with less people on the beach, no vendors and even if the locals got the idea of crashing in on Bob's fun, he had the only board. The Kokes went back to the US after a few years, but the seeds were sown and visitors to Kuta Beach started to trickle in.

The hippie trail led people and surfers to Bali in the 60's and in 1972 Albie Falzon documented the discovery of Uluwatu in the movie, "Morning of the Earth". That was it, the Bukit was discovered and many other famous breaks like Bingin and Padang Padang were developed.