Krui Surfs



If you like surfing as well as swimming, snorkeling, or enjoying beautiful beaches, now you have more choices. Instead of surfing Bali, Nias, Mentawai, or Sumba Islands, you can surf Krui, south Sumatera. Krui is actually located in the District of Lampung Barat, part of Lampung Province, in the southern most of Sumatera, but the region is better known as south Sumatera for foreign surfers.

The surfs in Krui has been revealed since the last decade of the last century thanks to some Australian pathfinder surfers, and becoming more and more popular as of late. Some surf spots in Krui are very well known among foreign surfers and have been covered by some foreign media from Australia, Japan, Europe, etc.


Surfing Krui, you have many choices of waves; small or big, right handers or left handers, beach breaks or reef breaks. The surfs are all beachfronts. There is no cloud waves in this area.

Most of the surfs in Krui are reef breaks. There are only two beach breaks in this area, namely Mandiri and LA, but this two breaks are less popular compared to the other reef breaks.

Among the reef breaks, Karang Nyimbur, aka Ujung Bocor (Bocor Point), often
referred as The Point only by foreign surfers, is the most popular. Karang Nyimbur is the local  and also international name given by the local people while Ujung Bocor is a name given by the pathfinder surfer after the name of a local driver he hired at the time.

Karang Nyimbur, together with some other spots like Jimmy’s, Jenny’s, and Honey Smack (all these names are given by foreign surfers), has often been covered by foreign surfing magazines.


Besides those spots, there are some other spots that you can choose, they are Krui Right, The Peak, The Leftover, Bali Village (this spot apparently don’t have their local names), Walur, Way Jambu (aka Sumatran Pipeline), etc. “There are many fun waves here. You have many choices of waves, whether you are a professional or a beginner. And besides, the sea water is clean and clear and warm, and there are no big crowds,” said Lyon an Australian surfer when I asked him how he compared Krui surfs to the other surfs that he had been. 

The number of surfers coming to Krui keeps on increasing from time to time. Most of them know this place from stories told by their friends. And this
pervasive word-of-mouth has become a very effective way of advertising, beating the promotions by the media. 

The popularity of Krui is
due to the world-class surfs it has, its natural beauty, its conducive environment, and its nice local people. Beside the surfs, foreign tourists are often impressed by how nice and welcome the Krui people are.

Krui surfs have all of what surfers are looking for; left hander, right hander, and the A shape waves. The A shape waves that breaks in the middle are located in Mandiri, LA in La’ay, and The Peak at Way Redak. Here you can ride the wave to the right or to the left, depending on your style. The spot that is called The Peak is very short. It only last in a few seconds while the other two are quite long that you have enough time to have fun. But if you like body boarding more than surfing, The Peak is more suitable for you.

There is more left handers in Krui than right handers. Krui Left, Way Jambu, The Leftover and the iconic Karang Nyimbur are all left handers, while Jimmy’s, Jenny’s, and Krui Right are right handers. However, right handers are less consistent compared to the left handers.
 
Karang Nyimbur surfs are vary in size, ranging from 3 feet up to 14 feet. For most of the days the swells are about 4-6 feet which is favoritte for most surfers. But some times they can turn bigger up to 14 feet. And when this happen, Karang Nyimbur is usually
abandoned and the surfers go looking for some other smaller spots. Krui Left is the spot most surfers turn to when Karang Nyimbur is too big.
Krui Left, the second popular, is the average in size. It is normally 3 to 4 feet in regular days, but it can get up to 6 feet in big days. And so is Jimmy’s, Jenny’s, Honey Smack and Way Jambu. However, Jimmy’s can get up to 20 feet in some special days.

Way Jambu or Sumatran Pipeline is a fast barrelling left. According to some surfers, this surf can be dangerous and is suitable for experts only for it’s a shallow reef, out of deep water. It needs medium to high tide to work. 

Beside the surfers, the development of the accommodation in this region is also encouraging. Early in the year 2000, there were only two surf camps at Karang Nyimbur, but now there are more than 20 surf camps at Karang Nyimbur only, not to mention at the other spots. 

The surf camps are all located by the beach so the surfers can check the waves any time right at their doorway. Nested in the lush and shady trees with the constant wind blows every times from the sea, the surf camps are very comfortable to stay in. When the surf is not on, or when they feel tired of surfing, surfers can stay in their camp, reading a book on a hammock hanging under the shady trees, taking a sunbath, or just hanging out on the veranda watching other people surfing.   

There are many types of surf camps in Krui, ranging from simple ones made of wooden houses up to the ones made permanently with concrete walls. Since they are located by the beach, you don’t need an AC in your room. The air condition is always cool even in the middle of the day.

The surf camps vary in rate tariff, depending on the facility they have, ranging from 200 to 300 thousand rupiah per day including three meals. The camps that cost 300 thousand have more facility like TV, pool table and a nice garden. The camps that managed by local people is usually cheaper with less facility. And in the off-season, some camps go lower on price.

Around the camp area there are shoppes where you can buy all your daily needs like drinks, snacks, and cigarettes. The camps do not merge
with local settlements and quite away from the traffic and local people. However, if you need to go to the other spot or just to get out of the camp you can rent a motorbike for 50.000 a day. Most surfers rent a bike to get around. Public transport is not popular in Krui. It takes times and too many hassles.

On the peak season, April to October, the camps only take surfers, but when the surfer is winding down they also take local tourists.

To go to Krui, you can start from Bandarlampung. There are two ways you can take to get Krui from Bandarlampung, via Liwa, or via Kotaagung. If you take the route via Liwa, you will spend longer time on the road. And if you take the route via Kotaagung, you’ll save 30 minutes. Half of the way of Bandarlampung-Kotaagung-Krui route run through the coastal site so you can get to the camps straightaway before you even get the town of Krui. Besides, latter route is shorter with a more interesting view all along the road.

Early 2013, the government will start the pioneer flights from Bandarlampung-Krui-Bengkulu.***

More info:

Krui the Town

Ways to Krui

Beaches in Krui

More about Krui

Important Words and Phrases

Bus to Krui 



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