surfing — The-Escapist

Batu Karas

West Java, Indonesia

31st - 8th September 2015

I guess the main beauty of running @reveriewc is that i am constantly blessed to create connections with great people from all around. Above are the people that i get to get closer as @reveriewc got deeper and it was great to be able to go on a surf trip with them.

Hasif, Fahkrudin, Mirza, Azri, Bird and Fahmy.

GETTING HERE

Batu Karas is about 7 hours drive from Bandung or 3.5 hours train ride from Jogjakarta. It is best to arrange for someone to pick you up from Bandung to BTKS as transportation service to West Java is not readily available. Lucky for us, Azri had arrange with his friends to drive us there.

Blue Bottle Season

Before planning a trip to BTKS, please check that it is not during the Blue Bottle season as you would not want to be in BTKS during this period.

The Blue Bottle delivers a painful sting and may leave some serious allergic reaction that might just spoil your entire surf mood. Typically the Blue Bottle season is in June - August.

As we arrived in BTKS on the 1st of September, there was still a high risk of the Blue Bottle being around but we were all lucky to not get stung by them. We left Bandung late night and arrive early morning the next day just in time to get a quick sleep before our 1st morning sesh.

Azri found the perfect accommodation - Bonsai Bungalows as it could accommodate all 7 of us and is 5mins away from the beach.

Day 2

While we were having breakfast, Tio (our local friend there) suggested we should visit Citumang and so we did. Citumang is about 45mins ride from BTKS and i would definitely recommend visiting Citumang if you are in BTKS and here are the reasons why :

And if your lucky, you get to witness how the aborigines hunt!

After a fulfilling day in Citumang, we headed back to our hotel and rest for the next day.

Day 3 to Day 5 was just pure surfing and on the last day, some of us decided to skip our evening sesh and join the locals for a game of soccer. Every evening, the locals would gather and have a friendly kick about before the sun sets.

I am inspired by this moment right here as it got me questioned on why do we set unrealistic limitations to ourself.

Reflecting back on Batu Karas, I can understand why many of my friends fell in love here.It offers everything you need for a perfect surf getaway - Amazing swells all around, friendliest locals and good food.

Barely any surf photos as we were all into living in the moment than to capture it.

Lastly i would like to really thank Tio for being such an amazing friend in welcoming and showing us around.