Grajagan |
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One of the elite few challengers for World's-Best-Surf-Spot status, Grajagan will top most goofyfoot lists for sheer range, juice and length of tube time. It's hard to imagine an arena better built for the formation of perfect waves, nor one that focuses a surfer's attention so clearly on the finer points of riding at serious speed through the barrel.
"G-Land," as it's loosely known, is a huge curved coral-encrusted lava reef in the northeast corner of the Blambangan Peninsula on Java, just across the Bali Strait from Bali. One end of this monumental reef is located inshore of the strait, facing Bali; it then juts out in a broad 10-mile arc, finally completing the arc along the eastern shore of Grajagan Bay. Swells from the south and southwest tend to close out along the reef fringe until it begins the final curve into Grajagan Bay, when they slowly resolve into long peeling lefts, swinging off the outer reef fringes, while the prevailing southeast trade wind turns offshore. The swell impact is increased by tremendous offshore water depths -- three miles out, it's 10,000 feet down. The spot itself can be divided into three fairly distinct regions. The first and farthest up is Kong's, a series of deeper water sections collectively around 300 yards long and usually ridden on smaller days, when they pick up more swell than any other part of the reef. Rarely coping with anything over 6 feet, Kong's is known for thin-lipped hotdogability, but long tubes can be found on a west-angled swell. From Kong's, waves peel and grind through an intense, ripped-up area of reef before connecting with Moneytrees, a beautiful fast almond-shaped barrel section around 200 yards long and verging occasionally on a closeout. The second, Moneys, is best at 6 to 8 feet but capable of bigger. It is G-Land's showcase wave, sleek and challenging, especially to a backside rider. Just down from Moneytrees, bigger waves shut down for 20 yards or so before reforming off a peak called Launching Pads and converting into the extraordinary barrels of Speed Reef. The third spot, Speedies, has a theoretical length of nearly 300 yards at high tide, which is the only logical time to ride it; on good days it's possible to ride in the tube for 20 seconds or more through this alluring, risky section. Beyond Speedies, the big lava reef runs down inside the bay for another mile before finally surrendering to sandy beaches and intermittent coral reef clumps. Down its last fringes run a couple of small spots, Chickens and 20/20s -- ridable in giant swells, but nothing grand. Another half-hour's jog down the beach is Tiger Trails, a small fun right reefbreak. Grajagan -- and its two surf camps -- is set in Indonesian National Park territory. Just inside the reef's perimeter, a narrow coral sand beach gives way rapidly to thick tropical scrub, penetrated here and there by old and not-so-old sandflows, the result of large wave action and high tides. Wildlife aplenty inhabits the scrub, including vast numbers of monkeys and rodents who've learned to live off human garbage from the camps. The wilderness surrounding adds a special vibe to surfing here, which still involves greater commitment than at most of the world's surf spots. The vast reef platform, thick with sharp coral, must be crossed on foot at lower tides, which may mean up to 15 minutes of careful foot-stepping before a jump straight off coral into oncoming foam. Occasional long waits between sets tend to draw surf sessions out to three or more hours. Water temperatures are warm -- around 78 degrees year-round. The reef was first ridden around 1970 by an American surfer, Bob Laverty, who'd spotted it from the air. Other adventurers followed his lead, and by the late '70s, a surf camp was established by Mike Boyum, while occasional boats prowled over from Bali. Incredible stories of tigers and other big cats cruising the camp at night added to the Grajagan mystique (though almost all the stories were just that -- stories). Substantial camps were put in place in the mid-'80s, and in the past 15 years, thousands of surfers from all over the world have relished Grajagan's epic waves and surrounds. In 1993, a large tidal wave put a temporary halt to operations, destroying much of the campsites and injuring a number of surfers. From 1995 to 1997, the Quiksilver Pro -- a major professional surfing event -- took place here, eventually pulling out during a period of political unrest in Indonesia. Great surfers to put their stamp on G-Land include Gerry Lopez , Peter McCabe, Gary Elkerton, Tom Carroll, Luke Egan and many lesser-known underground chargers. Balinese surfers such as Made Kasim, Ketut Menda and Rizal Tanjung have kept local flags flying. -- Nick Carroll, December 2000
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