Surf vacations with Kima Surf

The local currency is the Indonesian Rupiah (IDR). The fluctuating exchange rate is approximately 15.000 Rupiah for € 1.

The local currency is the Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR). The fluctuating exchange rate is approximately 198 Rupees for € 1.

Lots of money exchangers will try and bait you with good exchange rates. To avoid any rip-offs, you should only change your cash at official P.T. Moneychangers. Make sure that you get your money changed into large notes (50,000 or 100,000). This is what legitimate money changers will do. Exchanging money is also possible at the reception of Kima Canggu surf camp Bali on Monday to Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm.

In Sri Lanka lots of money exchangers will try and bait you with good exchange rates. To avoid any rip-offs, you should change your cash at the official money changers.

We require you to pay a full amount one week before your arrival at the camp. If payment is not made in full, we do not guarantee your bed at the camp. Credit card payment is currently not possible on location.

There are lots of ATMs around our surf camps in Bali and Sri Lanka where you can withdraw local currency with your credit card or bank card (Mastercard, Visa, Maestro, Cirrus). Make sure you know the pin number of your card(s). The maximum amount per transaction varies depending on the ATM, but the absolute maximum per transaction is about 200 Euros. Several transactions can be done one after another. It is best to use ATMs inside banks with security guards to avoid scams.

Our surf camps are located close to the beach. It is just 700 meters from our Canggu surf camp in Bali to the beach as well as from our Seminyak surf camp in Bali to the beach. Our Weligama surf camp in Sri Lanka is only 300 meters and our Hiriketiya surf camp in Sri Lanka is just 500 meters from the beach.

Every room in our surf camps in Bali has an electronic safety box where you can keep your cash, flight tickets, and other small valuable things. Larger valuables (laptop, photo equipment etc.) can be deposited at our front office. In our surf camps in Sri Lanka every room has a locker where you can keep your valuables (laptop, photo equipment etc.). The surf camp is not responsible for lost or stolen items.

All sockets are European standard with 220V output. You may bring your adapter if your devices have other plugs.

Mosquito nets are available at the Kima surf camps, you can simply ask at reception and our team will be happy to assist you with your request.

Kima surf camps provide towels. These should not be taken to the beach, so please pack your favorite beach towel for all surf vacations.

Bed linen is provided and changed regularly (with night temperatures of around 26 °C you won’t need a sleeping bag).

Free Wi-Fi is provided in all our surf camps.

During the day our cars are used for guided surf tours. In case you need them, remember to check the availability and please ask our camp manager on location beforehand. We require you to have an international driver’s license, third-party damage insurance and a minimum of three persons per car. There is no charge for using the camp vehicles, but we kindly ask you to refuel before returning to the camp.

In the case of an accident when a guest is driving, the driver and all passengers must share the costs for any possible damages.

We have all kinds of different sizes and surfboard shapes for every level. It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner, intermediate, advanced or pro surfer, we have the right board for you! Our surfboards are made of high-quality epoxy or polyester resin and for beginners we have the best soft-tops available in the market by FLOWT and OCEAN&EARTH. This means the best possible performance on the water. However, boards can be easily damaged if they’re not handled properly, in this case repairs cost must be paid by the user. For a small fee you can insure your rented board to cover all the damages. In the possible event that you lose the board or parts of it, you will still have to take over the costs despite the insurance.

The average water temperature is about 27 to 30 °C; leave your wetsuit at home.

Surf lessons are professional lessons done by a certified surf school. Kima recommends surf lessons to beginners who have never surfed before in order to get a basic knowledge about the waves and first training with soft-top surfboards in order to reduce the risk of injuries and cuts. We offer a five-day (six lessons) Learn-to-Surf package for all our beginners. Those lessons need to be booked separately and are not included in our room / surf guiding packages. Surf guiding means that our professional surf guides will take you to surf spots that match your ability, give you a detailed spot introduction and are in the water with you to support you in catching as many waves as possible. Our surf guides will provide you with feedback and give you advice on how to improve your surfing skills. A beginner who is booked into a three-day Learn-to-Surf program can already join the afternoon surf guided sessions of Kima Surf on the second day as the surf school lessons are provided in the morning.

For absolute beginners we recommend our five-days Learn-to-Surf package. This way you save a lot of time and avoid making mistakes that are difficult to straighten out later on. Along with the surf school course, you can surf a second time later in the day with our surf guides (depending on surf conditions). If you can handle a take-off and manage to surf to the beach standing upright ahead of the whitewash, you do not need to attend surf school and your best bet is our surf guiding where you’ll learn with lots of practice. Our surf guides will help you and give you lots of tips so you can take your surfing to the next level.

The Learn-to-Surf package at the surf school includes all you need for surf lesson: soft-top learning boards, Lycra, towels and drinking water. For the surf guiding sessions in our camps, you need to rent a board in advance or directly from the camp.

You can start the Learn-to-Surf course any day from Monday to Sunday.

The latest registration time for the morning and afternoon session is at 8 pm on the day before. Please be aware that you need to sign up in our session planner first. Nothing will stop you heading to various surfing spots once you get your equipment and do a briefing.

The endless surf spots in Bali and Sri Lanka have the right waves for all levels. If the swell is too big at the beach, our surf guides always know other spots with nice little breaks for our beginners.

May to October is the dry season in Bali with air temperatures around 30 °C and two to three days of rain a month. November to April is the humid season and it rains more often, but mostly in the morning or evening, at sunrise or sunset. In between the sun always shines and everything’s budding and blooming. The rain normally lasts no longer than half an hour, but it pours down quite heavily. It can rain during the daytime sometimes, as the weather anywhere is always a bit of a gamble. Sometimes it won’t rain the whole week and then later it rains a few days in a row.

Sri Lanka is genuinely a year-round hub for surf vacations! The high season falls between December to mid-April with temperatures staying fairly consistent all year round. Between October to February the west and south coasts get most of the sun, while during the months of May to August the weather is drier and sunnier on the east coast.

All year round, the temperature in Bali is always around 30 °C. At night, during the European summer months, it can cool down to as low as 24 °C.

The average temperature in Sri Lanka is 27 °C. The warmest average high temperature is 31 °C in February, March, April & May. The coolest average low temperature is 22 °C in January & February.

There is endless variety. From tasty Indonesian street food stalls and mini restaurants to Italian, Mexican, fondue, steak houses or cute little cafés. In and around Canggu you can try different cuisine every day.

There is a nice variety of food in Sri Lanka. From pizza to fresh seafood and most plentiful Sri Lankan rice and curry!

As a rule of thumb, you can go around in a bikini or board shorts and flip-flops during the day. In the evening when you go out to eat, T-shirt, shirt and long trousers are a good idea as they also help against the mosquitos.

You need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter Indonesia or Sri Lanka. Please refer to our site with the latest travel regulations update. We recommend a tetanus boost (one jab in your rear end), hepatitis A (two to three jabs, starting six weeks before your trip), typhoid (oral vaccination, three weeks before) and, if you want to be on the safe side, malaria prophylaxis and rabies vaccination. Bali is classified as malaria-free. However, there are some isolated cases of infection now and again. Bear in mind that malaria prophylaxis has side effects on both organs and mind. If you act wisely (repellents, protective/covering clothing), you can keep the risk to a minimum. If you want to travel further, you should find out the situation of your preferred islands.

All kinds of antiseptic creams, lotions, band-aids, etc. can be found very cheaply at local pharmacies. Medical care in the tourist regions is good and mostly up to western standards (hygiene, disinfection, educational standards of the medics, etc.).

Please be aware that starting on 01-01-2022, COVID-19 insurance is mandatory for international travelers arriving in Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Please refer to our latest travel regulations update. We strongly recommend that everyone coming to Kima Surf should have travel health insurance. Apart from treatment expenses and drugs on location, this also covers return transport by an emergency service. This insurance costs about € 20. A must for everyone and mostly valid for a whole year. As well as travel health insurance, you can also take out casualty insurance (hospital daily benefits or even a pension in a worst-case scenario) and travel and baggage insurance. For Australian guests, please check www.indosurf.com.au.