FAQ
Booking
As soon as you’ve filled in the online registration form on our website, your place at Kima Surf Bali is reserved. Payment arrangements are made through the confirmation email of your booking and, of course, more information will be given to you upon your arrival in Bali. This reservation is binding. Cancelling will result in a cancellation fee (see General Terms & Conditions).
Getting to Bali
Unfortunately, there are no direct flights from Europe/America to Bali; you will have at least one stop over. Cheap flights can be found through the following internet portals: Skyscanner, Traveloka, Checkfelix or Opodo.
Your destination will be I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar (DPS), Bali. It is the island’s only international airport.
Some airlines transport surfboards free of charge, provided your total checked baggage weight is under the usual allowance (20 to 23 kg). But please check with your airline beforehand as it seems to be handled quite arbitrarily (make sure they know it is a ‘real’ surfboard to avoid mix-ups with wind surfboards).
Airport transfers (airport pick-up and drop-off) are included for a minimum 5-night-stay in Canggu Surf Resort, Seminyak Surf Camp as well as in Kima Seminyak Villa Deluxe. For the surf camps in Padang and Green Bowl, airport pick-up shuttle is included for free without minimum night stay, however, you still have to pay a small fee for airport drop-off. A small fee is charged for a stay less than five nights in Canggu, Seminyak and Kima Seminyak Villa Deluxe. To make sure everything goes smoothly, let us know your exact flight details by email (date and time of arrival, airline and flight number) and your WhatsApp number at least 48 hours before you set off. Once you arrive at the airport in Bali, please login to the airport’s free WiFi and you will receive a text from our driver with his name, photo and information about the meeting point at the airport.
Visas for Indonesia
For almost all European and North American nationals, a visa-on-arrival is issued. You can get visa exemption when you arrive at an Indonesian airport. It is valid for 30 days. There is also an option for a paid visa-on-arrival for 35 USD which is extendable for another 30 days and can be obtained at the following airports: Denpasar (Bali), Jakarta (Java), Padang (Sumatra), Kupang (Rote) or Mataram (Lombok). In order to avoid fines on arrival, please make sure that your passport is valid for longer than 6 months from arrival date.
If you want to stay longer than 30 days in Indonesia, then you either need to extend your paid visa-on-arrival once, or apply for a “social & cultural visa” from the Indonesian embassy/consulate in your country. This visa is valid for 60 days and can be extended up to four times by 30 days each time. However, this extension regulation does not apply for all social and cultural visas, so be sure to enquire at the Indonesian embassy/consulate in your country. Sponsorship from an Indonesian citizen is required in Bali. You will need to prepare documents such as a photocopy of your passport and two passport-sized photographs. Your Indonesian sponsor will need to supply a sponsorship letter, a photocopy of the sponsor’s identity card, a copy of the sponsor’s family register and a copy of the sponsor’s bank account statement.
Finances
The local currency is the Indonesian Rupiah (IDR). The fluctuating exchange rate is approximately 15.000 Rupiah 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 Kima Surf Bali surf camp on Monday to Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm.
We require you to pay full amount before check-in to secure the booking. Credit card payment is currently not possible on location. For last minute bookings (1 to 7 days before arrival) we prefer full payment via PayPal.
There are lots of ATMs in Bali where you can withdraw Rupiahs with your credit card or bank card (international creditor, e.g. 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 2.5 million Rupiah (approx. € 167). Several transactions can be done one after another. It is best to use ATMs inside banks with security guards to avoid scams.
Surf camp
Our Kima Bali surf camps are located close to the beach. From our Canggu camp the beach is around a two-minute walk and from our Seminyak camp the beach is just five minutes away. At our Kima Seminyak Villa Deluxe, Green Bowl and Padang Surf Camp the beach is a five-minute drive away.
Every room in Canggu, Seminyak and in our Kima Seminyak Villa Deluxe 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. Our surf camps are 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. Every kind of adapter can also be bought here in Bali.
Mosquito nets are available at the Green Bowl Surf Resort and Padang Surf Camp. At Canggu Surf Resort and Seminyak Surf Camp, you can simply ask and our teams will be happy to assist you with your request.
Our Kima Surf Bali surf camps provide towels. These should not be taken to the beach, so please pack your favourite beach towel.
Bed linen is provided and changed regularly (with night temperatures of around 26 °C you won’t need a sleeping bag.)
Free WIFI is provided in all of our surf camps.
Cars
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 licence and 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. The free use of camp vehicles is only available in our Seminyak Surf Camp and Canggu Surf Resort.
In the case of an accident when a guest is driving, the driver and all passengers must share the costs for any possible damages.
Surfing and weather
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 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 three-day (4 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 be 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 from second day, as the surf school lessons are provided in the morning.
For absolute beginners we recommend our three-day 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 white wash, 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.
Learn-To-Surf package at the surf school includes all you need for surf lesson: soft-top learning boards, lycra, towels, sun screen 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 for the morning and afternoon session needs be done up to 8 pm 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. Please be informed that some of our Kima Surf Bali partner camps offer different surf guiding plans.
The endless surf spots in Bali have the right waves for all levels. Kuta’s mile-long beach, with its very soft reef breaks, is ideal for beginners. If the swell is too big at the beach, our surf guides always know other spots with nice little breaks for our beginners. In Padang Surf Camp and Green Bowl Surf Resort, you should prepare yourself for longer driving times if you want to surf at beginner-friendly spots.
May to October is the dry season in Bali with an air temperature of 30 °C and 2 to 3 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 daytime sometimes, as the weather anywhere is always a bit of gamble. Sometimes it won’t rain the whole week and then later it rains a few days in a row.
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 little as 24 °C.
The water temperature in Bali is between 26° C (July/August) and 30 °C (December/January).
Lifestyle
There is endless variety. From tiny tasty Indonesian (mobile) street stands and mini-restaurants to Indian, Italian or even fondue, steak houses or fast food chains. In and around Kuta you can eat something different every day.
It depends on what you want; you can either sip a quiet cocktail in Seminyak or Canggu or go dancing to house music or a live band in Kuta. There, you’ll find a massive number of clubs, bars and discotheques so you can party all night long.
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.
Illness, vaccinations and insurance
We recommend a tetanus boost (1 jab in your rear end), hepatitis A (2 to 3 jabs, starting 6 weeks before your trip), typhoid (oral vaccination, 3 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 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 of Bali is good and mostly up to western standards (hygiene, disinfection, educational standards of the medics, etc.).
We strongly recommend that everyone coming to Kima Surf Bali should have a 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 a travel health insurance, you can also take out a 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.