The second day of the big swell so we decided to do the mega mission to surf Ekas. We'd heard all different stories from epic to terrible but it seems the only thing to really do here is find out for yourself. Close too an hour of terrible road (more pothole than tar) saw us arrive in the (filthy) fishing village of Awang and immediately set upon by all the locals trying to rent us a boat and kids wanting pens and lollies. Figured it out fairly rapidly and sorted out boat, motorbike parking (so our seats and tyres wouldn't get slashed) and a quick breakfast of rice and chilli chicken gizzards.
We scored! Pulled up at Inside Ekas to find a few people out but mostly kooks from landlocked countries (there's a remote surf resort on the cliffs above the break, only US$150 a night per person!). Seemed like an ok wave but then a set rolled through and 3-4 foot waves winding for a couple of hundred metres! Perfectly shaped for multiple cutbacks and off the tops. I got the wave of the trip (for me) so far. Did 4 or 5 of my best turns, all linked up perfectly then faded for a little cover up barrel on the end section. I was hooting myself!
After a while the couple of people who could actually surf went in and Jack and I had the pick of the waves for at least another hour then went back to the boat for a quick bite. Felt a bit bad eating in front of the boat driver kid while he's fasting for Ramadan but what can you do? Got back in the water and surfed the lefts as the tide came in. Painfully slow boat ride back to the village (about 40 min), the boats at Grupuk are much better! More hassling by the kids in the village but our bikes were ok and they'd even covered the seats with bit of cardboard to stop them getting hot!
Awesome grilled fish for dinner, supposedly snapper (everything is called snapper) but definitely not. Good to get some decent protein though as most of the meals here are pretty scummy in terms of the meat and veg that you get. Probably wouldn't come back to this particular warung with the stray dogs eating off the tables after people leave!
Surf: Inside Ekas, Lombok, 3-4 foot, 3.5hr (53.0 total)
