The Discovery and History of Surfing Uluwatu

Stand at the top of the cliff at Uluwatu and look down. The temple behind you, the cave below, the lines marching across the reef. It's one of the great sights in all of surfing. Enough to bring a tear to the eye of any salty surf nerd.

And you know what? Not bragging, but we get to call this place home. 

Our camp sits just up the road. And the wave you're reading about is the one our coaches grew up surfing. 

With that in mind, here's the story of how a quiet cliff at the end of the island became one of the most famous waves on earth.

A wave at the end of the land

The name tells you where you are. 

Uluwatu comes from ulu, meaning land's end, and watu, meaning rock. It sits on the south-western tip of the Bukit Peninsula, where Bali drops straight into the Indian Ocean.

Above the wave stands Pura Luhur Uluwatu, one of Bali's nine directional temples. It’s perched about 70 metres up the limestone cliff. 

Locals believe it guards the island against evil. There's a story that in the 17th century, a band of Hindu priests threw themselves from the temple walls into the sea rather than be captured by invading Javanese. Intense.

Long before anyone surfed here, this was sacred ground.

The film that changed everything

For all its mystique, Uluwatu wasn't surfed until surprisingly recently.

In 1971 Australian filmmaker Alby Falzon was shooting a surf film called Morning of the Earth. 

The plan was to capture the waves around Kuta. But after a few days of filming there, the crew pushed south and found Uluwatu. There were no roads to the beach back then, so the only way in was on foot, carrying everything you needed down through the temple and out through the cave.

A 15-year-old named Steve Cooney surfed the first wave in Uluwatu's history. Falzon caught it on film. 

When Morning of the Earth hit screens in February 1972, the footage spread fast. Surfers across the world saw those perfect cliff-fringed lefts and started planning pilgrimages. Hawaiian legend Gerry Lopez was among the first to make the trip.

The rest, as they say, is history.

The era of the cave and the legends

If you surfed Uluwatu in the early days, you earned it.

The cave was the only way in or out. You'd climb down a slippery bamboo ladder, paddle through the echoing, wave-lashed cavern and out across the reef into daylight. 

Get the tide wrong on the way back and you'd be high-stepping over sharp, dry coral or caught in the rip that races along the base of the cliff toward Padang Padang. It wasn’t for the faint of heart.

By the mid-1980s the wave was already crowded and the trail in had only just been cut. 

Before that, surfers hired local kids from Pecatu village to carry boards on their heads the two miles in. One of those board carriers features in a famous tale where a visiting surfer got so spooked by the big Outside Corner swell that he stayed out for five hours, too scared to come in across the drying reef. He earned the nickname Ironman from the kids watching on the cliff.

And that's the thing about Uluwatu. It's beautiful, but it has always demanded respect.

The five sections of Uluwatu

What looks like one wave is really a series of breaks strung along the reef. Knowing them is half of surfing the place well, and our surf coaches spend their lives reading these sections. From top to bottom:

• The Bombie: The outermost break on the reef, an extremely powerful wave known for snapping boards and leashes. On the biggest swells it can reach up to 10+ feet
• Temples: It sits next in line and pulls in heavy swell. It takes effort to paddle out to, so it's less crowded, but there's a strong crew of locals and expats out there. Etiquette matters
• Outside Corner: It’s the big-wave spot. It only really comes alive on the biggest swells with the right tide, when the swell bends off the kink in the reef and launches into a long, fast wall that can run 300 yards
• The Peak: It sits at the base of the cave, so it's the entry and exit point and the most accessible section. It works at most tides and has a mix of tubes and fast sections
• Racetracks: Adequately named. It’s exactly what it sounds like. A fast, hollow ride that fires best at low tide. Probably enough skin on that reef to create a whole person in a lab

When it works

Uluwatu has fairly consistent surf year-round, but the dry season from around May to October is prime. 

That's when the southeast trades blow offshore and the southwest groundswells line up cleanly. It's the same seasonal logic that governs the whole Bukit. We break down the month-by-month picture if you're planning a trip around it.

Frequently asked questions about Uluwatu

Q. When was Uluwatu first surfed?

In 1971 during the filming of Morning of the Earth, with the footage reaching the world when the film released in February 1972. Fifteen-year-old Steve Cooney is credited with riding the first documented wave there.

Q. Is Uluwatu good for beginners?

Not really. It's a reef break with strong currents and a tricky cave entry, so it suits intermediate and advanced surfers. If you're newer, it's worth being honest about where you sit as a surfer and starting on gentler waves nearby before paddling out at Ulu.

Q. How do you get to the wave?

Through the cave at the base of the cliff. These days there are stairs down from the cliff-top warungs, then you paddle out through the cave at The Peak. Timing the tide on your exit is the part that catches people out.

Q. What's the best time of year?

The dry season, roughly May to October, for the cleanest, most consistent conditions. The wet season still has waves but the winds get less reliable.

Q. Which section should I surf first?

The Peak, almost always. It's the most forgiving and accessible of the five. And it's right by the cave. Build up from there as your confidence grows.

The bottom line

Uluwatu is more than a wave. It's a temple, a cave, a cliff full of history and one of the spots that put Bali on the surfing map. We're lucky enough to surf it most days. Honestly… we never quite get over it.

If you want to ride the wave that started it all, come do it with people who know every section, every tide and every shortcut through the cave.