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Photo
Nusa Dua beachNusa Dua Bali by GdML, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Country

Indonesia

Seven spots split cleanly by coast and skill level.

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Regions

Sanur's reef-protected lagoon is Bali's easy base — flat and shallow inside, with IKO schools and beach clubs — while Nusa Dua's Geger Beach and Canggu's Batu Bolong work reef-and-wave setups for stronger riders, and Lakey Peak at Hu'u on Sumbawa is a hollow reef break for experts only, best August through October.

Lombok's Ekas Bay and Kaliantan lagoon add a rougher, quieter flat-to-reef option. Dry-season trades from May to October carry most of it, with Tabuhan Island off Banyuwangi the flat-water outlier: an uninhabited stretch with unusually consistent wind.

SeasonApril to Novembersomewhere in the country, and again February
How we count
Places
4 towns and 1 single spot
Beginners
where a spot record says a beginner can ride; the Beginners page also asks for a school there, so it lists fewer
Best forWaves4

When to go

month by month, from the towns' own wind series

  1. Jan, no figure—
  2. Feb, no figure—
  3. Mar, no figure—
  4. Apr, no figure—
  5. May16
  6. Jun17
  7. Jul40
  8. Aug32
  9. Sep17
  10. Oct2
  11. Nov, no figure—
  12. Dec, no figure—

The windiest town in season each month: its share of windy days

Windiest single town in any month: Bali - Sanur, 40% of days in July, from the Canggu (Echo/Batu Bolong) series.

No place here is in season in January, March, November and December, so those months carry no figure rather than a zero.

How this is modelled

A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.

Which place is yours

Grouped by region, the most spots first

How this list is ordered

The places are in the order of how many spots each place holds. None of them carries a wind score: the atlas scores wind reliability one spot at a time, against a named weather station and the distance to it, and a place that groups several spots has no single station to stand behind one number.For wind by month, see When to go above.

Bali

Sanur, Bali Established2 spots · 6 schools · May to Octoberwaves beginner-friendly buzzing scene car helps gear rental mid-range Nusa Dua, Bali1 spot · May to Octoberadvanced quiet car helps budget to high

West Nusa Tenggara

Lombok2 spots · 6 schools · April to Septemberbeginner-friendly sociable car needed gear rental budget Sumbawa1 spot · August to Octoberwaves advanced buzzing scene car helps budget

Standalone spots

Single spots with no town of their own

Tabuhan Island / Banyuwangi1 spot · May to Novemberflat water beginner-friendly

By region

The country's regions, the most spots first

Bali4 spots · 2 placesWest Nusa Tenggara3 spots · 2 places

Best for

Pages that pick the places in Indonesia for one kind of riding

Waves in Indonesia4 places

Destinations

All 5 places, by name

Every place in the lists above, by name only, in the order the country guide keeps them.

Nusa Dua, BaliSanur, BaliLombokSumbawaTabuhan Island / Banyuwangi

Visa & entry

EU passportVisa on Arrival (B1 visit visa), IDR 500,000 (~US$30-35), grants 30 days from arrival, extendable once for a further 30 days (max 60 days total). Can be obtained on landing or pre-applied online as e-VOA at the same cost/rights.
US passportSame VOA terms as above.
UK passportSame VOA terms as above.
Digital nomad visaIndonesia has discussed and introduced longer-stay options (e.g. the Second Home Visa), but no dedicated 'digital nomad visa' status has been established.
NotesIndonesia has proposed raising VOA fees to IDR 750,000 (~US$42) for e-VOA and IDR 1,000,000 (~US$56) for on-arrival VOA; no effective date has been announced, so the 2026 price remains IDR 500,000.

Money

CurrencyIndonesian Rupiah (IDR)
Paying by phoneQRIS (national QR payment standard) is widely used domestically; whether and how foreign tourists can use it without an Indonesian bank account or e-wallet is unclear.

SIM & internet

Operators, best coast coverage first
  • Telkomsel
  • XL
  • Indosat
  • Tri
eSIM options
  • Telkomsel Tourist eSIM/Prepaid - available via GraPARI outlets and online for foreigners; Telkomsel Tourist Prepaid Card offers 25GB/30 days and can be pre-ordered abroad for airport pickup.
ID needed for a SIMPassport required (mandatory SIM registration since 2017). Purchase typically requires passport photo + IMEI screenshot at point of sale. One passport can register a maximum of 3 SIM cards.
NotesTelkomsel, XL, Indosat and Tri all have counters in arrivals at Soekarno-Hatta (Jakarta) and Ngurah Rai (Bali/Denpasar) airports. Coverage quality on the Lombok and Sumbawa kite coastlines is unclear.

Insurance

Is kiting covered?Generally yes under standard travel policies as an adventure or extreme sport; unconfirmed.
Healthcare and evacuationSumbawa and Lombok kite spots are remote from major hospitals; evacuation coverage matters more there than in Bali.

Regulation

Drone rulesRegistrationAll drones (any weight, including sub-250g) must be pre-registered via the SIPP-TA/SIPUDI portal before flying, a requirement since January 2025.Flight restrictionsRecreational drones under 2kg need no separate permit but must still be registered; keep in visual line of sight, stay under 150m altitude, avoid crowds/temples. Ngurah Rai (Bali) airport has a 15km no-fly buffer covering Kuta, Seminyak, Sanur, Nusa Dua and Jimbaran. Perda Bali No. 12/2024 sets a 5km no-fly exclusion zone around sacred sites, requiring written consent from the local banjar (village council) to fly within it.Commercial operation and penaltiesCommercial operation requires an Indonesian Remote Pilot Certificate from the DGCA. Penalties for unregistered/no-fly-zone flights: fines up to IDR 5 billion (~US$308,000) and deportation.

Calendar & costs

Holidays that move prices
  • Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr (lunar, dates shift yearly) affect crowds, prices and opening hours in Muslim-majority areas (Lombok, Sumbawa); exact dates unconfirmed for 2026.
  • Nyepi (Balinese Day of Silence, lunar-based, typically March): the whole island of Bali including the airport shuts down for 24 hours.
CurrencyIDRSee Money

Kite bag rules for your airline

Flying into Indonesia

Type the carrier you are flying: what it charges for a kite bag, and the year of the policy that says so.

Checked so far for Indonesia:Qatar AirwaysEmirates

Every carrier, with limits and what riders report at the counter →

Still being checked

We have not verified these yet — tell us if you know.

Show the 7 open questions
  • Whether foreign tourists can practically use QRIS (which app/onboarding route).
  • Card acceptance and ATM fee/limit specifics for Lombok and Sumbawa vs. Bali.
  • Which vaccines and mosquito-borne diseases should you plan for in Indonesia?
  • Is the tap water safe in Indonesia?
  • Do Bali police enforce the IDP requirement for scooter and car rental?
  • What do a beer, a meal, a coffee and rent cost in Bali, in Lombok and in Sumbawa?
  • Digital nomad / longer-stay visa options current status.

Not written yet

Nothing has been written about Health and Driving for Indonesia yet, so there is no section for them above. That is a gap in what we hold, not a sign that there is nothing to know.

Last updated September 2026