Bali’s tourism industry owes a lot to surfing, after all it was the surf at Kuta Beach that first drew Aussies here in the 60′s and 70′s. The surf movie is a part of the culture too, with epics like The Endless Summer, Morning of the Earth and Riding Giants leaving viewers not just with a sense or awe, but with a vivid memory of the place they were filmed.
Here is a Jakarta Post article that talks about surfing in Indonesia and surf movies in general.
Bali has an active surf community and local newspaper, Magic Wave. The local Balinese surfers can tear up their home breaks, but rarely venture to places such as Australia and Hawaii. A experienced surfer told me that the locals look great on a wave they know and have 1 or 2 moves. When somebody like Kelly Slater comes out to Bali and surfs next to them they look average. ‘Sure!’ you’d say, ‘he’s World Champ’, but its the advantage of getting around the locals miss out on. Many tourists often donate their gear to local surfers after their Bali holiday is over.
A movie can have a massive impact on a place for years to come. I don’t know the places in Italy that Cary Grant went to, but many people do. Same for surfing. All it takes is a movie to highlight a place (‘this was the break Taj Burrows surfed at’, ‘here is the warung Laird Hamilton ate at before that monster set’ etc.) and surfers will come from far and wide. Bali is overdue for an epic surf movie to highlight all that the island and its surf has to offer.
