Wet season surfers look to surf the eastern beaches for 2 main reasons, the winds change and the amount of garbage in the water. The Bukit favourites of Uluwatu, Bingan and Padang Padang are usually quiet this time of year and places like Serangam, Nusa and Sri Lanka are busy. One of the other places that surfers enjoy in the wet season is Ketewel. SE of Batubulan on the coast. Getting to Ketewel from Kuta is easy via the Bypass to Sanur, followed by a right hand / left hand turn onto the Topati/Kusamba Bypass heading east.
Ketewel is located Another 5kms gets you to a lampu merah (traffic light) and a sign for Ketewel. The area between the coastal Bypass and the beach is typical Bali village, with potholed streets, quiet lanes, kids and old people walking around and not much else. Before the Bypass carved a line through their community, these coastal villages didn’t see mush of tourism at all.
Villa construction creates a demand for stones and I stopped for a minute to talk to 3 ladies sorting stones according to size. One lady told me the cost of a sack was 15,000rp, big or small. I think she was having me on a bit. The black sand beach close by does not see many tourists, but the coastline is home to a couple of important temples.
