Bali is not called the surf Mecca for no reason. It has many custom shops offering durable surfboards at reasonable price. Here are five custom surfboard shops in Bali you can go to.
Luke Studer
The legend says that Studer has already started shaping surfboards since he was sixteen. The first time he built a surfboard, his mother lost her ironing board; Luke’s first surfboard was shaped from an ironing board. After finishing high school, he went to Huntington Beach and worked for Sakal Surfboard. He then took a trip to Bali and was enchanted. Consequently, he went back every year before eventually deciding to reside in Bali to shape surfboards.
Now his shop in Sunset Road has already become a successful vendor that could build a surfboard around 7-14 days. It could be finished even faster—3-5 days—with some extra cost. The price of a surfboard in Studer Shop is around USD500.
Visit www.studersurfboards.com.
Redz
After spending a lot of time learning how to build windsurf, surfboards, and kites in Italy, Patrick Napoli went to Bali in 1998 and fell in love with the island. When he actually moved for good to Bali, he didn’t realize that there was no surfboard shaper seen around the vicinity other than him. He was the Columbus of surfboard shaping in Bali.
At first, people lift their eyebrows hearing there was an Italian surfboard shaper. But as time went by, people started realizing that Napoli’s works are indeed superb, and he became a living legend (and can easily makeyou an offer you can’t refuse).
Grab a Bintang and pay his workshop in Jalan Raya Canggu a visit. You can discuss everything with him concerning surfboard. If you think you have found the kind of board that you want, purchase a custom surfboard from the shop. You can also order online and get your desired surfboard delivered at a reasonable price, around IDR5.000k.
Visit www.redzsurfboard.com.
Light Surfboards
This surfboard shop is run by Richard Evans and his forty years experience, which makes him a professor in surfboard making. Specializing in lightweight boards, Evans’s works have been proven to be durable in the frenzy Indian ocean swells. The combination of his skills, years of experience, and ability to adapt technology has made Light Surfboards one of the most favorite custom surfboard vendors in the world.
With a reasonable price ranging from around EUR500, you can choose your favorite models and have them delivered to your home—or you may as well pick them up at Light’s shop in
Bali.
Visit www.light-surfboards.com.
Jim Bank’s Surfboards Bali and Byron Bay
While most of the people see a cyclone as a disaster, Jim Bank see it as a playground. At the age of 14, he found joy in riding the barreling waves produced by cyclone swells in Cronulla. When “Morning of the Earth” was screened in his hometown, Cronulla, a beachside suburb in Sydney, he was really moved after watching the legendary movie. After finishing high school and spending some time working at Gordon and Smith in Cronulla, he packed his backpack and surfboard and went to Bali. He then went back frequently to the island of the gods and eventually decided to stay in Uluwatu to shape and test his surfboards. He has won several contests such as the Hawaiian Pro Class Trials in 1977 and 1981 Om Bali Pro.
As he spent much time sojourning the archipelago, the number of boards which Bank make are not so much as those of other custom shops. Yet, purchasing a surfboard from a vendor owned by one of the legendary surfers is quite amazing, isn’t it?
Visit www.jimbanksurf.com.
Lost Surfboards
No, they do not sell lost surfboards. (Who does, anyway?) Founded in 1985 in Irvine, California, by Matt “Mayhem” Biolos, it is one of the best surfboard vendors in the world and run by a number of great shapers who work in Lost’s factories in the US, Brazil, Australia, Peru, and Indonesia. It has also endorsed a number of pro surfers such as Damien Hobgood and Mason Ho. Though perhaps their surfboards are not so “customed” as those of small vendors, it offers quality and consistency.
Visit www.lostindonesia.com.
So which one do you prefer?
Text by: Fuji Adriza
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