Yet it is a world-class wave. Long kept secret, the spot of Serangan located on the east coast of Bali is a reefbreak that has made surfers happy for some time now. It is one of the most popular waves on the island of Bali, for beginners as well as professional or more experienced surfers. All made it a compulsory place of pilgrimage during their trip to Bali. Not to mention the warungs on the beach that allow you to enjoy a typical Indonesian experience.
Yeah, but here it is. Today, the spot is threatened and access to the wave, forbidden to surfers. The reason? A real estate project whose objective is to build a tourist resort of consistent size.
According to Curtis Lowe, manager at Project Clean Uluwatu and interviewed by Surfline: "Investors have closed access to all surfers. Only local fishermen can continue to operate in the area, but they are heavily monitored. It is even said that the access portal to the spot is now closed for "cause of works". If the project is still unclear to him, it would be according to the first information of a "typically Balinese village".
Still questioned by Surfline, Balinese pro surfer Marlon Gerber said that what promoters want right now are "entire buses full of Chinese. Like in Pandawa beach, they want the beach to become the same because it makes money. And in Nyang Nyang (near Uluwatu), the cliff has been modified to accommodate roads that serve the lower coast. The Serangan wave thus joins an already too long list of Indonesian spots threatened by tourism development in the region.
As for the promoters, they boast of a project that is ecologically reliable and beneficial for the region: "The community that lives on the coast has both the ecological and socio-cultural potential to become a lucrative tourist destination", according to the website of the Singapore-based builder Giti Group. 500 hectares should therefore be used to build this resort. The latter should accommodate a port with yachts as well as luxury villas. If prices remain unknown, there is no doubt that compared to what the current market in Indonesia offers, they should be much higher than what surfers visiting Bali are willing to pay.
A very bad news therefore, and this while another secret spot located not far from Keramas this time is also threatened. A wall has been built along the cliff to protect the luxury villas from erosion. This resulted in particular in creating a huge backwash on the wave, making the barrels almost non-existent.
In the Mentawai this time, a resort of more than 2 300 hectares is soon to see the light of day. The latter must include an airport, a port, an amusement park and a water park. "It's just the beginning" finished entrusting Marlon Gerber. "There are still so many places they can do that. The wave is not their priority. They don't even realize what they're doing to the wave. They just think about mass tourism and the money it brings. Worrying.
Source : Surfline
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