Padang in two words: power and fear. It' the most dangerous and hollowest wave in this area. The final bowl is an obligatory tube. In short: Tube at the take-off, then speed, speed, speed and the ledgey final tube section. Under 4 ft: even if the surf is possible under 4ft at the final bowl, it's dangerous because of the shallow water. Over 5 ft: the best is at mid tide. It's pretty but the wave is crowded. It's remain dangerous because there is no water on the reef. Over 6 ft: the real Padang starts at this size. The wave is long and very hollow. The take-off zone is moving in front of the big rock. Be attentive to the choice of your wave (difficult because there are at this moment 30 to 40 surfers...). More than 8 ft: Wait for the low tide. The wave is incredible and dangerous. 10 ft: it's the average limit of Padang. Surnatural. More than 12 ft: out of control.
Take a long board (6'8" to 7'4")
Overview
Atmosphere
If the technical level is too high for you (we are a lot in this case !), just come and enjoy the show on the wave. You will learn just by watching.
Padang Padang Surf camp
Hey guys i never got padang on this year , went there for 2 weeks but it wasnt big enough. I stayed in padang surf camp for the first time and this is why im writing this report and its to say , that i had a terrible time there bad surf guides who cant even surf all kooks and the owner a welsh kook andrew who thinks hes the main man in the bukit , he didnt even know what direction of swell ulu's worked on. The food was shitty the pool was good but just not my style when the surfcamp doesnt even know whats going on around there own area i would have prefered to stay in a shitty place and give a local guy some cash who knows what he's talking about. Im a dissapointed client who will never returned to that camp again.
comment by Anonymous, 2008-09-01 14:10:15
padang fine
the ship at padang is broken up into tiny pieces so no real visible harm done . Its till the same insane ,scary wave ... at low tide that is .
comment by jo, 2008-08-01 18:33:45
wrecked
i bet padang's a piece of crap now that the taiwanese shipwreck screwed up the spot.
you can actually surf padang padang on the insides, the waves are much smaller and at mid-high tide it gets good
comment by Anonymous, 2008-11-29 13:24:41