Java

Why Java

Java holds the gentlest and the most serious waves in Indonesia, and they could not be less alike.

• Batu Karas is a small village in West Java with a long, soft, sand-bottom right point. It is arguably the best place in Indonesia to learn to surf, and a longboarder's delight. Low-key, cheap, and easy.
• G-Land (Plengkung) is at the far eastern end of the island, inside Alas Purwo National Park. It is a long, fast, hollow reef left that ranks among the best waves on earth — and it is genuinely dangerous. Shallow reef, remote, no walking out. Camps market beginner lessons; treat that as marketing. This is an advanced wave.

When to go

• Apr–Oct (dry season): the swell window, and when the G-Land camps operate. May–September is the peak.
• Nov–Mar: wetter and smaller. Batu Karas still works and is quiet; G-Land largely shuts.

Getting around

Batu Karas is a long drive from Bandung or Jakarta — plan on the better part of a day. G-Land is reached almost exclusively by fast boat from Bali, which every camp there includes in the package. The two are not a single trip.