According to one Indonesian pro surfer, locals should take advantage of the natural beauty – and waves – that their diverse homeland has to offer.
Gemala Hanifiah is a Jakarta-based surfer and host of a TV travel program in her native Indonesia. She loves to explore the natural features of her country and find all the best surf spots. She’d like to turn other Indonesians on to natural pursuits like surfing as opposed to more materialistic activities like shopping holidays. She also acknowledges the benefits of tourism in Indonesia’s along with the need to preserve its natural environment.
They have good waves in different parts of Sumatra, Java, East and West Nusa Tenggara, and definitely Bali. Indonesia actually houses a lot of good surfing spots. Do you know that 30 percent of the tourists who visit Indonesia intentionally come for the waves? If the government improved surfing access and facilities, I’m sure it would give a boost to our tourism industry.
Read a complete interview with pro surfer Gemala Hanifiah in the Jakarta Globe.
Check out Gemala’s surf and travel blog here. Unfortunately those of us who don’t speak Indonesian won’t be able to read it, but there are plenty of cool pictures.
photo by Silke Baron (prilfish on Flickr CC)
In other Indonesia surfing news, the winners of the Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship Tour 2011 were recently crowned in Bali.
Congratulations to Bali local Martin Gerber, this year’s competition winner, who had this to say about his recent winning ways:
At the end of 2009 I won the Rip Curl Surf and Music Festival at Kuta Beach, my first ISC contest win, and it really felt great. So during the off-season I thought about it a lot, and then set myself the goal of trying for the championship. When I won again at the very first contest of the year, the Oakley Pro at Canggu, I really knew then I could do it, it was just up to me to be consistent and keep focused.
Read more about the Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship Tour 2011 in this press release.
