Latest news with #surfers
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Lifestyle
- Daily Mail
The secret Byron Bay tier list revealed by insiders: Find out why Chris and Elsa don't make the A-list - as local snobs spill on the REAL elites
Once famed for its laid-back, alternative vibe, Byron Bay was a haven in the '70s for hippies and surfers. But the dream didn't last.
ABC News
a day ago
- Business
- ABC News
Bali officials begin demolishing Bingin Beach tourist spots, declaring 'none of them have permits'
Officials have begun destroying beachside villas and restaurants in a Bali tourist hotspot after more than 40 businesses and buildings were assessed to be "illegal". The proposed crackdown on "illegally built" buildings at the world famous Bingin Beach in Uluwatu — an incredibly popular destination for Australians and global surfers in southern Bali — finally came to fruition on Monday. Unable to bring in heavy machinery due to the buildings' steep cliff-side construction, local workers — aided by police — began smashing tables and doors to smithereens during the government-enforced demolitions. Piercing through the usual sounds of surf and busy bars, were the screams of Balinese men and women desperately trying to protect their businesses. Surrounded by officials and local media, Bali's governor, I Wayan Koster, said almost 50 businesses and buildings would be demolished under the crackdown. "The buildings for tourism businesses here are illegal — that's it," he said. "We should not let this practice continue. If we let this go on, Bali will be damaged." Employees, business owners, locals and tourists watched on in horror, many of them shouting and wailing. Amid this chaos, a Balinese woman screamed out. "This is how the bureaucrats work. They've demolished our livelihoods." These demolitions are a dramatic flashpoint as Bali grapples with extraordinary demand from tourists, a construction gold rush on the island, and calls to better preserve its natural beauty. It comes as visitor numbers to Bali recover to pre-pandemic levels, with 2025 on track to set an annual record of international tourists of more than 6.3 million. Uluwatu has been a popular destination for decades, known for its amazing surf breaks, white beaches and clifftop views. In the last few years, Uluwatu, like much of Bali, has seen a rapid transformation, with villas, restaurants and cafes springing up on its cliffs to cater to the booming tourism industry. A mixture of Indonesian-owned and foreign-backed businesses have been cashing in. In the last few months, media reported Bali's local government ruled that a swathe of villas and businesses in Bingin Beach were constructed illegally. One local government chair said the buildings "hurt the Balinese architectural philosophy that prioritises harmony with nature, culture, and spirituality". That kicked off a dispute over their legality, with local officials issuing "self-demolition" orders in recent weeks. Business owners have told the ABC that six Australians are business partners of some of the villas, bars and restaurants under the demolition orders in Uluwatu. When the businesses didn't demolish their own buildings, Balinese officials moved in on Monday with sledgehammers. "There's been a violation of the rural planning master plan, this area is meant to be part of the green-belt," Governor Koster said. "These buildings here, none of them have permits." As the restaurant of the Morabito Art Cliff Villa was being levelled, its manager, Komang Agus, said the demolitions showed no empathy. "One thousand people at Bingin Beach are losing their jobs right now," he said. "There's no justice for us. Development projects continue out there … why are we being targeted?" Some locals say they feel the land is being cleared for developers. On the morning of the demolitions, protesters waved signs that read: "Save Bingin, stop the demolition. Bingin is our home — not for sale!" Another manager of the restaurant being destroyed on Monday, Komang Ayu, said she was now uncertain how she would look after her family. "I have two small children and a husband. I'm also taking care of both parents, they are old," she said. "I heard rumours that Bingin will be demolished and rebuilt bigger … but I am not sure whether they will recruit us." Business owners told the ABC they felt there should have been a longer period of consultation, given some of the businesses have been around for decades. I Wayan Salam Oka Suadnyana, the owner of one of the businesses being demolished, said his mother started the business as a kiosk in the 80s. "I have an old picture of her and the kiosk, she started it when I was five years old," he said. "We knew that this land belonged to the local government, we don't hold a land ownership certificate … but we have contributed in developing the tourism industry here. "After all that has been established, now the government wants to take the rights back? "We just want a win-win solution from the government, we want fairness for us all. We pay taxes monthly." The manager of the villas and restaurant, Aldo Rama, said about three dozen of his colleagues would lose their jobs. "We have contributed a lot to develop this beach and contribute incomes for the local government through tax," he said. "I feel so sad, not just me, but all the workers in Bingin Beach feel so sad. "This will affect Bali's image, especially people who want to stay in Bingin Beach." One Australian surfer said it was sad to see the demolitions unfold. "As a surfer travelling to Bali and experiencing this place, its people and culture, it's a little bit sad this morning to see all these people upset," he told the ABC. "Bali is developing at a really rapid rate, so how that happens, who is in charge and what decisions get made can be a very complex process, and I think we're seeing that unfold here today." Another Australian said she felt the day would go down in the history of Bali. The 48 business owners have launched legal action in a bid to protect their properties. But Bali's governor said a reckoning was coming for everyone. "[Our] office is preparing an audit team to investigate all tourism licenses across Bali," Governor Koster told media and the crowd. "If any violation is found, we will correct them, firm and hard. "Of course, through the legal process first."
ABC News
15-07-2025
- ABC News
Artificial reef at Middleton Beach transforms Albany's surf scene
As he stands at a lookout overlooking the rugged beauty of King George Sound, on the south coast of Western Australia, Peter Bolt's eyes are drawn to something in the water. It's a perfect left-hand wave, reeling towards Middleton Beach as a stiff offshore breeze whips spray from its crest. The sight is one to behold, especially for a lifelong surfer in Bolt who grew up riding the waves near Albany, a port town 420km south of Perth. But it wasn't always this way. In fact, until very recently, the sight of perfect waves breaking at Middleton Beach as clean Southern Ocean swells wrapped into the Sound was largely a fantasy inside the minds of the town's many surfers. Middleton Beach for most of the year — and for practically all of every winter — was the scene of almost unsurfable close-outs. For Bolt, however, this is no dream. It is the realisation of an endeavour that started when he moved back to Albany with a young family more than 30 years ago. "I think I came back to Albany in 1990," Bolt said. "And we started working on a feasibility study for the artificial surf reef at Middleton Beach. For decades, Bolt and a band of fellow advocates, some of whom died before their vision could become a reality, faced a litany of obstacles and setbacks. Foremost among them was the cost. Surf reefs don't come cheap. Bolt said those pushing for the reef were almost invariably locked in an uphill battle to convince politicians and other potential donors that the money would be worth it. There were also concerns about how a reef might affect the coastline and environment at Middleton Beach, the town's main tourist drawcard. Then there was the chequered history of artificial reefs themselves, which had been prone to failure and disappointment elsewhere in the world. "There was no money or desire to do anything beyond that [original feasibility study]," he said. "And in some ways that was a positive thing because the design was around using geo-textile bags and historically when they have been used to build reefs or protect shorelines they failed because they split, they settle, they move and that would have been a failed reef, another failed reef. "So it was not bad timing in some ways, looking back in hindsight." Those advocating for the Southern Ocean Surf Reef caught a break in 2017 when both the major parties at a state level pledged $5 million in funding to make it a reality. The pledges also included financial help from the City of Albany and other sources, including a local quarry. The final break came in 2022 when the federal parties came on board, both pledging $5 million to get the reef over the line. Soon enough, Bolt said expressions of interest were sought, tenders were called and contracts were signed. As a result, a specialist marine engineering crew from New Zealand spent close to six months in Albany building a high-class wave. To do so, they used precision geospatial equipment to spread 70,000 tonnes of granite rock graded into three layers. Bolt said the results were there for all to see. "It's a bit more challenging than expected," he said. "We were aiming for an intermediate wave, which it is when the swell is smaller. "But as it gets bigger, it breaks out there and it's fairly shallow. So it's intermediate-to-advanced on most days." It's a view echoed by other surfers. Like Bolt, Cameron Warburton is a local who's surfed the waves around Albany for most of his life. And, like Bolt, he says the artificial surf reef has eclipsed his expectations. "It's the power of the wave," Warburton said. "We don't have many waves around here where you've got a really punchy top-to-bottom take-off wave. Warburton said the reef was already transforming Albany's surf scene. Middleton Beach, near the heart of the town, had traditionally been overlooked by most surfers because of its second-rate waves most of the time. But he said the reef was becoming a surf destination, drawing the crowds and generating a buzz. "We've never really had the opportunity to grab a surf and a coffee or grab a surf and head down to the new brewery and have a beer," he said. Bolt said the aim was for the reef to generate surfable waves 41 per cent of the time, but the actual figure was far higher than this. He said he had "not surfed Middleton Beach so much in all my life, certainly at this time of the year". While the reef had come with an up-front cost, Bolt said it was a one-off spend that would draw waves, surfers and the money they and their families spent for a hundred years or more. More importantly, he said the reef was set to breed future generations of surfers who may not have otherwise taken up the sport. "I get stoked every time we come down here," Bolt said. "When I see the kids come down here before school, in the dark, to get a wave before they go to school, and then they zip down here again after school, I go, 'Yeah, that's it'. "That's what this was all about." The Southern Ocean Surf Reef officially opens today.
New York Times
06-07-2025
- New York Times
As Drones Spot Sharks, New York Beaches Are Shut Down
A series of shark sightings has forced officials to repeatedly close parts of Rockaway Beach in recent days, leaving New Yorker beachgoers temporarily land-bound at the height of the Fourth of July weekend, officials said. The sightings, which began on Tuesday, arrived as city and state officials stepped up use of technology to locate and track sharks on beaches in Queens and on Long Island. As visitors descended for the holiday, traditionally one of the busiest periods of the year, the technology helped to keep swimmers safe, city officials said. But it also seemed to contribute to an unusual number of shark sightings: at least six in less than a week. Under city and state protocol, the beaches were closed each time, making for a halting and occasionally stressful weekend at the shore, swimmers said. 'We've always surfed in harmony with them,' said Kate Leddington, a longtime surfer who recently moved to Charlottesville, Va., after years in Brooklyn and was on the beach at Rockaway on Saturday. 'There's sharks out there always — it's just now they're using drones to see them.' On Wednesday, in preparation for the holiday, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that state agencies now have 28 camera-equipped drones to search for sharks, as well as 48 trained drone operators. Under the state and city protocol, when shark sightings are confirmed, swimming cannot resume until at least one hour after the sighting. The city, which oversees Rockaway Beach, has a fleet of its own operated by the Police and Fire Departments and the emergency management office. And drones, once an alien sight at the beach, have become nearly as commonplace as Jet Skis. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CNA
05-07-2025
- CNA
Sumba, an hour away from Bali, Indonesia is the perfect vacation spot to do absolutely nothing
After a motorbike ride down an empty road, my daughter and I found ourselves jumping off a high wooden platform into a deep lagoon with salt-white sand, healthy coral — and no one else around. As the Indian Ocean splashed, we swam, jumped again and laughed. We lost track of time. Maybe we were just lucky. The platform had to have been built by someone, for the fun of many. But it was neither the first nor last time that we felt practically alone in Sumba. Sumba, one of Indonesia's easternmost islands, is just an hour's flight from Bali. But Sumba is as quiet as Bali is thumping. There are no digital nomads, DJ parties or drones at sunset. The island is twice the size of Bali with one-fifth the population. The airport is a walk-across-the-tarmac affair with one baggage carousel and, on the 40-minute drive to our hotel, we saw maybe a dozen people. Whether Sumba can remain an anti-Bali is a question. It's just starting to reach a tipping point with enough hotel development and word-of-mouth buzz to draw more than just surf-crazy adventurers and celebrities with blank-check budgets. We heard about it from surfer friends in Sydney, and when we planned a trip two months before departure, most of the island's handful of hotels (ranging from US$180, or about S$230, per night, for a double at Sumba Beach House to US$1,300 for the award-winning Nihi Sumba) were booked. Some would argue that means go now. Others will tell you, as they told us, that Sumba can never be Bali for many reasons, from infrastructure to size and local culture, which requires a great deal of community trust-building and approvals before anything gets built. 'There's just not much here,' said Kiri Desborough, the wellness director at Cap Karoso, the hotel where we eventually ended up for a four-night stay, which is privately owned and still feels manageable and intimate. 'It's a very different place.' ROOM TO SPREAD OUT Having come from Bali, we immediately noticed a difference in the landscape. Geologically, Sumba is an Australian continental fragment that drifted north, which means no volcanoes or towering cliffs. It's mostly plains of grass and corn, which serve as animal feed. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cap Karoso Sumba (@cap_karoso) Space is part of the appeal, and like the other hotels spread across the island, Cap Karoso has made the most of it. The two-year-old property has 44 guest rooms and 20 villas on more than three acres of hilly land that rolls toward Karoso beach. None of the major hotel chains have set up shop on Sumba so Cap Karoso is as big as it gets. The owners are a French couple — Evguenia and Fabrice Ivara, a former luxury goods brand manager and a digital ad agency entrepreneur. Their aesthetic is minimalist, with modernist furniture and airy buildings, featuring plants on the rooftops and lemongrass bushes lining the walkways. We passed the hotel's organic farm on our way to the lobby. Upon arrival, David Garcia, the general manager, welcomed us and explained the hotel's ethos: 'There's a lot to do, or this can be the perfect place to do nothing.' After an around-the-world lunch at the beach club (poke bowl, pizza, bao buns and a club sandwich, for about US$50), my family — myself, my wife and our two teenage children — chose to be active. We went for a surf with the hotel's longboards, which were free to use. It was a bit of a paddle into smallish waves, but the water was crystal clear. The next day we embarked on a snorkelling trip that was included with our room rate. Our guides were chill — they brought spear guns and caught a red snapper for dinner — and there were only a few other boats on the water. Underwater, I've seen a wider array of fish in other places, but in a time of climate change and coral bleaching, the colours and health of the reefs brought a sense of deep relief. Then, after our lagoon adventure, we booked a half-day surf trip, which sent us with a guide around the southwestern tip of Sumba. We bounced down dirt roads through traditional villages with thatched roofs standing several stories high. Officially, Sumba is mostly Christian, but in the ancient animist religion of the island, ancestors or 'marapu' guide the living from above so the traditional homes (and some government buildings) reach for a connection. Waingapu, our destination, sat just beyond a river mouth and a village. There was no one else in the water. The waves were four to five feet, soft, clean and tons of fun for us intermediates — probably the best place we'd ever surfed together as a family. Our guide, Julianto, said he came to Sumba for exactly that kind of experience, after growing up in West Java and working in more crowded places. 'Bali has so many people,' he said. 'I love Sumba because Sumba is still nature.' Garcia told me that 90 per cent of the hotel staff is Sumbanese. Many of them were trained through a partnership with the Sumba Hospitality Foundation, a local nonprofit, and perhaps because tourism is still so new and seems to be delivering local benefits, the relationship of guest, staff and community felt warm and unjaded. Children from a nearby village swam at the edge of the hotel beach, waving, smiling and trying out a little English. When my daughter and I got lost on our way to the lagoon, locals pointed us in the right direction with a smile. A PLACE TO RELAX We managed to do a bit of nothing too. Sunsets by the main pool, which sits slightly higher than the villas, offered amazing views of sky, sea and a lighthouse in the distance. One night, my wife and I signed up for dinner at Julang, Cap Karoso's fine-dining option featuring guest chefs who serve guests at a single long table from an open kitchen. There were only six of us there for a meal from Robbie Noble, a British-raised chef based in Melbourne, Australia. His menu leaned into local seafood, offering chilled crab tea, grilled octopus (with tahini and shallots) and a steamed mahi mahi dish with morning glory, otherwise known as water spinach. We worked through it all with a pair of American expats living in Amsterdam and a British couple who told us about their courtship on a 30,000-mile motorcycle trip from Alaska to Patagonia. Luxury in remoteness can be costly: The prix fixe meal at Julang was around US$90 per person, without wine; doubles at Cap Karoso start at US$325, two-bedroom duplexes at US$750 and three-bedrooms can cost as much as US$4,000 per night. More reasonable options at smaller boutique hotels or homes are available, if you book early. At all of them, you're likely to be on site for most meals and activities since other development is sparse (though the kitchen staff did mention a karaoke bar near the airport). Sumba's balance at the moment, with nature, its staff and food offerings like freshly baked pastries every morning, feels extravagant and fragile. As always, the rich-visitor poor-local divide risks distorting the culture of a place that has persisted, largely unchanged, for hundreds if not thousands of years. At the lagoon, for example, a handful of vendors have set up stalls to sell local crafts and when we left, a few men and boys competed for who should be paid a small parking fee. But compared to Bali — or much of Thailand, or Fiji, or so many other places — Sumba still feels like a secret getaway, a place to clear the mind, enjoy the breezes and the sea, and most of all, avoid the crowds. 'We don't have the infrastructure for a Four Seasons,' said Desborough, who recently launched a seven-day wellness experience, with immersion into the nature, community and shamanic practices of the island. 'And to be honest, we're OK with that.'
