Choose Your Own Adventure

The feral hardships and liquid bonuses of traveling overland through Indonesia

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The prepackaged boat trip is one of the great lies sold to surfers traveling to Indonesia. Sure, you could blow a few grand reserving your spot on a charter and hope for swell in the weeklong window. Or you could take that few grand, rent a motorbike, and live like minor royalty for months, hopping ferries from island to island at your leisure. Even on densely populated Bali-adjacent islands like Java, there are still more empty waves than any surfer can bother with on a good swell. Case in point: the suite of overland Indo motorbike trips featured in issue 24.4 of TSJ. Whether your preferred brand of wave-riding is log-able sandbottom right points or heaving left barrels, there’s a little something out there for everyone. Here’s a taste of trips at both ends of the spectrum:

Check out “The Journey is Not The Destination” in issue 24.4 of TSJ for a deeper look into a series of overland Indo motorbike trips.