Uluwatu Alert Guide

Bali, Indonesia · part of the Uluwatu spot guide

Uluwatu is forecast-only — the nearest buoy is thousands of kilometres away — so its alert is a model-swell alert, and every figure is an open-ocean reading rather than a live measurement. The reef and long period make the faces run larger than the number below.

The forecaster's checklist

1. 1.Find a deep Roaring Forties low between about 40° and 60° south with a long fetch aimed at the Bukit; a tighter pressure gradient means a bigger, longer-period swell.
2. 2.Give it roughly three to six days of travel time across the Indian Ocean.
3. 3.Run on models, not buoys — there is none within thousands of kilometres — cross-reading GFS-Wave via Windy and Windguru against Surfline, Swellnet and the local Bali desks.
4. 4.Want the south-southwest to southwest direction (around 200–225°) with a period of at least 14 seconds, and surf the dawn southeast-trade offshore window.
5. 5.Match section to size and tide: a 3–6 ft day is mid-tide Peak and Racetrack, 8–12 ft is Outside Corner, and 12 ft-plus on a higher tide is the Bombie — and check the cave is passable at the lower tide.

Local winds & tide

Best wind: E–SE trade wind (offshore into the Bukit; cleanest at dawn) — from 100° to 150° (E–SSE).

Uluwatu is genuinely tide-critical even though no tide series is modelled here: low-to-mid suits the Racetrack, mid tide is the all-rounder, and the Bombie wants more water — while the cave is only passable around the lower tides.

Dial it in