To the Sea To Be Free
Surfing is so much more than its status as a sport. In Indonesia, "surfing" is stereotypically associated with "bali" or "bule" (due to the high quantity of visuals showing Euro-American surfers show off skills in Bali waves).
Out in the water, a surfer becomes one with the waves. More so when the mind is focused on riding the wave. Surfing becomes a spiritual activity; a form of meditation.
In Pelabuhan Ratu, West Java, surfing has become a subculture where kids growing up nearby the coast turn the sea into their playground, and adults view the sea as a space that enables freedom. Even though surfing was an imported culture, it has become a platform, a medium for self-expression of individuals in search of freedom.
In the words of one surfer I talked to here in Pelabuhan Ratu, West Java: "once you are in the water, you forget about problems on land...you dont worry about your job, money, your family, you are free from worldly obligations!"
In the water, a surfer would simply live in the present moment, trying to co-exist with nature's force. To many local surfers here, the fun and thrill precede any other reasons of why they beat the morning sun and continue riding waves. "Surfing makes life feel more alive", he concludes.