Foam

This is Uluwatu at its peak: a long, fast left peeling over coral in overhead-high waves with clean offshore winds and a 16-second swell period that lets the faces stand tall and wall up properly. The 2.6-metre groundswell is wrapping in from the south-west at exactly the right angle, the east-south-east wind is holding offshore, and the rising tide is still manageable for the paddle through the cave. This requires confident, experienced big-wave surfers; the size and power are real, and the window holds its shape until around 2pm.

From here the wind swings towards the south-east and picks up to 17 kilometres per hour, turning cross-shore and starting to soften the faces by early afternoon. The swell itself stays in the overhead range but loses some of its shape as the tide and wind both work against the Peak and push you towards the Racetrack sections lower down the reef.

Tomorrow peaks at a similar rating with waves probably in the overhead-high range, best in the morning before any wind swing takes hold. The size and power demand the same skill level as today, though the swell looks slightly smaller and the forecast-versus-ocean gap widens the further out you look, so treat the morning call as the firmer read.