The board, fin, and leash are already sorted — your coach hands you all of that at the shop. What’s actually on you to figure out is smaller than you’d think: what to wear, what to slip in a bag, and what to just leave at your Canggu accommodation. Here’s the whole list.
What to wear
Guys, go loose — relaxed boardshorts, not tight compression shorts or briefs. They need room to move with you, not fight you. Girls, wear whatever’s actually comfortable — a bikini you trust or a one-piece, either works. A rash guard over the top is a nice bonus if you’ve got one, but don’t stress if you don’t — your coach can usually dig one up for you at the shop.
Leave the jewelry at your accommodation. Rings, watches, dangly earrings — the ocean has a way of keeping anything it takes. Regular sunglasses won’t survive a session either, and prescription glasses are coming off one way or another — usually on your first duck dive. If that’s you, see the note on contacts below before you head out.
A note if you wear glasses
Contact lenses are the common workaround, but there’s a tradeoff worth knowing first: eye doctors advise against wearing them in the ocean at all, since water trapped behind the lens raises the risk of eye infection. Plenty of people do it anyway — if that’s your call, a few things cut the risk down:
- Wear dailies, not monthlies — if one’s lost or contaminated, you’re not out a lens you were planning to reuse.
- Close your eyes through the rough parts — wipeouts, duck dives, anything that puts your face underwater. That’s when a lens is most likely to get washed off your eye.
- Don’t rub your eyes after, even if they’re irritated — saltwater under a lens can leave tiny scratches on the cornea, and rubbing only makes that worse.
- Accept you might lose one out there. It happens, and there’s no fishing it back out of the ocean once it’s gone — bring a spare pair if you’ve got them.
Sun protection, sorted before you leave
Reach for zinc sunscreen specifically, not the regular kind — normal sunscreen washes out and dilutes the moment you’re in the water, right when you need it holding, and zinc is reef-safe to boot. Apply it at least twenty minutes before you touch sand, so it’s actually soaked in by the time you paddle out.
A hat can help too, as long as it’s a proper strap hat built for surf — anything without a strap gets ripped off by the first wave that catches you and is gone for good.
What to pack in a bag
- A towel — you’ll want it the second you’re out.
- A change of dry clothes — so you can peel off the wet gear and get comfortable straight after the session, plus a plastic bag to keep the wet stuff from soaking the rest of your bag on the way home.
- A hair tie, if you need one — nothing derails a pop-up faster than hair in your face.
- Water — you’ll be out longer than you expect, and paddling is thirsty work.
- A little cash — for a coconut after, or to tip your coach if the session was the highlight of your trip.
Where your bag goes while you’re out
You don’t need to stress about this part. Surf schools and shops around Canggu are used to watching bags for their students — ask, and they’ll happily keep an eye on yours on the sand or in the shop while you’re in the water. It’s a courtesy, though, not a locked storage service, so don’t put it to the test: leave your passport, laptop, and anything genuinely valuable back at your accommodation, and only bring what you’d shrug off losing.
The one thing that matters more than any of it
A relaxed, open mind. That’s genuinely the most important thing you can bring — more than the right sunscreen, more than a hat that stays on. You’re going to fall, swallow some saltwater, and laugh about it. Let yourself enjoy the process instead of chasing it perfectly, and the session turns into the best kind of memory.
Just turn up wearing something that stays on, carrying a bag light enough to leave on the sand, and a big smile and an open heart. That’s the whole list.