“Disrespect The Locals, The Land, Our Ocean — And We Will Expose You”
The Balinese old guard calls out the use of jet skis in Uluwatu.
“You can control my land, but you will never take over my sea.”
A week back, a video emerged on Instagram. Two surfers doing step-offs at Uluwatu, down the end at Racetracks, where things tend to get real sharp and shallow underneath. The waves were barely head-high.
A little disrespect, a little weekend playpen energy — nothing Bali hasn’t dealt with before. Some light public shaming felt earned. A smirk, a head shake, the usual “bule gonna bule” dismissal. A slap on the wrist, you’d hope, and the ignorance kept to a one-off.
After a quick name-and-shame, the culprits were linked to Saltwater Cowboys — a crew of surfers and foreign entrepreneurs, mostly Uluwatu-based, who’d recently acquired Puri Uluwatu Villas (the area’s first hotel), a beach club, and a jet ski rental biz.
They were quick to deny any involvement, washing their hands of the whole affair. And that, it seemed, was that.
Then, a few days ago, the behaviour resurfaced — this time further west on the Bukit, at Balangan Beach, an eyelash from Dreamland. Again, the waves were barely head-high. Again, Instagram called it out — but this time, with more teeth.
“Decided to surf Balangan today — thought we’d avoid the circus at Ulu,” writes Piter Panjaitan — local activist, philanthropist, and full-time thorn in the side of Bali’s gentrification machine. “But guess what? The rodeo came to us. Pro bros showed up with the ski… for 4-foot Balangan. This isn’t your tow-in arena, it’s a paddle zone.”
He finished it with a nod to the knife on his hip: “One more thing. Some locals spear fish here. And they don’t miss.”
As with all good sagas, a third act arrived. After dismissing first incident, Saltwater Cowboys, strangely, took to Instagram to post a now-deleted photo. It showed a surfer on a wave with a jet ski parked awkwardly in the foreground. Far from big enough to justify the petrol. The caption read, “The green room with the boys.”
Bit of an own goal, really, and it poured gasoline on the already smouldering backlash. Where before there had been grumbles, now came open revolt.
The Balinese old guard responded immediately. Even Made Lana — a man who’s spent four decades watching Uluwatu morph, fracture, and sell off piece by piece with quiet forbearance — joined the conversation.
“Stop,” he wrote on Instagram. “I grew up surfing Ulus — this is my backyard. I don’t always say, but I always see. And lately, I have seen enough. Jet Ski’s in the lineup? Dropping in on locals? Show respect. This place has rules. If you can’t respect them, you don’t belong here. Take your skis somewhere else.”
Two-time Padang Cup winner Mega Samadhi, a Bukit local from a holy Hindu bloodline — his parents both Mangkus, or “holy priests” — had his say:
“You can control my land, but you’ll never control my sea,” he wrote. “In surfing, there are unwritten rules. Jet skis don’t belong unless you can’t paddle it.”
Under mounting social media pressure, Saltwater Cowboys issued a contrite Instagram statement, and to their credit, seemed to take full responsibility. You can find the full post on their profile, but here’s a sample:
“Yesterday, our skis were used by a few surfers at the end section at Balangan. Aware of the sensitivity around jet skis near Uluwatu, the team was careful to keep their distance and avoid the main lineup. They stuck to the scraps and closeouts, and both surfers and photographers made sure not to interfere with the surfers at the peak. But the videos that quickly went viral shifted the focus from jet skis to respecting locals.
“If the locals who protect these breaks don’t want skis near the lineup, we’ll respect that. No hesitation. Our skis will stay clear of the surf breaks.”
The locals didn’t buy it.
Panjaitan returned with a face-to-camera message, calling it a “lame statement,” and naming each of the surfers involved.
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again,” he said. “Disrespect the locals, the land, our ocean — and we will expose you… I want to make it clear: I am not anti-jet ski — I’m anti-people like you. The land and the ocean is our home. Do not break it.”
Saltwater Cowboys issued another public statement yesterday — this time with comments disabled. They took responsibility, scrapped their operations, and closed with a line of firm, belated remorse.
“It will never happen again,” they wrote. “We have terminated all tow-in and step-off services. We want to apologise for the way we poorly attempted to clarify our intent and defend ourselves. We should have simply apologised.”
This time, it landed. In response, Piter wrote: “Accepted. Let’s harmoniously move forward. God bless.”
The saga, knotted and shelved. A peaceful end to a messy middle.
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