Reported: “Three Surfers Shot At In Sumbawa”

Remember, mid-last year when a bunch of surfer’s were shot at in New Zealand? Well, that seemingly rare occurrence has sprung its head again, this time in Sumbawa.

The details (and confirmation) of this incident are a little sketchier than the widely reported incident in NZ, but it’s a frightening prospect and report nonetheless. 

According to a Facebook user in the ‘Bali Surfboards Buy and Sell’ group, three surfers were shot at while surfing a particular spot in Sumbawa. The post has since been removed from the group, but here is the original post (with some grammatical adjustments) from the user:

“On 30th of March three travelling surfers were surfing a break in front of a resort in the district of Parado when the resort surf guide approached them in the lineup on a jet ski, shouting at them to leave the break so his one client can surf the wave alone.

“They had already met the day before and surfed there together, the guide was impolite but there was no real issue. After ignoring him for a bit, two of the friends went back in to get lunch at a warung on the beach. The surf guide went back to shore and sent two security guards over carrying a gun telling the three aggressively that they are not allowed to surf there and need to leave immediately and not return. 

“The next day they went back to surf there together with one of the local surfers but while paddling out four security posted themselves up at the beach telling them to leave. After 15 minutes of being ignored, they fired three shots (presumably, in the air). The local went to talk to them and eventually came back and asked the three to leave. After reaching the beach, the securities shot two more times to intimidate them. 

“The Kepala Dusun was informed and the next day they went to Kepala Desa (Head of the District) who said he will investigate and told them he will issue a certified letter allowing them to surf there. The village locals informed the three friends that days before, the security kicked out a surf charter boat as well. The three then packed up their stuff to try and avoid any real damage.”

Outside of this original post, and the comments suggesting that this type of incident is not uncommon in the area, there have been no other confirmed reports of the aforementioned shots. We have reached out to the original poster for comment and further information, but so far have received no reply.

Spots in Indo being questionably controlled by eggy surf resort owners is not unusual, and in some instances it seems necessary – influxes of kook-brimming boats is all too common. Resorting to firepower however probably isn’t the answer, particularly when there’s under five bodies in the water.

We’ll fill you in on any details (or confirmation) as they come to light.

Stay safe… here’s a link to a couple bulletproof vests.