Uluwatu surf history: the beach below the cliffs
Compiled by Surf Haunts · Updated 2026-09-21
The waves get most of the attention at Uluwatu. Our print looks towards the sea from Suluban Beach, with high rock walls on either side. The beach is part of the setting for a surf story that reached cinema screens in 1972, though one of its participants had already written about the trip the year before.
Where Suluban fits in
Suluban is in Pecatu village, in Bali's South Kuta district. It's a more specific name than Uluwatu, which you'll also encounter in accounts of the surf nearby.
The narrow space between the rocks is a defining part of the beach. Indonesia's tourism board describes limestone formations and passages through the cliffs. That enclosed view is what we've used in the illustration: the rock walls take up much of the picture, with the water beyond them.
A trip in 1971, a film in 1972
Steve Cooney was 15 when he travelled to Bali with surfer Rusty Miller and filmmakers Albert Falzon and David Elfick. His account of the trip appeared in Tracks in November 1971.
The footage became part of Morning of the Earth. The film's official history records its first screening on 25 February 1972 at the Manly Silver Screen Theatre, in Sydney. Keeping those dates separate helps: 1971 was the trip; 1972 was the release.
The walk down, in Cooney's own account
Cooney remembered local people showing the visitors the way, a journey by small vehicle followed by a walk, and a descent into a large cave with sand on the floor. He also described people watching from above and bringing food to trade.
You can read Cooney's original recollections in the Tracks republication. They're a young visitor's account, including the language and attitudes of the time. The local help he describes is an important part of the trip, and easily lost when the story is shortened to someone “discovering” Uluwatu.
Have you got something to add?
An old photograph of Suluban, a dated memory of the beach or a correction would help us build this page. Email us with what you know. We'll check details, ask before publishing your contribution and agree how to credit you.
Our Suluban print
The photograph shows Suluban Beach in 2010. Our Suluban Beach print is a separate illustration of the rock-framed view, with no figure in the foreground. It isn't a scene from the film or a record of the 1971 visit.
Compiled from public historical sources and fact-checked against them at the time of writing – not a first-hand or local account. Corrections and memories are welcome; we verify before publishing anything sent in.