Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Bali is the epicenter of Indonesia´s skateboard scene!
In recent years, Bali has become the epicenter of Indonesia’s skateboarding scene. The small island is no longer only known as surfers paradise: it´s also heaven for all skateboard shredders around the globe. With hundreds of skate bowls and halfpipes – Bali is the new skateboarding Mecca! We sat down with our American student and skateboard enthusiast Brady Scott to find out more about it.
Wzzup Brady! To start with – tell us more about yourself.
My name is Brady and I come from Utah in the US. Right now, I’m studying anthropology and in my free time, I skate day in and day out. I ended up here in Bali because I heard about Asia Exchange and all of the dope programs they were offering. Also, the skate scene at home is drying up so I was excited to experience the skate board culture here in Bali. I know it´s totally different to what I’m used to, but I want to experience a new awesome atmosphere.
What do you study here in Bali?
I take classes that are geared towards my anthropology major at home, learning about culture and stuff. There are lots of business classes as well, but I’m more into cross culture and language.
What are your general thoughts about the student life here?
I think the students are really tight knit group as they always end up doing fun things together – like going to beach, exploring hella beaches, mountains, waterfalls, checking out the monkeys and temples of course. Food and accommodation is cheap, so we have extra money to do fun stuff in our free time.
How is the campus life?
Campus is super fun to be at, it´s fun to hang out with other exchange students and hang out with other Balinese students. You meet people from all over the world. Back home you just have people coming from Utah and everyone has similar story, but here you meet people all over Indonesia and all over the world. That´s my favorite part being at the Uni, how much diversity you come across from just walking from class to class.
Where do you live in Bali?
Right now I live in Jimbaran because there are two pretty gnarly skate bowls nearby. It´s not as loud here as in the north so I can chill out and go shred the gnarl after sunset. The landscape on the Bukit peninsula is different than to rest of Bali because it´s much more arid here and it doesn’t get tons of rain. There are super sick cliffs where you can see sunset and beaches where you can either go surfing or chill on the beach and watch surfers.
Tell us more about the skate scene here in Bali?
What really stood out to me when I first went to a bowl at Outside Corner here in Uluwatu was that there are locals shredding the bowl, tourists and other foreigners shredding and other students like me. Everyone is there to only have a good time. Everyone is just ripping and having a good time. We recently went to Pretty Poison and there are a mastodon crowd watching all the skaters ripping it up on the bowl. Every time I did a trick, when it wasn’t even cool, everyone was just absolutely stoked and cheered.
You might also be interested in: Student Life in Bali – Nick Van Calck
Was it a hassle to get here from the states?
I came straight from Vietnam and it was pretty easy because the staff of Asia Exchange is so helpful. They made it much more convenient to get the visa and helped me to set myself up immediately when I got here.
To whom would you recommend studying in paradise?
I would recommend this to anyone who is really stoked to learn about culture because I think the culture here is really beautiful to experience. I would also recommend this to anyone who loves exploring new things outside like beaches, waterfalls, volcanoes and mountains. Also, anyone who loves skateboarding like I do because there are some sick spots to sess out here.
Find out more about studying in Bali
Asia Exchange is a Finnish company providing study abroad opportunities in Asia-Pacific for students from all around the world. Want to get travel tips and new blog posts straight to your inbox? Subscribe to our monthly newsletter! If you have any questions about studying abroad, feel free to contact us! We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
This interview was made by our Digital Marketing Coordinator, Fabian!
