
Meet Diah Rahayu, Rip Curl’s One and Only Balinese Surfer Girl
The 22 year old from Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia, started surfing at the age of 12, due to her love for the Ocean, she fell in love with the sport.
The 22 year old from Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia, started surfing at the age of 12, due to her love for the Ocean, she fell in love with the sport.
I sit slumped, fatigued from air travel, gazing aimlessly at my phone screen. I am flicking through images to pass time while I wait for my guests to arrive. A little nervous, a tad excited and quite unsure of what awaits on-board the Aileoita. My legs stick to the faux leather seat in the hotel lobby. Foreign exotic smells waft through the air, circulated by air conditioning that is tricking my body into thinking I am back home and not in a smoke engulfed tropical Sumatra, that I am not. Although we share the Indian Ocean with our Indonesian neighbours I am a far cry from my Western Australian desert shores. A day’s travel from Perth to Padang I find myself pensively waiting to board the boat to set sail on my first Mentawai surf trip as a coach and guide.
She is one of the most famous names in surfing, a global celebrity with reach beyond our salty circle. Bethany Hamilton found the spotlight by accident in 2003, when the budding surf star was attacked by a shark at home in Hawaii. It was a gruesome twist of fate for the then 13-year-old that cost the Kauian her left arm, but inspired her to go on and become the incredible character the world knows today.
One of Indonesia’s best known female surfers – Diah Rahayu has just extended her commitment to being part of the Rip Curl team for another two years. Diah who comes from Legian, Bali, first made her debut in the Asian Surfing Championships in 2008 going onto complete every year eventually getting her best result when she came in runner-up position for the Asian Surfing Championship’s in 2011.
IndoSurfLife.com had the chance to interview Diah Rahayu Dewi, a young talented surfer girl from Bali, Indonesia. She took some time out of her busy schedules to catch up with us. One of her sponsors Electric Visuals, helped us to arrange the time and the place. Here, she explains up and down of being a surfer and about her goals and projects for 2013.
During Rip Curl Pro Terengganu event in Batu Burok beach, Malaysia, Made Ropik capture some free surfing moments. Featuring Garut Widiarta, Dede Suryana, Raditya Rondi, Darmaputra Tonjo, Diah Rahayu Dewi and Mega Semadhi.