The history of G-Land

How G-Land Was Found

In 1972, Bob Laverty was flying over East Java when he spotted perfect lines peeling into a remote bay. He showed the photo to a few friends, and the image stuck. A few months later, Laverty and Bill Boyum got across to Grajagan Bay from the fishing village side and confirmed the unthinkable: a world-class left-hander, untouched and empty.

Boyum returned with his brother Mike, and together they built what is widely regarded as the world’s first surf camp — a few huts in the jungle, mosquito nets, rice and eggs, and more wildlife than creature comforts. They named the sections as they surfed them: Kongs up top, Moneytrees through the middle, and Speedies down the end. Nowadays, there are The Ledge, The Fang, Launch Pads, and Quiksilvers as names of sections, as well as 20-20’s and Tiger Tracks further inside the bay. There were no safety nets back then, no rescue skis, and no crowd. Also, there were no doctors or medical staff on duty, so you did not want to hit the reef, ever. It was just Indonesian swell wrapping perfectly along a coral shelf deep in tiger territory.

The WSL explains why G-land is so perfect, that their G-land event a few years ago was one of the best of the year. The Surfing Doctors were there, in the WSL camp, looking after injured competitors and staff. The Surfing Doctors crew were kept busy throughout the event, with multiple abrasions, jungle infections and other injuries.

Early Days in the jungle

In the early days, access was tough. You either hiked in and used motorbikes or got across the bay on an outrigger, dodging malaria, cobras, and the reef. But for the handful of surfers who made the trip, it was the stuff of dreams. By the early ’80s, the myth had spread. The jungle story had hit Surfer and Tracks, and more adventurers began trickling in — some staying a month, others never quite leaving.

Today, G-Land is still wild, but it’s no longer lawless. Camps like Jawa Jiwa offer great food, filtered water, high-speed, uncapped Wi-Fi, cold Bintangs, gudangs, nasi gorengs, and clean sheets, as well as the occasional python, wild boar, and even the odd big-cat footprints. The wave is still every bit as ferocious and flawless, though — and the ghosts of those early years still hang thick in the trees.

Surfing Doctors Annual Conferences

This year, the annual Surfing Doctors Conference will take place at G-Land, as it does every year. This year appears to be a busy one, with many new members expected to attend the event. While G-land might not be the same place that Boyum and Laverty discovered all those years ago, the reef is still the same, sharp, gnarly, perfectly aligned to meet those optimum long-period south swells.