Okay, so here's the thing about being home in Bali: my days are basically surf, eat, sleep, repeat. Which sounds dreamy (it is!), but even a surf girl needs a day off from chasing waves sometimes. So when the team at Waterbom Bali invited me to spend a whole day at the park in between my surf sessions, did I say yes? I said yes so fast I think they're still hearing the echo.
And of course I didn't go alone. I brought my partner in crime, my bestie, my official screaming buddy: Devina. Two teenage girls, one water park, zero chill. You can already guess how this went.
Waterbom Bali: Basically a Giant Playground for Big Kids
If you've never been, Waterbom Bali is right in Kuta, just a quick hop from the beach where I go surfing at Kuta Beach every summer. It's packed with tropical gardens, palm trees, and 28 slides and attractions, which is a very dangerous number to give two girls with endless energy and a full day.
Our strategy? Simple. Ride everything. Then ride our favorites again. Then ride them again because Devina "wasn't ready" the second time. (She was ready. She was just screaming.)
My Official Waterbom Bali Slide Ranking (That Nobody Asked For)
Tailspin
Tailspin is where you realise you have zero control over your life. You go in, you spin around like a sock in a washing machine, and you come out the other end wondering what year it is. Ten out of ten. Would get dizzy again.
Boomerang
The Boomerang is pure chaos. You shoot down, fly up the wall, hang there for a split second thinking "oh no"... and then gravity remembers you exist. As a halfpipe girl, I have to say: that weightless moment at the top felt weirdly familiar. Just, you know, wetter.
Twin Racers
Okay, this is where the friendship got tested. Twin Racers means side-by-side racing, which means Devina and I went full competition mode. There was trash talk. There were rematches. There were accusations of false starts. Who won? Let's just say I'm a professional athlete and I'm choosing not to discuss it. (Devina, I know you're reading this. Don't.)
Lazy River
After all that adrenaline, the Lazy River was our recovery zone. Just floating on a tube, drifting under the trees, chatting about absolutely nothing important. My coaches would call this "active recovery." I call it "the best part of being a human."
My First Time on the FlowRider (aka Getting Humbled by Water)
Now here's the part I was secretly most excited about. Waterbom Bali has a FlowRider, which is a man-made wave where the water shoots up a slope at you nonstop, so you can surf in one spot. I surf. I snowboard. I've skateboarded at the Laax Freestyle Academy. So obviously I was going to walk in and crush it, right?
Wrong. So wrong.
The FlowRider feels totally different from surfing and snowboarding. When you surf, you chase the wave. When you snowboard, you go down the mountain. On the FlowRider, the wave comes to you, constantly, and it does not care about your feelings. The big rule is to keep your weight on your back foot. Lean forward even a tiny bit and... splash. Bye. See you at the back...
My first few tries were basically a comedy show. Devina was crying laughing. But after a few wipeouts my body started to figure it out: small weight shifts, soft knees, eyes up. And then suddenly I was actually riding it, carving back and forth like I knew what I was doing. Honestly, it felt like a mix of everything I love, all on one wave. My brain was very confused and very happy.
Fun fact: balance training like this is exactly the kind of cross-training I do as part of my all round training at the Laax Freestyle Academy. So technically this was work. Technically.
Just Two Teen Girls Goofing Around
My life is usually pretty full on: training, travel, balancing snowboarding with home schooling, and living out of a suitcase between the Alps and Bali. So a day like this, with no coach, no stopwatch, no pressure, just me and my best friend being silly, was honestly everything.
We raced. We screamed. We made up very bad slide reviews in fake accents. We ate way too many snacks. We took about 400 photos (only 395 of them are blurry). By the end of the day our fingers were wrinkly, our cheeks hurt from laughing, and we had zero regrets.
Quick Tips If You're Heading to Waterbom Bali
- Go early. The park opens at 9am, and the first few slides with short lines are the best feeling ever.
- Book the FlowRider as an add-on. It runs in sessions, and you need to be 140 cm tall to stand up (130 cm to bodyboard).
- Back foot, back foot, back foot. Trust me on this one.
- Bring your loudest friend. Racing on the Twin Racers is way more fun with someone to beat. (Or lose to. Whatever.)
- Save the Lazy River for when your legs are jelly.
Thank You, Waterbom Bali! 💜
A huge, soggy, grateful thank you to the whole Waterbom Bali team for inviting Devina and me for such an amazing and unforgettable day. You guys made two very happy (and very waterlogged) girls. The park is gorgeous, the team was so kind, and the FlowRider and I are now officially in a relationship. It's complicated, but we're working on it.
I'll definitely be back, and next time, FlowRider, I'm coming for you with both feet planted firmly at the back.
Until the next adventure,
Zazi 🏂🌊
Want more? Check out my new chapter as a ROXY team rider, or see how I learned to fly at airbag training in Japan.
PS. Follow the adventures of Zazi, Snowboard Girl & Indonesian Model, on Instagram: Click Here!
