Free Surfboards

Last updated: June 27, 2012

Garuda lets passengers bring their sports equipment at no extra charge.

In many countries, airlines now charge passengers for all items of checked baggage. In Indonesia, there is no charge on most domestic airlines for 20kg checked baggage; however there is usually a fee for sports equipment.

However, now Garuda Indonesia has eliminated excess baggage fees for sports equipment, on both domestic and international flights:

It applies to surfbords, golf clubs, diving gear and “other sports equipment”. No size limit is mentioned; the maximum permitted weight is 15kg.

If you read the fine print, there is only one small requirement to receive this benefit. Passengers need to:

notify the airline 24 hours before your take off

Below is a brief guide to which destinations (Garuda and otherwise) visitors can best enjoy each of these activities:

Surfing | Diving | Golf

Surfing

View Best Surfing in Indonesia in a larger map
Left to Right: Nias Island, Mentawai Islands, Lampung, Bali, Lakey Beach, Rote

Garuda Indonesia flies to many of Indonesia’s famous surfing destinations, including Bali, Lampung (nearest airport: Bandarlampung), Mentawai Islands (nearest airport: Padang) and Rote (nearest airport: Kupang).

However, if you want to visit Nias Island or Leakey Beach (on Sumbawa Island), you will need to fly with another airline.

Surfing recommendations in (L to R): Bali, Mentawai Islands, Sumbawa

Want to go surfing in Indonesia? Please fill in an enquiry.

Diving

View Best Diving in Indonesia in a larger map
Left to Right: Pulau Weh, Gili Islands, Labuan Bajo,
Togean Islands, Bunaken, Raja Ampat

Garuda flies to diving hubs Pulau Weh (nearest airport: Banda Aceh), Bunaken (nearest airport: Manado), Togean Islands (nearest airport: Gorontalo) and Gili Islands (nearest airport: Lombok). However, it does not fly to Labuan Bajo or Raja Ampat (nearest airport: Sorong).

Want to go diving in Indonesia? Please fill in an enquiry.

Golf

View Top 5 Indonesian Cities for Golf in a larger map
Left to Right: Padang, Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Bali

Local expert Oigal recommends the following cities for their superior courses: Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Bali and Padang. Garuda flies to all these cities.

Please note: most of Jakarta’s golf courses are a bit out of town, in the satellite cities of Bogor, Tangerang (especially Bumi Serpong Dumai), Depok, etc.

Want to play golf in Indonesia? Please fill in an enquiry.

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Which places in Indonesia have you encountered the best surfing/diving/golf course? Please share a recommendation.

6 Comments on Free Surfboards

1. Oigal Says:
   June 28th, 2012 at 7:16 pm

   ‘notify the airline 24 hours before your take off”

   Probably not a bad idea although I never yet been zapped for excess on clubs by Garuda internationally or domestically. QANTAS, each and every time, even when little other baggage. Then again who in their right mind would fly QANTAS these days.

2. Oigal Says:
   June 28th, 2012 at 7:18 pm

   Try Bogor Raya, for a great course, great caddies (all female), great view. Avoid the weekend if you can prices double or more but that goes for all courses.

3. Chris Says:
   October 12th, 2012 at 12:01 am

   UPDATE: OCTOBER 2012
   On a recent trip to Bali, I enquired at different airline counters what the current cost for bringing a surfboard was. I had read in e.g. Lonely Planet that the fee was around Rp50 000 per board, so some of the answers were surprising:

   Wings Air/Lion Air: Rp200 000 ($US22) per board

   Merpati Airlines: Rp10 000 per kg, so about Rp200 000 ($US22) per board

   Garuda Indonesia: free

   One Australian tourist at the Wings Air counter commented:

   That’s more than it cost to bring the surfboard from Australia!

   Two thoughts:
   1. This excess baggage fee is a lot more than it was before, and rather expensive consider price for a ticket to e.g. Lombok is usually below Rp300 000.

   2. Passengers bringing a surfboard should fly Garuda Indonesia. Even if the ticket costs more, they will pay less overall as the surfboard flies for free.

4. Chris Says:
   November 13th, 2012 at 11:24 am

   Some other airlines have now published their excess baggage fees for sports equipment:

   CITILINK
   Surfboards, golf bag and musical instruments: Rp100 000 each

   Curiously, they also charge extra for prams and wheelchairs: Rp50 000 each

   Source

   AIR ASIA
   Same like for checked baggage, Air Asia charges by weight.

   This price list is for Indonesian domestic flights only. It would be more for international flights:
   < 15kg = Rp135 000, 15-20kg = Rp150 000, 20-25kg = Rp180 000, 25-30kg = Rp240 000, 30-35kg = Rp330 000, 35-40kg = Rp390 000

   If anyone has had experience travelling with sports equipment on Batavia Air or Sriwijaya Air, please share here your experience, how much you paid, etc.

5. Chris Says:
   March 14th, 2013 at 5:24 pm

   Other international airlines usually charge a large fee for sports equipment, but one exception is Silk Air:

   A 10 kg excess baggage allowance is extended to customers with diving equipment travelling to Cebu, Davao, Koh Samui, Kota Kinabalu, Langkawi, Lombok, Phuket and Manado.

   Source

   Silk Air is the regional/partner airline of Singapore Airlines; it operates the only international flight to Manado, as well as the only flight between Singapore and Lombok.

6. Chris Says:
   April 6th, 2013 at 1:42 pm

   TransNusa flies to Bali, Sumbawa (near Lakey Beach) and Kupang (near Rote).

   Its rules for surfboards are:

   - Rp11 000 ($US1.20) per kg
   - Maximum length: 1.8 metres

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