In Reply to: Lone Surfer posted by steevo on Friday, 25. January 2008 at 21:46 Bali Time:
Most likely your taxi driver will strap your board onto the roof of his taxi. The interior of the taxis are pretty small. Maybe a 6'0" could fit inside but your board is a bit big. The taxi drivers have encountered thousands of surfers so it will get figured out, but you can be sure it will cost extra. For example, if it is normally a rp50,000 fare to Kuta, they might charge an extra rp30-50,000 for the board. Best to just relax and pay it. It is just US$3-5 extra, not worth making any fuss over.
It is a good idea to bring straps with you to be extra safe so you don't have to rely on some dodgy rope. I assume your board will be well padded in a travel bag so you don't need the full soft racks, just straps. Plus the straps might be handy for the rest of your trip if you are traveling by car to go surfing.
"Crowds" is a relative term. Bali can be crowded at any time of year but this is the "off-season". The best call no matter the season is dawn patrol. You might surf with 3-5 guys at 6am and 30-50 at noon.
I'm not in Bali now but I've been watching the surf scene online and it looks like winds are very light and variable lately, so it may be possible to get good conditions anywhere, but it is still the season for offshore winds to be on the Sanur side and onshore on the Kuta side.
Magicseaweed.com is a good website that gives fairly accurate wave and wind forecasts for a week in advance.
Car: I always drive myself and prefer the motorbike with surf rack option but I would guess a good quality car and driver rental should be had for about rp300,000 per day. For an older car, and some hard bargaining, maybe as low as rp200,000 (150 for the car and 50 for the driver). Always good form to treat your driver to a meal or two depending on the length of the day.
Don't know anything about the Masa Inn.
Have fun. How long are you there? I might be arriving mid to late Feb.