In the past, Nikko was one of the best right-hand point breaks in Bali, Indonesia.
Now, Project Clean Uluwatu, a Balinese non-profit organization that creates sustainable environmental solutions for waste management, says that the Kempinski Hotel "has illegally built a wall onto the reef, suffocating the living coral and destroying the wave."
The Southern Balinese surf spot is lost forever. A long rocky groin invaded the line-up and cut Nikko in half. In other words, Nusa Dua's surf gem succumbed to development pressure.
The groin is not new. It was built a few years ago, but it was dramatically extended in the past six months. Local surfers believe that the Balinese coastline is "being slowly reshaped," and surfing is not part of the plan.
Surf tourism is an important piece of the economic puzzle of Bali and Indonesia. If the authorities don't see it, and if investors can only see the short-term benefits, the Southeast Asian nation will slowly be eradicated from the surf travelers' maps.
In their website, the hoteliers state that "inspired by the power of nature, Kempinski encourages its guests and staff to start with small actions - every day," but it seems that corporate social responsibility is just something to entertain the media.
Meanwhile, Nikko is gone. It is no longer a flawless surf spot. The 10-second barrels are a memory of the past. The seawall by Kempinski is the worst homage to capitalism.
"At the end of the day, we just want our surf spot back, if that's even possible now. We're not trying to shame the Kempinski organization. It's understood that the majority of the work was completed by a third-party design/construction team working independently from their corporate office," underline Project Clean Uluwatu.
"However, Kempinski is an internationally branded hotel, and just as they will be taking credit/profit from the completed work of their contractors, they also need to be responsible for their contractors' mistakes."