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fter three months of heavy rains, fishermen along Kuta Beach are eagerly awaiting the easterly winds to blow, signaling the start of the surfing season that will see surfers from all over the world flock to the area and use their boat services to ride the waves.

The fishermen said they depended heavily on the tourism industry rather than on fishing.

Wayan Budiasa, a local fisherman who joined the Samudra Jaya fishermen's group, said more surfers had started coming to the beach Friday morning, thanks to the current good weather.

"Yesterday, we only had 16 guests using our boats all day long. But just this morning, we've carried 19 surfers out to the waves," he told The Jakarta Post.

"Dozens more surfers will come after the easterly wind starts blowing in April."

Each time he struck a deal with surfers looking to head out to Kuta Reef, Wayan shook a tall bamboo pole with a tattered white flag to signal to fishermen out in the water to come ashore and pick up their fares.

The surfers using the service wade out some 10 meters to the boat, and after surfing for around an hour, are picked up again by the boat.

Brant Samis, a Canadian who had just finished riding the waves, said he enjoyed the big waves on the sea this week after the westerly winds had blown hard for three months.

"This is the longest period of good waves here," he said, adding he had surfed the best waves off the island, including in Uluwatu and Serangan, during his four-month holiday.

Nengah Jaya Artana, another local fisherman who joined the surfing tour trade, said Thursday that dropping off and picking up surfers at nearby surfing destinations like Kuta Reef cost around Rp 50,000 (US$4.17) per person.

Surfers who want to try the waves in Uluwatu, Batangan, Padang Padang and Dreamland must rent the boat, which will cost them between Rp 300,000 and Rp 500,000, regardless of the number of passengers.

Nick Law of Scotland, who has been in the island for a week, looked satisfied after he secured Rp 40,000 deal to ride the waves at Kuta Reef.

"It's a good price," he said, smiling wide.

As the westerly winds die down, the fishermen have also started to go out to sea in the past two weeks. Artana said his group of fishermen only looked for a few kinds of fish because there was no fish market nearby.

"We're different from the fishermen of Kedonganan village, who sell all types of fish," he said.

"We sell only a few types to a trader in Serangan, who then exports the fish to South Korea, Taiwan and Japan."

Artana said the marketable fish included Spanish mackerel and beltfish.

He added he caught a mackerel weighing 14 kilograms on Wednesday, and sold it at Rp 45,000 per kilogram.

During the bad weather that pummeled the island from December to February, he said fishermen faced a dilemma because tourists would barely use their transportation service to surf, while the fishermen themselves were afraid of going out to sea.

The westerly wind season was the right time to get mackerel and beltfish, because abundant numbers of Bali sardinella, which both fish preyed on, would flock to the southern beaches of the island.