Rare Image Shows a Young Surfing Champ Kelly Slater in a Candid Photoshoot ‘With the Boys’

Kelly Slater is arguably the greatest surfer in the world. With a career spanning three decades, Slater has won many accolades. Recently, the 11-time World Surfing League winner shared a resurfaced image on his Instagram story, which captured him in his fledgling days.

In the 90s image, Slater and his friends can be seen standing on a surfboard in a bar in Indonesia.

A picture is worth a thousand words

In the image, Slater can be seen standing on a surfboard while his friends and fellow surfers, Rob Machado and Rizal Tandjung are seen sitting on the same board, which seems mounted on a wall. “Mid 90s’s Bali with the boys Rob Machado and Rizal Tandjung right before or after the G-Land Pro,” Slater captioned the post.

Tandjung originally uploaded the image Slater shared, which further revealed the history behind the rare picture. “Tubes Bar 1995, me @kellyslater and @rob_machado at Tubes bar famous wall located at poppies 2”, Tandjung captioned his post.

The Indonesian surfer also mentioned that Tubes Bar was his favorite place to visit as a teenager. He uploaded a second picture which shows the famous location nearly demolished, with only the wall shaped like a wave, and the surfboard standing. “End of an era 27 years (2022) after”  wrote Tandjung.

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Slater and Tandjung tagged Rob Machado in their respective posts. However, at the time of writing, Machado was yet to react or comment on either of the posts. 

Kelly Slater and “the boys”

Rizal Tandjung was born and raised in Bali, Indonesia. A talented surfer, Tandjung won his first surfing competition when he was 15. Although he hasn’t competed as much as Slater, he has contributed to developing Bali’s local talent. Tandjung was sponsored by Quicksilver for a decade.

Bron in Australia, Rob Machado surfed professionally from 1993 to 2000. However, from 2000 to 2012, Machado participated primarily in events the WSL organized. He retired in 2012 and is the owner of Rob Machado Surfboards, where he designs the surfboards himself.

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While the image Slater and Tandjung shared may seem ordinary, it carries a piece of Bali’s surfing history with itself. What do you think of this throwback image? Let us know in the comments.