Ask any surfer to choose a location for their dream surf trip and the answer will surely be the Mentawai islands, off west Sumatra . For snowboarders the Mentawai waves are a luxury Disneyland. With nearly 70 tropical islands spread just south of the equator, facing directly into the window swell surf of the Indian Ocean, no other surf destination offers such a variety of world class spots clustered together in a little bit.
Whether you are a pro World Tour, a veteran or a novice first year ago Mentawai waves for all skill levels.
Even the waves of class C are better than most of the waves, you will find on the California coast, while the grade breaks are easily the finest surfing spots in the world.
The chances are pretty high that you will find time to surf all the big names such as Macaroni breaks, Law or Lance Telescopes, which have become household names after, with countless magazines and large surf videos. When you actually paddle to one of those famous Mentawai waves on a good day of waves and conditions, you will witness the quality that made them so legendary in the surfing world. In fact, most days of good surfing here appear to the naked eye, he jumped right on the pages of Surfer mag.
It is difficult to keep something so good a secret these days, it is common to find crowds at the best breaks. Several boats with up to a dozen surfers on board can be anchored at any time certain waves, and there are often surf camps and stations set up as the best waves. By some estimates, there are over 30 surf charter boats and almost as many camps and resorts in operation across the Mentawai Islands, with more coming every year.
In recent years, the regional government has begun to capitalize on the popularity and marketability of Mentawai surf sponsoring several Asian Championship Surf (ASC) Classic surf contest with pro international brand Rip Curl surf. Some lately included several of the best single-day waves in the history of the tour of the CSA.
A dance and traditional music Mentawaian group pose for a shot after a welcome dance at Macaronis Resort on North
Pagai Island. Photo: @linesbali
Rights and Macaroni Lance were the two places for events, with surfers from Australia, Hawaii, France, Malaysia and more. Prize money and tour points were on the line. But even with international pros competing, he has always been pro Indonesian surfers who win. With developing surf communities on every populated Mentawai island, dozens of locals came in boats from their home islands to competition. Many were just starting and surfing on the hand-me-down equipment, but were still able to make it through several rounds. With high quality waves on offer here is only a matter of time until a big name local surf stars out of Mentawai.
Tailoring your trip
With seventy islands on offer, your trip can really interesting with a knowledgeable guide camp or boat captain, and shortly available. Being able to read the surf, wind and weather conditions - so knowing where to go and when - an experienced ship captain can take you beyond the fringes of what is commonly known and have you surfing off the grid in Indonesian perfection with just the crew on your boat. The same goes for land guides, who know the changes sensitive to wind can go during the day and the best way to maximize the surf of the day on offer. It is this invaluable experience gathered to put in time here and pay contributions, making travel truly come to life.
In some cases, the experience can also mean saving lives. This was the case when the captain of the iconic Australian boat Tony "Doris" Eltherington rescued a South African surfer Brett Archibald, who fell overboard the night in the strait between Sumatra and the Mentawai chain. Archibald spent 27 hours treading water, fighting off sharks, sunburn and severe dehydration during his ordeal. He had almost given up, but Doris, who knows these waters better than most, leaning on his instinct and understanding of ocean currents and runoff to find unhappy Archibald.
Archibald is the only case of a person falling overboard and generally traveling through Mentawai is quite safe. protection against malaria and cuts reefs are usually your main concerns here -. break apart all your cards before the trip is
Another view of the right of Lance with children learning to surf at the front. Apparently an Australian named Lance was the first to surf and kept secret for years until the public picked up on the wave quality was. Photo: @linesbali
local color
Although these islands were only well known in surfing for about 20 years, the Mentawai people have been there since at least 500 BC. Mentawaian traditions hold strong, and even with the advent of Christian missionaries spread their religion here over the centuries, some men still wear tattoos and tribal cloths and traditional sharpening teeth is still common. Many people go to church on Sundays now, but many also take still true to the animistic beliefs of their ancestors from the spiritual world and the physical world exist together. sikerei Mentawai shaman or animists, are mediums between these two worlds and today they are still required to perform ancient rituals at important events of the village, or to help the sick or deceased. They continue to be a respected part of Mentawai village life in the middle of the diffusion of technology and Christianity.
Whether you choose to stay on the four main islands developed (SIPURA, North Pagai, South Pagai and Siberut capital) or island-hop on most past tiny uninhabited islands surrounded by deep waters of the blue sea, one can only contemplate; realize that there is too much to see for a visit.
It is safe to say that for the variety and bang-for-money (or barrel for his money in this case), there is no surf spot more eager to please the Mentawai. Even if you came here on vacation all you had, you never get bored. And that is why so many surfers will return year after year.
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Surf Charter Boats:
www.kudalautsurf.com
www.surfinmentawais.com
www. tonyeltheringtonsurfcharters.com
www.indiestrader.com
Surf Camps / Resorts
www.mentawaisurfingretreat.com
www.kanduivillas.com
www.kingfishermentawai.com
www.macaronisresort.com