“A week before I even left for the Mentawai’s my car with five boards, clothes, passport, computer, GoPro, iPad, sunglasses got stolen from my car which was parked outside a mate’s house in Eden Terrance in Auckland while I was down in Dunedin for a week. Yeah I know I shouldn’t have left most of that gear in there but nothing was viewable maybe except half of my coffin board bag but who would even know what that was, specially though dark tints. Well someone did and when I received a call in Dunedin from Police saying someone had broken in to my car, well some may say I wasn’t too happy but I thought they must have taken a couple of the bags not boards or anything. But when I called my mate Lyndon to check out my car he confirmed the worst, my car had been cleaned out. What mutts.

Long painful story short, insurance paid to replace everything but the worst was my lappy with all the photos of my son Cooper growing up, I’m still shattered about that as didn’t back them up on anything. Big lessons learnt there, rookie mistakes. With the boards lucky I’ve a few boards in zee quiver so that was no problem except there were two magic SuperBrand’s out of the five which were in the car. On the bright side I’ll have five new boards waiting for me when I get home.

I went for a quick side trip to Bali first, I was arriving on a Friday and was excited to watch the All Blacks play Oz the next day but I got delayed out of Sydney so ended up missing my connecting flight to Bali and was flying as the AB’s tonked Ozzie which would have been good to watch.

Bali was fun surfed a few times mainly to be honest on the beach, went out to Ulu’s for the first time since 99 I think. Wow firstly to the motorbike ride out there, fark what a nightmare and wow to how different it was at Ulu’s all the hotels, buildings etc. Incredibly built up now. Waves where ok except for the white helmet guy who was baining me so hard. Paddling all over the place inside around in circles but seemed to get every wave somehow. When got back to Kuta was telling Indian Nick or Chongee about him who said “oh not white helmet guy, he’s in my top three bains” so it wasn’t just me.

Rewind a bit to the reason I was coming out to the Mentawai’s. Was at a BBQ in Gisborne last December and I had seen all the photo’s and clips from the year from the Mentawai’s. Was one of the best years ever out there, swell after swell and all the spots fired. Anyways Christie Carter who owns and runs Wavepark Mentawai Resort is from Gisborne and I grew up a few doors down from him at Wainui Beach, he also was at the BBQ and we gotten chatting about the year out there and the pumping surf etc. I was like oh you don’t need a bar tender out there next year do you? Pretty much as a joke but kinda not really haha. Well turned out he said he might have a guide opening though, as one of his might not be able to make a slot. I was like hmmm really? Hell yes, we kept in touch when he went back out and sure enough I was in. Guiding guests in mid August to second week October was the slot. What a gig!

I’ve been out here ten days now, had our first group of guests though which was only six people.( Resort takes twelve max) Three couples and four of those surfed. Four Australians and two from Austria. Poor guy Roland from Austria hadn’t surfed since his last surf trip eight months ago! A real nice group of people who were frothing to get out there. Hideaways is out the front which is a pretty nice wave, hollow left on the right tide and really smash able on the high with lost of push. The winds have been South East the whole time so Hideaways,  E-Bay, Beng Bengs and Pit-Stops are the pick in this area. We has one day that was six foot at times but quite long lulls. Hideaways is strange will be flat as then all of sudden six footers will come though for an hour then stop completely for a few hours then start up again. Starting to get my head around what times in the tide are good when it will turn on. Had a couple fun days at Pitstops, such a rippable wave. You always see it in the clips when the guys are punting up a storm,  the reefs pretty mellow and it finishes on sand.

There’s waves for all ability’s out here which is one of the magic things about this region. From hollow as waves to super playful where you don’t  have to worry about the bottom.

Looks like there’s a few swells lined up so I’ll keep you posted. Praying for Rifles!”

MAZ.

Sumatran Surfariis

Sumatran Surfariis is in our 17th year running surf charters in the Mentawais and North Sumatra.  We are owned and operated by Aussie, NZ and Japanese partners, all of whom are very dedicated surfers. Each member of our crew has at least a decade of experience running surf charters out of Sumatra, and this experience has proven time and again to be the key factor to a successful boat trip. We still have legitimate quiet spots we can sneak you away to, spots you’ve never seen in a magazine but can get every bit as good with no one on them. As surfers ourselves, empty lineups and tropical barrels are what we want, too, and there are a lot of spots still left if you have the knowledge and willingness to seek them out.

Unlike most charter companies, we operate year round. Over the last decade of running trips thru NZ’s summer, we have found some really amazing swell magnets that are at least head-high on the tiniest of swells, and then when more solid swells arrive we have our choice of all the magazine waves to ourselves. We prefer to do 14+ night trips, which gives you the best chance to get that final swell and to travel a little further afield to get away from the pack.

Our goal is to make your trip to Indo as smooth as possible.  Danny’s full-time job is assisting in your bookings and setting up the dream holiday. Scuzz lives in Padang year round and is constantly improving and training all the land and boat crews. We own the cars that pick you up from the airport, and all our crew are on full-time yearly contracts with health insurance for their families. We own our own shipping company, which we run out of our own office, so there are never problems with permits or paperwork prior to your departure.

But most importantly, we take pride in offering the best vessels for your surf charter at the most reasonable prices. We maintain and improve our boats throughout the year, and we also do complete overhaul at the end of the season to ensure they meet the highest safety standards. All our crew is all legally ticketed with extensive experience. Each charter includes a captain, engineer, cook, and a minimum of 2 general deck hands. Each trip is led by a western guide with a photographer available on request. We operate 2 tenders on each boat, which helps split up the crowds at anchorages with multiple surf spots and also allows for additional adventures such as fishing excursions. With over 17 years worth of experience and feedback, we’ve done everything we can to make sure our boats are the best for this type of journey.

Try coming to the Ments with us in your summer or try one of our other destinations in the peak of the year, and do so knowing we’ve done the legwork to give you the best trip and best value you can find in Indo.