14 posts tagged “banyaks”
The big quake is coming to the Mentawais
If you've always wanted to surf the Mentawais (Siberut, Sipora, North Pagai, South Pagai) but just haven't gotten around to it, you should go soon. I hate to cry wolf here but Sumatra has been very seismically active lately. There were TWO major quakes of Northern Sumatra, the Christmas Tsunami quake that killed hundreds of thousands of people and THEN another huge 8+ quake off Nias in March 2005. The Nias quake rearranged (reminder to self - find photo of uplift in Simeulue) surf breaks all around Nias, but didn't really affect the Mentawais. When we sailed by the SE corner of simeulue we saw where the former waterline had been lifted up by about half the height of a coconut tree - 15 or 20 feet out of the water. Yes there are new breaks and some breaks got better, but most breaks got worse. Bawa, the famous swell-magnet right in the Hinakos is not nearly what it was before. Forget about catching it like Tom Curren did in the Rip Curl search video from 1994.
Whether the upcoming Mentawai quake pushes the breaks up or down, any change to the bottom contours of a perfect wave like HT's or Macaroni's is a change for the worse. Nature does not by default create perfect ruler-edged reefs - great surf spots are a freak of nature, even in indonesia. Also note that it's the offshore reefs that refract swell almost 180 degrees around to HT's lineup - if they submerge or rise that spot may stop working entirely.
Crowds are lower than they have been for years
A few days back I got a mass marketing email from Sean Murphy the president of Waterways travel. I've pasted in his message below in quotes. What he's saying echoes what I've noticed on booking sites and heard from other sources.
"
WHY:
The Mentawai Islands are experiencing a downturn in traffic for a variety of reasons. Last year was one of the worst seasons in the Ments in recent history due to slightly less swell than previous years combined with persistent south wind conditions. When the winds blow from the South in the Mentawais there are only a few breaks that favor this wind such as Thunders and Burger World which also pick up quite a lot of swell. In attempts to get their passengers the best surf possible many of the boats congregated at the few spots which were best given the conditions. As a result, many charters experienced crowded conditions, unfavorable winds, or lack of swell given the breaks chosen by the captains and passengers on-board.
Compounding the poor conditions many experienced last year, it was apparent to all who made the journey that there are a number of upscale land camps under development which have already opened, or were scheduled to open for the 2007 season. Although this is true, the land based resorts are experiencing their own problems this year. Accessing the land camps has proven difficult, often requiring unreliable local ferry transportation. Macaronis Resort had based its schedule around a sea plane operation which has just been cancelled effectively resulting in the cancellation of all bookings for the 2007 season. Other currently operational resorts such as Aloita Resort (Telescopes/Playground) and Katiet Villas (HT’s Lances etc) have wide open availability for the 2007 season as a result of late confirmation of flights from Padang to Rokot (Mentawais). Katiet and Aloita are not listed under specials below. Contact our office if interested in Mentawai land based resort for current detail.
Finally, WaterWays has been approached by many boats over the past 2-6 weeks that are either represented by other surf travel operators, or have been operating independently, to see if we could produce any groups for them this season. For the most part we have turned these boats away preferring to stick exclusively with our current fleet which is proven and thankfully mostly booked this season.
Given that most the resorts and many of the yachts have the bulk of their space remaining available at this time, it is unlikely that their occupancy levels will increase significantly. Most people booking a 14+ day trip to Indonesia book well in advance, especially if trying to coordinate a group. Our March/April groups have been surfing with no crowds even at the big name breaks – empty lineups.
WITH ALL THE ABOVE FACTORS IN PLAY, THIS IS THE BEST TIME FOR THOSE WHO ARE ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SITUATION AND GET TO INDO TO EXPERIENCE THE BEST SURF IN THE WORLD"
Did I already mention I love surfline? If you're a premium member they do these long-range forecasts and show you what's coming up in the next two weeks. These things are great as you get closer and closer to the date of your trip. Me, I don't have a trip this year, so this is pure vicarious viewing on my part. If you're heading to indo any time this week, you're scoring. Note that the swell will basically never drop below head high for two weeks. Even if the macker swell for 5/16-5/18 turns out to be a little overstated it will still be plenty big. The only variable now is between two and three times overhead. By the time these things get to 5-7 days out the swell is basically already in the water and the forecasts are pretty solid. I've been watching these charts for a couple years and Indo has two week runs like this fairly often during the season, which is why I devote so much real estate to talking about it - it's pretty much a sure thing with respect to consistent clean swell and benign winds.
Note also the nice SW swell direction, great for some spots in Northern Sumatra and sure to light up spots in the Mentawais that need a strong SW push like Telescopes. If the swell actually comes through at 11 ft 19 sec that is tow-in city.
I'm not the first to name this spot or put up a map, that was this guy or the World Stormrider Guide Volume 2. The spot is also known as Machine Gun Rights. Several boat operators refuse to name the spot, all the while treating it as the focus of their Northern Sumatra boat trips.
However, once I went there I realized the spot is NOT where the online map or the map in World Stormrider Guide Vol. 2 say it is. Those maps are an inside joke that do exactly what this blog post is trying to do - reveal that there is great surf in this general area, and if you actually make it to indo and ask around or book with the right operator, you'll probably be able to score it. Any of the boat operators I list as "dedicated" to Northern Sumatra on this post can dial you in to a session.
There are important downsides to this spot however:
1) Treasure Island needs a fair amount of swell from a specific direction - not every swell angle will get in.
2) It's not a swell magnet - it needs to be decent sized to get going.
3) The area is extremely isolated. Forget about flying in, and it will take a long time to get there by bus/ferry. The area is lightly populated with poor land access to the break. You won't easily be able to buy shelter, food, or transport from locals anywhere near the surf spot. There are definitely no local surfers, nor are there really any local villagers. The extreme isolation means that boats accessing this spot have limited time to wait around for the right swell/wind combo to make it happen. It's at least a few days motor from Padang, meaning if you book a 10 day trip out of Padang and opt to head north you'll surf the Telos on Day 1, Nias on day 2 or 3, and up north by day 4 or 5. Your trip is half gone and you're just getting there. The "Sjalina" operating out of Simeulue, "Mikumba" or "KM Nauli" out of Nias or Sibolga, and "Bohemian" out of Sibolga probably have the closest access and could conceivably surf there on the first & last day of their trip. But remember - for those sensitive to time off work, just getting to Nias or Sibolga takes an extra travel day coming in and going home.
The camp featured on www.simeulue.com claims quiksilver travel as their US booking partner but if you visit quiksilver travel's site the Simeulue camp/boat trip is nowhere to be found. As with most camps/boats in indo that drop off the scene it's probably more perception and loss of marketing partners than the camp folding or going away. Here's the scoop from reader Jon:
"I finally got ahold of quik travel and got the lowdown on baneng beach resort. The old owner got tired of muslim law i.e. not being able to drink beer and took a job w/ the UN. Since the camp is so remote and they're not familiar w the new owners, it is too much of a logistical nightmare to book trips w/ them. The good news is that everyone who stayed at Baneng was stoked on the waves!"
Simeulue is one of the last frontiers in Indo surf travel. It's very exposed to swell, and many of the known breaks were rearranged in the March 2005 earthquake. It's a big island, and boat trips to Northern Sumatra rarely make it past the SE corner. It's very isolated and hard to get to though.
This itinerary gets you to Padang (Where all mentawai and many Northern Sumatra boat trips depart from) in the least amount of time with the best in-flight service and entertainment and the least board bag charges. You could substitute China Airlines and it might be a little cheaper on airfare but no seatback TV's and $100 more in board bag charges. Friday night after work - grab your board bag and head to SFO AIR SINGAPORE 1 COACH CLASS 744 LV: SAN FRANCISCO 120A ONE STOP AR: SINGAPORE 1140A ARR DATE +1 AIR SINGAPORE 958 COACH CLASS 772 LV: SINGAPORE 1250P NONSTOP AR: JAKARTA/CGK 125P AIR GARUDA INDON 164 COACH CLASS 734 LV: JAKARTA/CGK 420P NONSTOP AR: PADANG 550P Just in time to see the sunset and get on the boat! Get shacked for 13 days and 14 nights Sunday morning - arrive back in port before 7AM or you'll probably miss this Garuda flight. Remember, if you miss this flight, you miss your connection in Jakarta and you'll have to spend the day in Padang, Jakarta, or Singapore. My picks would be Padang at the Hotel Batang Arau or Singapore. AIR GARUDA INDON 163 COACH CLASS 734 LV: PADANG 900A NONSTOP AR: JAKARTA/CGK 1040A This is a bit of a tight connection here, but you should be OK since Garuda arrives back in the international terminal. Non-Garuda indo airlines fly into the domestic terminal and it's non-trivially hard to get your board bag on to the shuttle that goes from the international terminal to the domestic terminal AIR SINGAPORE 957 COACH CLASS 773 LV: JAKARTA/CGK 1220P NONSTOP AR: SINGAPORE 255P SUNDAY AIR SINGAPORE 2 COACH CLASS 744 LV: SINGAPORE 500P ONE STOP AR: SAN FRANCISCO 725P And look at that by the magic of flying east and crossing the international date line you have arrived back in foggy SFO at 7:30PM on the same Sunday you got back into port. That's efficient! So if these are the best flights, what is the price and how do I buy it? You CAN book this itinerary on Orbitz, but the price they will quote is horrific. For example $3,909 for the ticket below, and just $1300 to get all the way to Jakarta. Screwy, eh? Instead I suggest one of two tricks:
If you're taking a boat trip to Northern Sumatra (Nias, Hinakos, Banyaks, Telos, Simeulue), you may end up experiencing Sibolga. It's a one-day motor from the Telos and much closer to Nias and the Banyaks than Padang, but that's about all you can say in it's favor. I'm not sure if Teluk Dalam on Nias is any better, but I discovered quite a few things going against Sibolga:
The Airport - it's tiny, over an hour from the port, and served only a few days a week by Merpati. If you're lucky enough to fly to Sibolga consider yourself extremely blessed and bitch not about how far away the airport is or the tiny aircraft you'll be flying on. The only thing you have to worry about is DON'T MISS YOUR FLIGHT because there isn't another one and then you'll be facing:
The Drive - the drive from Medan is a total kick in the nuts. Even if you get into Medan first thing in the morning, you have roughly 10 hours of car travel ahead of you so you won't arrive until after dark. Lake Toba is in the middle and you'll get lunch with a breathtaking view high above the lake with perfect Hawaii breezes and cooler temperatures, but really you're not even close to the ocean so don't fool yourself. The road is good, except after it gets dark and people start to fall asleep, then the super-twisty 45 minute descent into Sibolga kicks in and it's murder.
The Bugs - In the space of 15 minutes I killed 20 mosquitoes sitting in the lobby of the nicest (only?) hotel in town. When you kill 20 mosquitoes one at a time it makes an impression. I know the malarial ones are small and silent and all westerners are way to paranoid about malaria, but I didn't have it growing up and I have to go to work pretty much the day after I leave Sibolga so cut me some slack.
The Smugglers - You're in a shithole town in an underdeveloped corner of a developing country. Two ethnic Chinese guys wearing Ferrari Formula One jackets and Ray-Ban aviator glasses are feeding gas into their shiny new powerboat with two huge Yamaha 250's on the back and enjoying tall Bintangs at the nicest (only?) proper restaurant in town. This close to Thailand and Myanmar, what do you think they're up to? We were smart enough to not ask.
The State of Development - The locals who live in the valuable real estate along the main road do not use cooking gas. They use bundles of sticks for heat and cooking, as we saw for sale all over. I have no idea what people in the country were up to. Mobile phones are nowhere in evidence among those with motor vehicles. The bemos are rustbuckets having no stickers, pieces of flair, or sweet car-alarm horns. The rivers leading to the ocean are fetid. Visiting Balinese would be shocked this is their country. It's not as ugly as the slums of Jakarta, but this is a tiny little town for Chrissakes. The major downside of this for a visiting Westerner is there is zero local market for things you might be interested in. The tough beef we ate on our boat trip traveled in from Medan with us on our drive to Sibolga. The best meat available in Sibolga is probably pretty questionable.
Worst of all, The Smell - For our midday drive from the harbor to the airport, the sun was generally out, and in the 45 minutes between departing the harbor until we were in a rural area NOT ONCE was our vehicle not bathed in the smell of sewage. It didn't come and go. It was right there the whole time. The whole city.
I'm not down on Indonesia or the developing world, just this town. It's awful. The only saving grace for surfers is that Sibolga is doing its part to keep the surf spots of Northern Sumatra uncrowded. So if you're committed enough to get there, you'll get more than your share.
This is a semi-complete list of all the agencies and operators that are selling boat trips in Indonesia. Consider this a work in progress. I expect this will need to be updated again in the future. Please note that some boats based in Padang may run trips to either the Mentawais or Northern Sumatra, so they are shown on both lists. For the Northern Sumatra boats, I've noted which boats are dedicated to Northern Sumatra. These will tend to have more experienced captains that know the spots better. The Mentawais have too many boats to list here, but the other areas have a smaller number of boats so I've tried to list them here.
Mentawais
Sumatran Surfaris - www.sumatransurfaris.com
Quiksilver Travel - www.quiksilvertravel.com
Saraina Koat Mentawai - http://www.mentawaiislands.com/
Indies Explorer - http://www.wavescape.co.za/indies.htm
World Surfaris - www.worldsurfaris.com
Wavehunters - www.wavehunters.com
Waterways Travel - www.waterwaystravel.com
Indies Trader boats - http://www.indiestrader.com/
Freeline Surf - www.freelinesurf.com.au
Northern Sumatra (Telos, Nias, Hinakos, Banyaks, Simeulue)
"Mikumba", "Southern Cross" (both dedicated to Northern Sumatra) - Sumatran Surfaris - www.sumatransurfaris.com
Indies Trader boats - http://www.indiestrader.com/
"Bohemian" (dedicated to Northern Sumatra) - Waterways Travel - www.waterwaystravel.com
"Indo Jiwa", "Tengirri", "Mangalui Ndulu" - World Surfaris - www.worldsurfaris.com
"MV Addiction", "Mangalui Ndulu" at Wavehunters - www.wavehunters.com
"Aileoita II" - Saraina Koat Mentawai - www.mentawaiislands.com
"Sia" - www.surftravelonline.com
"Sjalina" (dedicated to Northern Sumatra) - www.quiksilvertravel.com, www.freelinesurf.com.au
"KM Nauli" (dedicated to Northern Sumatra) - http://www.surfingsumatra.com/
West Nusa Tenggara (Nusa Lebongan, Lombok, Sumbawa)
"Moggy" World Surfaris - www.worldsurfaris.com
"Dreamweaver", "Partama" - www.surftravelonline.com
East Nusa Tenggara (Timor, Roti, Sumba)
"Mahalo II" - www.waterwaystravel.com
"Moana" - www.surftravelonline.com
"Sri Noa Noa" - www.freelinesurf.com.au
West Java (Panaitan Island)
"Nomad" - www.nomadsurfindonesia.com
"Just Dreaming" - www.quiksilvertravel.com, www.freelinesurf.com.au\
Peucang Island camp - www.surfpanaitan.com/
I consider myself an expert on travel logistics to Indo. I've planned flights for myself and a other people. I've spent hours on the phone trying to cash in frequent flier miles for Indo tickets with American, Delta, and United. I've worked all the angles. I know how much time and money it takes to get people from the west coast of the US to the Mentawais, and here's the scoop:
Buying a cash ticket to Padang
If you are in the US, traveling with surfboards (as opposed to bodyboards), and want to pay cash for your ticket to Padang, you should definitely book with Quiksilver Travel. That's right, a human agent, not a web site. I've worked for internet travel companies for years spending time building a better travel mousetrap but right now there is no website that can put together the itinerary that most surfers need at the best price. The itinerary has to be manually built by a human agent on one of those green-screen things. Bryan Pohlman and Debbie at Quiksilver travel are on the ball. That's really all you can ask for in a travel agent, just someone who's responsive and pays attention to detail. Wavehunters is also a decent alternative, but steer clear of Waterways unless you absolutely have to.
Pinching Pennies?
The major surf travel agencies have contracts with Singapore Air that will save you some money. There are two catches though: You have to pay by check (this saves the airline 2.5% credit card fee) and you DON'T get frequent flier miles for your 19,000 mile roundtrip. Nineteen thousand frequent flier miles is worth about $200. So for a $1500 published fare plane ticket you should save at least $250 by booking through Quiksilver. Sometimes the airlines offer the agencies contracts with an additional 10% off over the credit card and mileage savings so you pay about $1100 to go to Indo.
Book early to get on Singapore AIrlines
Singapore airlines flights from the west coast will totally book up, especially for Friday departures. They don't overbook, so when the plane is full you can't buy a seat at any price. Because Singapore Air is the poshest way to get to a bunch of cities in India without connecting in Delhi, lots of Indians fly this way. Expect your plane to be full of ethnic-Indian extended families who go as far as Singapore. Your flight to Indo will typically be empty.
Cashing in Miles to get to Padang - Airline alliances
Unless you oddly have a lot of miles with Singapore Airlines, cashing in miles means you will get as far as Singapore or Jakarta, then have to buy a separate, cash ticket to get you to Padang.
United - Best best - can put you on either United or Singapore Air - push hard for Singapore, get your own TV and save big on board fees.
Delta - Delta's ludicrously useless deal with China airlines will only get you to Taipei. Delta miles are good on Singapore air though.
American - Only Cathay Pacific or JAL can get you to Indo.
Northwest - They can get you as far as Singapore or Bangkok on Northwest planes. Expect less from Northwest, but free is free.
US Airways - You can definitely get tickets on United but I have no idea about Singapore.
Southwest - Rapid Rewards won't even get you to Mexico hahaha you have no hope, give up and pay cash
Upgrading for free?
If you fly a lot you may be upgraded for free from time to time on domestic flights. However, don't expect this on a long-haul transpacific flight. Transpacific flights frequently take off with empty seats up front because this is how they get business travelers to actually pony up $5K for the ticket.
Boat travel logistics is an unappreciated aspect of the trip that you don't really grasp until you've been there. This post assumes you're on a boat that cruises at 8-10 knots, and even fast boats can only go fast during the day.
The Crossing
First of all your prototypical 11-night boat trip leaving from Padang really only has 10 surf days. The first night and the last night has you crossing the channel between Padang and the islands. It really does take all night. if the wind is up for any reason, the crossing could get pretty bumpy.
Playgrounds/Northern Sipora
The shortest distance between Padang and the Ments is to the Playgrounds area between Siberut and Sipora. This area is densely packed with spots that work on a variety of conditions. Bank Vaults, E Bay, Rifles, Kandui, Burgerworld, Pit Stops, Chubbies, 4 Bobs, etc. Northern Sipora is nearby with also has 2 good lefts and one epic left, Telescopes. Because this is the typical arrival and departure point for the Mentawais and has consistent spots that work with almost any conditions, a boat could conceivably spend all 10 surf days in this area. This is a risk you take when booking the cheapest trip you can find. However, if you're scoring pumping Rifles, Telescopes, and Bank Vaults for a week straight you'll be too tired to care that you never made it down to Macaroni's.
Southen Sipora
About half a day's motor from Playgrounds, this area has HT's and Lance's, both of which are consistent waves that work on opposite wind conditions. Always lots of boats congregated in this area. Coming straight here on your first day is pretty unlikely since the guide wants to make sure you get some waves the first day and Playgrounds is a sure thing for rideable waves. You could conceivably surf this area on your last day but you'd only get a half day session because the crossing would take so long. Figure you get 8-9 surf days max at HT's.
North Pagai/Macaroni's
From Playgrounds, on a typical boat it takes a full day to get down to Macaroni's. Which means you either miss surfing for a full day or you drive there at night. No waves for a full day is a non-starter early in the trip for the guests. Motoring all night the night before or after the crossing is a non-starter for the crew, or at least a favor the guide can't call in very often unless he thinks it will get everyone a healthy tip. So therefore you cannot spend the first or last day of your trip at Macaroni's, leaving you with a maximum of 8 surf days as far south as Macca's on a typical 10 day trip.
South Pagai
The South Pagai area has heavy duty hollow waves like Rags and really consistent swell magnet waves like Thunders. A typical boat will spend most of a day getting to and from Thunders from Macaroni's, so you're really left with about 6 days max in this area, and those days must fall in the middle of your trip. The area south of Thunders is home to a number of semi-secret spots that require specific conditions, for example the spot where Dane Reynolds got the killer left barrel in Young Guns 2. Surfing magazine outed this spot as "Green Bush", but chances are you won't surf there without taking a longer trip with a motivated, knowledgeable captain. Most boats will not go south of Thunders because it adds a half day of motoring each way and the captains either don't know about or won't chance the spots that require specific wind and swell directions.
Breaking the Cycle
There are a finite number of boats, their schedules are published, and the only real flexibility the guides have is in the middle 5-6 days of their trip. Therefore although it may seem farfetched, it's not that tough for a guide who knows the boat schedules, the current conditions and the spots to guess where the other boats will go and go somewhere else to score uncrowded waves.
Even the lazy will score in the Mentawais
Scuzz of Sumatran Surfariis sold me on a Ments trip by noting that in spite of the 40-odd charter boats, "There are so many 'B' waves in the Mentawais". If you have pumping swell and no wind, then there will be 25 quality waves going off all over the ments, and even with two boats each on 20 top spots you'll still score more waves than your endurance can handle. Given their consistency, Mentawai B waves like Icelands, Bank Vaults, Lance's, or Thunders would be destination waves anywhere else in the world. Getting one of them with just you and your friends out will make for an unforgettable session.
The short answer is not a lack of swell or lack of quality spots but because it's more than a day's travel from international jet traffic, and that probably won't change any time in the next 5-10 years. The only place on the west coast of Sumatra with international arrivals is Padang, thus the Mentawais are easy. Easy for customers to get to, easy to fly in crew, supplies, boat parts, and Haagen Daz. The international airport is the crux of this.
The same is true for all the corners of the pacific and indian oceans that still hold warm, uncrowded, consistent, 4 and 5 star surf spots. Once you understand fetch and wind patterns it's easy to spin a globe and say, "I'll bet that island gets a lot of swell." But how do you fly there?
