The Ultimate Guide to Mentawai Surf

• Crazy consistency all year round
• Perfectly formed and regular barrels
• Empty points that you can surf all to yourself
• Incredible array of surf camps

• Can be hard to reach
• Not suited to beginners

Promises

Promises languishes out on the reefs past the outer island of Ngiau. It’s hard to reach and hard to surf. Reserved for pros, it’s a very fast right hander barrel that ends on shallow reef that’s pretty unforgiving. You’ll probably have it all to yourself but don’t mess up!

Burgerworld

Burgerworld is one of the most exposed of the Mentawai surf breaks. It hoovers up any of that S-SW Indian Ocean swell and forces it onto the shallow reefs of Palau Dodiki, creating sculpted right-hand tubes even in the low season. On bigger days it can get really heavy but holds well, offering a sectiony stretch of playful water in front of the palm-topped headland (something that we think makes it look more like a Sri Lankan point than a Ment wave in the photos – but don’t be deceived, cos’ it certainly isn’t mellow!).

Bank Vaults

Bank Vaults is one of the poster boys of the Mentawai surf because of the perfectly lipping top of the barrel that’s a surf photographer’s dream come true. But it doesn’t just look amazing. It rides amazing too. We’re talking a fast and furious drop in straight into a barrel that fizzes salt spray on any easterly winds. This one’s really an expert only wave that will get shallow as the tide pulls back, so watch out for that and know when to kick out.

Nipussi

A consistent spot that’s basically a more tame version of Bank Vaults, opening up the right hander tubes to more intermediate surfers but also with rippable shoulders where you can get playful and have some fun. The risks here are rips and some shallow reefs.

Pit Stops

A curling right hand barrel that spins over a shallow part of the reef in front of a gorgeous beach, Pit Stops is accessible and a whole load of fun. The rides here can be long and sectiony as can be, with some hollow parts and a finale of open-faced shoulders to carve on.

E-Bay

If Bank Vaults is the best-looking right in the Ments, then E-Bay might just be the best-looking left. Hailed by pro goofies as one of the finest waves on Earth, it lips over into a stand-all-the-way-up tube where you can cruise and then opens onto a whole wall of water that sucks up enough power to offer airs, top turns, cutbacks and whatever else you want to try. No wonder it’s famous.

Beng Bengs

We can’t wax lyrical about Beng Bengs enough. It’s a chilled wave that hardly feels like a heavy Indo reef break. More mellow and crumbly but loads of fun as it moves left across a deep section of coral and into the paddle channel. Big swells are tamed a touch here into unsteep faces where you can practice and move around, perfecting bottom turns and top as you go. A good option for all levels of surfer.

Hideaways

S-SE winds are offshore at Hideaways point, which is a gift on the Ments where it’s usually N-NE. The spot is a stunner, too, with a curling set of left handers that form on the reef and move out into the paddle channel. Hideaways is a chameleon of a wave, though – some days it’s a hollow tube, other times it’s a fat and cruisy shoulder for longer logs. When it’s the former, remember that the take-off zone isn’t as tight into the shore as you might think – AKA watch some others before you jump in.

Kandui

Kandui inspires a following like only the Oahu North Shore can dream of. A rifle-barrel of a left hander that rolls over the reefs of the southernmost of the Playground isles, it’s a charger’s wave that is always fast and always challenging. It’s not for ripping up from bottom turn to top. It’s for paddling hard and pumping the front foot all the way through really deep barrels until you fire out the other end.

A Frames

Just as the name implies, this one’s a rare A-Frame in the north Ments. It’s located on Karangmajat Island, forming on the outer reefs in a crumply lip that goes both ways into relatively deep reef. Usually attracts a crowd for the versatility of the spot.

Four Bobs/4 Bobs

A rare intermediate and grom wave on the Mentawai surf scene, Four Bobs is a mellow reef break that rolls into a channel and works like a mellow beachy on even the largest swells. It’s a nice ride that can even barrel on occasion. This is perfect if you’re just getting used to surfing reefs or want to get pitted with low risk.

Rifles

Curling around the south side of Karangmajat Island in a series of very different sections, Rifles is one hell of a wave for regular-footed barrel hunters. Sometimes it will line up to offer connected tubes that run for over 400 meters but, most of the time, it’s chopped into sections by the reef, offering a pits for short bursts punctuated by wally and powerful shoulders. It’s an intermediate+ wave and is generally considered to be one of the best in the Playgrounds region.

Pulau Silabok

Pulau Silabok is the tiny fragment of land that sits just off the north tip of Sipura. It’s a pretty private place, and the breaks are mainly the province of guests at the sprawling hotel resort that occupies the east and west shores. If that’s you, then you can look forward to some sheltered reefs that tone down the fast and rifling barrels that characterize the rest of the Mentawai surf scene, only with a similar consistency.

Iceland

Iceland is a schizophrenic wave that changes completely on small and big swells. On more mellow days when the rest of the Ments are flat (very, very rare!), it’s a cruisy tube that fires out intermediate surfers onto a nice left shoulder where there’s lots of room to practice turns bottom and top. When things go overhead it’s a whole other beast, with barreling sections to dwarf the North Shore as they roll and roar overhead on the reef into HUGE pits that only the best surfers can dream of making.

Ombak Tidur

Ombak Tidur – also known locally as Sleepers – is a very good quality reef break that runs right along the shoreline south of Iceland on Pulau Pototoga. It’s a lovely, sectiony break that alternates between steep, often-hollow walls and open face sections. It’s rare that you’ll be able to link up all the constituent parts here because they don’t often connect, even though it might look makeable. It’s a good intermediate and up wave because the paddle and rips can be tricky.

Ariks/Backyards

The last of the breaks on little Pulau Pototoga, Ariks is a long and cruisy barrel on days with offshore winds from the north. We’d say it’s an experienced surfer’s wave beczące of the thigh-burning length of the rides and the potential for long paddles from the end to the take off.

Suicides

Awera Island offers this high-performance right barrel for the best of the bunch. It’s a good moniker, since the reef here gets super, super shallow and the break is virtually unsurfable at low tide. When the water rises, it shapes into perfect, copper-pipe-style tubes that for for hundreds of meters. It’s a local favorite when it’s working, so prep for lineups.

Telescopes

When a certain Kelly Slater came to ride Telescopes with the Quiksilver Young Guns crew the spot was still pretty unknown. But, there it was, for all to see, a perfect, sectiony left reef break built just like Uluwatu, rolling perfectly for hundreds of meters and forming barrel after barrel over the Sipora reefs. Now considered the finest wave of the central Ments, this one always draws a crowd. It’s an exceptional break, with almost guaranteed pits along its hefty length. Can also hold some big swells, but is for the best surfers out there.

Scarecrows

Scarecrows is being seen more and more as a fine alternative to Telescopes, known for its smaller crowds and fine quality. The wave is a very consistent number on S-SW swells and works even without too much size. It starts with a neat left shoulder that’s pretty cruisy but offers a grand finale: A deep bowl that rips overhead and offers regular tubes before spitting you out into the channel. You’ll need a boat to get here.

7 Palms

7 Palms is a regular pitstop for surf boat tourers heading south from north Sipora to Lances Left and Right. It’s tucked into a bay about a third of the way down the island, offering a pretty fun and workable peak on the reefs with hollow left. These days, you probably won’t have it to yourself.

Bintangs

Bintangs is a south Sipoora wave that loves elements of W and SW in the swell compass. It’s a right hander reef that’s good fun, getting sucky and rippable on mid swells and churning out some pretty awesome barrels on the bigger days. The bes thing? North is offshore here, so it’s worth remembering fro when other Mentawai surf spots are totally dead thanks to the wind.

Cobras

A almost constant barrel forms at Cobras during any S swells, but it’s a tricky spot with a shallow reef at the take off and a fast right to the left straight into the channel. It’s usually uncrowded but doesn’t offer the trademark cruise rides and multiple barrel sections that the Ments are known for,

Lances Left

Lances Left is at its finest on medium SW swells. That gives it perfect exposure and pushes enough power into the reefs of south Sipora to keep it firing even if there’s a W onshore, although there’s no question that E offshores improve the wave quality considerably. The wave is a left hand barrel that runs right infront of the bay, going for up to 100m+ and offering almost unrivaled consistency for this part of the Ments.

Lances Right/Hollow Trees

Once known as a Hollow Trees for the hewd-down trunks that dotted the reef in times past, this epic Ments classic is now called Lances Right after the pioneering surfer who put it on the map in the early 1990s. You’re looking at proper surf-brochure stuff here – perfect barrels that peel and reform over long runs of reef on the eastern side of the island. The fame has made it one of the most popular waves in the region, and there are now whole surf camps here dedicated to filling surf trips with this iconic wave. We love it but it’s a challenge, ending on a very shallow reef known as the Surgeon’s Table that reminds us of Impossibles in Bali – AKA you don’t want to end there!

Macaronis

Macas, Macaroni, Macaronis – this one’s been called the funnest wave on the planet. It’s hard to disagree, though we think that moniker might detract a little from the sheer quality of its performance credentials. At heart this is a proper Indo left hander that forms on the shallow reef at high-octane speeds and moves into more mellow sections where the face opens up and you can rip to your hearts content. It’s great to come here and watch the pros letting their creativity loose. A proper shortboard dream and performance wave major.

Greenbush

A west swell will wrap into the reefs south of Macas and fire up the lefts of Greenbush. It’s a three-parter, with shallow reefs creating O-shaped barrels where you can stand complete in the pit in some parts. It’s quick and unforgiving, because you have to make it through if you want to get to the channel and dodge getting stuck on the inside with the corals. Only for experts.

Roxies

A right wave with occasional barrels and some nice faces to carve up, Roxies is a fine regular-footed stand in for Maccas, and perfect if you want to cut down the size of the lineup.

Rag’s Left/Right

There are two waves at Rag’s, one right and one left. The first isn’t the most consistent wave in southern Mentawai but it’s still fun, offering regular riders a very nice barrel when the tide is high. Rag’s Left is better known, and can handle huge S and SW swells, which it shapes into crashing left barrel sections for expert surfers.

Bat Cave

Bat Cave looks more like something plucked from the Maldives. It’s a curling point break over sand-reef that picks up virtually any swell direction and is very sectiony – barrel, face, mellow bump, ankle burner, it’s all in there. We love that it’s an all-level wave and lots of fun for less experienced surfers and pros alike.

Thunders

A big, lipping left hander that’s got a steep drop in straight into a barrel, there’s a much more forgiving end to Thunders as you sail out onto a glassy shoulder before kicking out back into the paddle. It’s not usually too busy and offers good consistency, but we find it can shift around on W swells a little.

Dry season (March-October)

The dry season is the peak time to surf the Mentawai islands. There’s nigh-on consistent action in the SW swell channel, which is pumped straight through the big Java Trench to offer regular barrels on the spots from the north to the south of the chain. This is the time to come to seek out the gnarliest tubes and the heaviest reefs.

Wet season (November-February)

Things do calm down a little in the low season, but anyone who’s ever surfed Indo should know that doesn’t mean the waves disappear. Nope, the Ments are just a bit more chilled and mellow. We’d say it’s the top time to come if you’re an intermediate improver or beginner surfer, or just want to push the budget further as the surf camps tend to cost a little less.