Text by Atoll Travel and photos by Black Pearl Photography / Kandui Villas

September started off pretty slow here in the Mentawai Islands, with the first break in the waves we have seen since the beginning of the high season in April.  

It was actually a welcome reprieve to have some time to relax and recover from the months of relentless swell, and by relax I mean surf some playful peeling chest to head high walls at the right pointbreaks in the area here.  While everyone enjoyed the relaxed energy of some rippable waves, the crew hunting solid barrels knew the ocean would not stay asleep for long.  

After a week-long rest, the ocean awoke with a little medium sized pulse to get the reefs ready with a number of waves peeling their perfect Mentawai curves for the crew to enjoy, with some fun playful barrels out front at Kandui Left and a couple of turn sections on offer over at Hideaways.  A surprise session at our premier right barrel went down on the last hour of light at sunset of the 13th, with the winds clocking around to allow some golden visions for the crew on hand ready to strike.  

This was followed up by one of the largest pulses the Indian Ocean sent our way this whole season, arriving on the 14th and holding solid until the 16th, but it arrived with some strong winds that sent us to one of our secret tucked away gems, where the guests scored what they called “the most perfect barrels ever” for two days in a row.

As the swell backed down and the wind calmed we were able to stay closer to home and score some clean barrels out front at Kandui again as well as some rippable waves over on one of he neighboring islands with our guests splitting up between the soft combo turn left and the little wedge ramp right.  Everyone found the dream waves they were looking for, with the variety of quality waves in the area here always treating us right.  

We finished out September with a few more days right off the beach here, with our own left point barrels reminding us why we stay right in front of one of the best waves in the world, to be on it whenever the conditions align.  Waking up at the spot and being out there before anyone else comes looking is definitely a key to scoring, and our guests were grateful they made the right call.  A few other fun surfs at the nearby low tide spots kept things in balance, with the lined up walls of Kandui out front to keep the heart pumping, and some exciting turns at the rippable spots to take the edge off and keep the fun flowing.  

By all accounts another magical month in the Mentawais was in the books, with memories of a lifetime for those here to experience it.

For your next trip to Indonesia talk to the experts at Atoll Travel