I’ve been to some pretty idyllic places, but our current location ranks highly, Sumba. It’s a raw, semi-primitive island in Indonesia with plenty of waves, dreamy white sandy beaches and unique local culture.  It’s the dry season here, so we’re scoring endless 36-degree clear skies and sublime water temps. There have been waves daily, especially for […]

There are 18,000 islands in Indonesia, and I’m doing my best to see them all. After a few nights on the “Peaceful Hill” (Amankila), we’ve relocated to a much more remote, quieter island called Moyo in Sumbawa, bobbing in the Flores Sea. They call this tented eco-resort the “Peaceful Forest” (or Amanwana). The crystal blue […]

The indigenous inhabitants of this region – the Mentawai people – are known for their intricate tattoo art. Tattooing holds immense cultural significance for the Mentawai people, representing various aspects of their identity, such as age, social status, postcode and spiritual beliefs. They live in harmony with the lush rainforests of each island – mainly […]

As our trip comes close to an end, we make our way back to the central part of the island chain, where crossing overnight to Padang is easier. There are endless breaks along the way, so we drop anchor at many, hopefully timing it with the right tides, winds and crowds. It’s been days of […]

This is our final episode from the Indonesian island paradise (sigh of relief from some of you). We’re heading home, sore, battered from reefs, sunkissed, and memories of tubular perfection. This trip was quite different to my 16 other voyages – lousy weather, funky winds, random spikes of swell from 3ft to 10ft in 24 hours. […]

The Mentawais are a chain of 70 islands off Sumatra, Indonesia. It’s about a 150 km area that hosts dozens of surf breaks, mostly only accessible by boat. It’s remote out here; there’s not a lot of infrastructure and a whole heap of jungle. When I first visited, logging used to be a big industry […]

You can swim for hours up here. The water is ultra-warm and crystal clear. Typically there are no rips, even in big surf. Usually, there’s a safe channel for paddling out alongside most breaks – that makes shooting a sinch. The Indo surf season is now kicking off and a large south swell is due next […]

Ombak tidur…the waves have gone to sleep. We’re up here in Mentawais awaiting an inbound swell. Usually, in May, we cop a heap of big surf that is fed by the storms down below Western Australia in The Roaring 40s. The swell charts show promise and the boys on the boat are getting’ twitchy. We’ve had […]