Pulau
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 […]
Titi
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. […]
: : Bad Eye
We’re having a stormy time here in the Mentawais, despite the glassy conditions depicted in today’s imagery. Last night a bad eye hit. 60 knots dragged two anchors and looted the boat. Probably the worst storm I’ve ever seen up here in 17 trips. Reminded me of the Wolf of Wall Street leaving Portofino…except we […]
Pagai Gold
It’s been pretty damn-amazing in Indonesia lately. The swells have been consistent and the winds variable. These ideal conditions spread the boats throughout the archipelago and it’s easy to be surfing on your own. The other day I surfed 7 hours in 1 day. Haven’t done that in an ages, but when’s she’s pumping you’ve […]
Final Voyage
We spent 12 days at sea surfing 12 different surf breaks amongst 3 overlapping swells in the Mentawais. We had 7 surfers on board the 47-foot Tengirri catching on average 40-50 waves each per day, sometimes more. Most days we’d surf 3 times on waves no smaller than 3 foot and no bigger than 8 […]
Below Blues
Just like every other day on this trip we’ve scored good waves and great weather again…it has been pretty special up here this past week…3 swells in 11 days. Can’t ask for more than that. I just spent the afternoon below the surface with my camera, swimming around looking for interesting things to shoot. This […]
Rocket Rights
If you come to the Mentawai Islands you’ll expect to get barreled…you’ve seen all the surf movies and mags…you’re all pumped to dance in the back of a slippery Indo cave. Some waves are easier to get barreled than others up here. This vicious right-hander that we surfed today is easy to get barreled but […]
Men-tay-wee
Welcome back to paradise folks… today’s Aquabumps escape is being transmitted off the back of charter boat Tengirri in Indonesia. We’re currently 90 miles off the Sumatran coastline amongst the remote Archipelago of Mentawai that hosts some of the best waves in the world. We’ve been here together quite a few times… Why is it […]
Early Blow
Today kicked off well…thin fragmented clouds highlighted by the early morning sun. Real nice. South wind was in early, blowing quite strong and choppin’ up anything worth riding. Bondi had a 1-2 foot shorey that you could get going on…but not worth racing out of bed for. Soak up the sunshine before the storm arrives […]
Let’s get tropical
Typical of Sydney, we have one cracking hot day backed up by a smotherly winter’s day. As I write this the mercury is only hitting 14 degrees. A far cry from yesterday’s summer vacation. The good news is that there are many fine days this week and towards Friday she’s gonna hit 29 degrees. Unfortunately […]
Last Day
Our little junket in the Mentawai’s has come to a close as we set sail for mainland Indonesia. Plenty of waves in the first half of the trip, bit light on in the second – except today where it came up to 4-5 foot on a hollow left. The winds up here have been a […]
Laydaze
The swell is down and the wind is up from the south – a good combo to watch a whole season of Entourage and rest up – not much else to do on a boat at sea with tiny wind chop. It can’t be pumping everyday up here, we’re all surfed out anyway after 7 […]
Tsunami
Yesterday I surfed for around 7 hours – I can barely lift my arms now (yep, it was that good). The swell arrived and some really fun 4 footers were on offer in the Mentawai Islands. Bit of trouble with flukey winds that blow for an hour, then glass off, then blow again. The sought […]