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Should the
Mentawais be a part of your next travel
plans?
Quick, what's the first place that
surfers now think of when they're
planning their dream vacation?
TAHITI?
Nope.
TAVARUA?
Uh-Uh.
G-LAND?
Sorry.
And with three wrong answers, you are
the weakest link - goodbye. Okay, so
maybe you didn't earn any extra cash
this spring from annoying quiz shows
hosted by red haired ice women. But
chances are you've still banked enough
for your annual tube quest abroad. And
as you scour over your favorite surf
magazines hoping to find the next
Santosha, you'll soon discover that the
surf media isn't giving you a whole lot
of options. In fact, if you base your
selection solely on photo count, you'd
have to be blind to ignore the Mentawais
(Pronounced Men-tah-wees), that string
of islands off Sumatra that can burn up
more Fuji-film in a week than a whole
summer's worth of Japanese tourists in
Waikiki.
And it's not just quantity: nothing
these days is sexier than a perfectly
groomed hollow trees right or a rifling
Macaronis left. From the fat, middle
-aged long boarder to the stylish,
ever-hunting tube warrior, there's a
dream wave waiting for all of us in the
Mentawais. But this every surfers field
of dreams is a dangerous concept - never
has a surf-centric region expanded with
greater speed and intensity than the
Mentawais. And the result? Even in his
worst Larium Hallucinations,
"official" Mentawais
discoverer Martin Daly couldn't have
foreseen what his once-secret wonderland
would turn into: a battleground for surf
charters and ownership rights, the site
of a major contest, the biggest surf
photo studio outside of the North Shore
and a virtual sitting duck for the next
surfing billionaire who wants to create
a club med. for waveriders.
This season, the area dubbed "surfing's
biggest theme park" will continue
to add excess baggage. As many as 3000
surfers will besiege the Mentawais over
the next few months, and every patron
undoubtedly will be armed to the gills
and carrying the same high expectations:
perfect surf and empty line ups. Which
brings us to the real $64,000 question:
is this still possible? Is Daly's planet
still a surfers paradise? As with most
queries, the answer depends on whom you
talk to. For one thing, the Mentawais
might be the only place in the world
that can sustain such an unbridled surf
tourism boom. "There's never been a
region like it for surfers," says
Sean Murphy of Waterways Travel, who
represents the Surf Travel Company in
the Mentawais. "And to be honest, I
don't think there ever will be again.
Sure, the main breaks have gotten more
crowded, but there's always another spot
you can go to. The amount of good surf
in the area is limitless."
Apparently, there are also no limits on
the number of boats allowed in the
channel. Since there's no indigenous
surfing population to enforce order and
no official "Mentawais Charter
Alliance" that has agreed to
designate a cut off point, charter
companies continue to stock up on ships
as if they're compiling nuclear warheads
- they don't necessarily like it, but
they feel it's their only way to protect
their business. Jeff Wilson of
Quiksilver Travel says that Martin Daly
has added another ship to his Indies
Trader Fleet, bringing his total to
three. Sean Murphy acknowledged that the
Surf Travel Co. has added two more
vessels, bringing it's flotilla to eight
and the approximate number of functional
charter boats in the Mentawais to
astounding 30. "It's kind of a,
well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em,
type of thing," says Murphy.
"You see a company like Great
Breaks add another boat, and you have to
do the same. It keeps escalating."
And the scary thing is: Bunk space is
still filling up. But with more boats in
the water, more aggressive marketing
campaigns from the charter companies and
five solid years of glossy magazine
spreads, you're seeing a different type
of surfer gearing up for the trip of his
life on the docks of Padang. In other
words: it's not just for the pampered
pro or the hardcore tube hunter anymore.
"There's definitely more average
surfers going this year," says
Henry Morales of Wave Hunters. "We
don't have many pro trips booked at
all." Murphy agrees: "There's
easily as much interest this year, but
there's been a change in the type of
person who goes. It seems like your
mainstream surf traveller - the guy
who's been to Tavarua or Namotu before
and is looking for something different -
is the one who is choosing the Mentawais
this year."
The flip side of course, is that the
hardcore surfers are exploring other
options. Surf travel companies say
they've mostly been pushing the outer
atolls of the Maldives for the surfers
who've had one too many noodle arms at
macaronis. Other hot spots include
Samoa, Nihiwatu (aka Occy's left) off
Sumba, Southeast Indo (Including Timor
and Roti) and Tonga. Many of the pros
are also thinking differently - or at
least trying to. "It's much, much
more crowded than it used to be,"
says Saxon Boucher, who first travelled
to the Mentawais in 1996 and has been
going back every year since. "When
I first started going, it was, like,
maybe two or three other boats total.
Now it's hard not to bump into other
crews. And when it's guys who've worked
all year and paid good money to get a
weeks worth of perfect waves, it's
almost like you feel bad. "My trip
last Summer was the first one so I
figured, okay, maybe it's time for a
change," Boucher continues.
"But I still got insane waves on
the trip and have yet to find another
area that compares as far as quality
goes. Until I do, it's probably
inevitable that I'll keep going
back."
This, of course lies at the heart of the
Mentawais monster: It's just too damned
perfect to ignore. And if you have four
or five grand burning a hole in your
pocket and want to exchange it for the
barrels of your life, you'll be hard
pressed to find a better bet than the
"Sinking Islands" off Sumatra.
You can relax, though it's not just a
series of tropical vert ramps and half
pipes as much of the surf media would
lead you to believe. Because, regardless
of how many thrusters have laid tracks
in these waters, any Mentawais
first-timer (or fifth-timer, for that
matter) can't help but feel like he's on
a true "adventure". "I've
been there a bunch of times now,"
says Surfer's Journal photo editor Jeff
Divine, "and as soon as you get on
that boat, you get a real appreciation
for how remote this place really is -
it's like you're on Mars. And even
though it's more crowded now, I think
it'll always feel this way, which is why
it'll always be the ultimate surf
trip."
The Quiksilver Crossing basically went
to the Mentawais to get good oil at some
of the lesser known spots and do some
research on the impact the number of
people going up there is having on the
environment. When we first got there the
famous spots like HT's and Macaronis
were packed. After we travelled for a
couple of nights we woke up to see this
line-up out of the window and not a
person or boat insight, except for as
little Indo in a dug out canoe trying to
sell these weird skinny trumpet fish. We
didn't see another soul for the entire
length of our stay after that.
One afternoon we were surfing a little
right and bosko wanted to shoot some
flash. Anyway, the sunset was crazy and
the lips started getting all golden. We
stayed out until it was pitch black.
Harvey was a bit freaked about the
mozzies cause Malaria is pretty rampant
up there. But no one got probed so it
was all good.
Brooko first went to the Mentawais with
Kelly a few years ago so he knows how
good those waves can be surfed. He's got
the full package, power, tricks, hacks…
he was ripping. Being up there brings
out the best in your surfing. Everytime
someone did something sick, we'd all be
hooting and stoked - it was a nice vibe.
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