Your trip begins in Padang, West Sumatra (Indonesia). Most guests fly from their home destination to Singapore, then from Singapore to Padang. There are a variety of options that can get you from Singapore (or other nearby destinations, such as Kuala Lumpur or Jakarta) to Padang. Some of the airlines that do these flights include Garuda Air, Tiger Air, Air Asia, Batavia Air, or Mandala Air). For U.S. guests, we have set up a business relationship with the lovely Deb Keehn, who did the flights for many years for Quiksilver Travel, where she can set you up with the smoothest route for very reasonable prices. There are typically similar packages from other locations such as Australia as well. If you can get yourself to Singapore, Jakarta, or Kuala (or any Indonesian location), our Intra Indonesian travel agent Yuli can get you the best rates on those shorter flights. Please feel free to contact Danny for details.

When you arrive at the Padang Airport, you will be required to pay a temporary 30-day visa. The cost is $25us, and it’s best if you have clean, unmarked bills. Once you pay for your visa and clear customs, you will be met at the airport by our drivers and ground crew. They speak English, and will be holding a Sumatran Surfariis sign. Our ground crew knows how worn out you can get after the long journey and they will help you thru the madness of the Padang airport and out to his air conditioned van. The boards and big bags are loaded in a separate flatbed pickup.

If you use the airport porters, the onus is on you to pay. It's a very short distance from where the bags come out to the flatbeds, so you don't really need a porter. But if you decide to use one, a tip of $1 - $2 is quite sufficient for what they do. Sometimes it's worth it just to not have to worry about it, but don't cave in when they look completely disgusted at how little you are paying. The will give you the most amazingly sad looks, but this is big money for what they do. Bear in mind that the whole voyage from the luggage rack to the front door of the airport is about 100 feet, so it is not a gargantuan task they are undertaking. Often, a whole group of porters will try to grab one bag and then they all ask for payment. If you decide to let the porters help you, be prepared to designate ONE porter that you will pay. Look him in the eyes and make it clear HE’S the guy, and the others can fight him for their cut later.

Once you’re through that madness, our crew will drive you down to our offices in downtown Padang, about 40 minutes from the airport. We are located very near the Maura River Harbor, just a short walking distance to our boats. Christina and/or Scuzz will be there to meet you along with the surf guide and photog who will be on your boat. This will be your first chance after a long journey to really relax, kick back with an icy cold Bintang, and enjoy the fact that you’re about to embark on THE best surf trip in existence. At our offices, you can use the internet, change money, or peruse the many items of our gift shop. You can also any leave any unnecessary items at our offices, and messages can be received here as well. Our guides contact home base almost every day to get the latest swell report, which we then radio between the boats. If you desire to arrive a day early or stay a day late, we can arrange a hotel stay (usually at the Ambacang) for the best possible rates.

Once everyone arrives at the hotel, we’ll have little chat about the swell forecast and the desires of the guests so we can come up with the best possible game plan for the upcoming trip. We’ll have snacks, small meals, and drinks to make sure you’re ready for your overnight crossing to the warm waves of the Mentawais or North Sumatra the next morning. Meals are not served on the boat that first night, so you should make sure you’ve got some food in your belly before beginning your crossing. If all goes to plan, you’ll depart between 7 – 10pm (depending on tide and when everyone arrives), sleep through the night, and awaken around daybreak to an exotic and perfect Indonesian lineup.

On the last day of your trip, we’ll plan your last surf so that we can begin the crossing early enough to arrive back in Padang with plenty of time to catch your flights the following day. If you want to surf until dark on your last day, it’s best that you get a late morning or early arvo (or later) departure the following day. You may have a few hours to kill, and many enjoy a massage, a walk around town, or a visit to the silver and gift shops. Each international flight requires a departure tax of 100,000rp, or a smaller domestic tax if you’re flying to another port within Indonesia. These taxes can ONLY be paid in Rupiah, so it’s advisable to get the money changed at our offices before you depart. Our drivers will run you around town and out to the airport on this day. All transfers with our drivers are included in the charter cost.

After spending months floating on a fishing boat on grass-roots wave searches through 1998 - 2000, and after running eight full seasons of charters since early 2001, we have found many epic waves in northern Sumatra. On each charter we still seem to find new empty barrels in the endless tropical bays, points, and reefs of Sumatra's outer islands. Your journey also takes in the more well known waves of Lagundri Bay, Bawa, and Asu. The waves are very spread out so we travel at night whenever weather permits to maximize your surfing hours. After the changes to the geography due to the quakes in 2004 and 2005, we have recently discovered several new waves, and there are many NEW discoveries yet to be found!

The prevailing winds have led us to surf a majority of righthanders, which have challenged even the most experienced surfers. Both the lefts and rights up here are extremely varied and allow for all types of surfing. As a whole, the trip tends to be a bit heavier than the Mentawais, yet often every bit as perfect. Unless you are in a group of similar standard, these waves are not for beginners. This trip warrants bringing a 7-footer or bigger, especially in the peak season.

We have now done 12 full seasons in the Mentawais, and we have seen and surfed some absolutely amazing waves... many of which have never appeared in the hundreds of magazine articles and videos about the world's most wave rich island chain.

We have seen many different swells, wind, tide variations, islands slowly sinking (and then rising again), waves slightly changing, anchorages being damaged by anchors, more and more boats, new land camps, new crews, storms, empty perfect lineups, delicious sashimi dinners, electric sunsets, pros busting airs, palm fringed points, Hawaiians calling “best ever”, the odd shipwreck, meteor showers, sea snakes, a booming wood carving trade, sunburns, stitches, stoke, hoots, and more stoke.

A boat trip to the Mentawais changes lives. It opens minds, and feeds the soul. The amount of quality waves packed into this part of the Indian Ocean is unbelievable. This is why Sumatran Surfariis has always chosen to do longer trips and concentrate on more than just the two or three most popular waves. Our charters are typically 2- 3 full surf days longer than the others. This allows you to surf more waves than anyone, get the next swell, see the next point, the next island, reel in the wahoo, and get the backside pigdog wired.

If you are looking to camp out at HTs or Maccas, you're better off on another charter. We will visit these waves, but if the conditions mean there is a better wave somewhere else, or it is crowded, we're off to one of the many other epic waves.

We also offer trips which focus on the waves of SOUTHERN Sumatra. If you are booking a group charter we can customize your trip to go wherever you choose in the island chain.