|
|||
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 Lampur) to Padang. Some of the airlines that do these flights include Garuda Air, Tiger Air, Lion Air, Air Asia, and Adam Air. For U.S. guests, we have set up a business relationship with Quiksilver Travel where you check your bags once, and they're cleared all the way through, and for a VERY reasonable rate. Please contact Danny for more details on that. There are typically similar packages from other locations such as Australia as well. If you can get yourself to Singapore or a similar nearby location, our Intra Indonesian travel agent Johan can get you very good rates on those shorter flights. Please feel free to contact Johan for details.
If you use the airport porters, the onus is on you to pay. A tip of $1 - $2 is quite sufficient for what they do. This is the only time you will ever need or be able to use small change here. It is worth 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 50 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 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.
You can leave any items unnecessary to the trips at the hotel and messages can be received thru here. Our guys contact home base on the satellite phones every couple days and get the latest swell report, which we then radio between the boats. On return to Padang, we arrive back early in the morning and walk up to the hotel for breakfast. 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 flight requires a departure tax of 75,000rp (which can only be paid in rupiah), about $9US, which you can get at the hotel. Hengky or another one of 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. The hotel is a separate business and hence everything purchased there is an additional separate cost. |
|||
|
Our northern trips continue on with our desire for surf exploration and crowd avoidance. These charters have taken Sumatran Surfariis to the next level of surfing. On this charter we cover over 1,000 miles of ocean, cross the equator twice, and surf a huge variety of waves throughout 5 different island chains. |
![]() |
||
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 seen many different swells, wind, tide variations, islands slowly sinking, 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.
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. |
|||