Late Mentawai Surf Season Has Been Good

Words, clip and photos by Andy Potts.

2015 has not measured up to the outstanding 2014 season – that is for sure. Fresh south winds continued to frustrate throughout the Mentawai Island chain, however, one must put it all into context: Apples are apples and oranges are oranges.

Even a below par Mentawai surf season rates well above most surf holiday destinations in my books. This particular fortnight-long charter during the first two weeks of October delivered on the swell front, however the smoke haze and persistent south winds did detract ever so slightly. The Playgrounds region some wind protection on the first two days of swell.

We scored plenty of overhead, semi-uncrowded sessions at Pitstops and surrounding breaks. We travelled on the Kaimana surf charter and logged plenty of tube time.

Whilst it wasn’t all time, we scored a bunch of well overhead days. Hideaways delivered flawless 4-6ft pits 3 days in a row. The wind blew offshore and there were more than enough waves to go round.

A second swell ensured week two was even better than the first week of October, and it didn’t appear to be letting up in the second half of the month either. We also scored at Lances and Macaronis before heading home, stoked and surfed out.