Maldives & Indonesia Surf Report – September & October 2013

The Indian Ocean has been pumping on peptides. September and October have been the most consistent months of 2013 period! The consistent run of swell really began back in the middle of August, but from September 3rd onwards, the run of swell has been phenomenal.

D’Bora surf guide Joey Melroy said, “We had young Avalon grom – 15-year-old Fraser Dovell up here for his second Mentawais trip in a year with his semi-mentor Wylie Fowler from Cronulla in late September. Wylie has been up at least six or eight times in the last few years. Wylie broke 3 boards in half an hour at pumping Greenbush during one outstanding session on September 28th. Young Fraser was absolutely blazing. I can’t even imagine what that kid will be doing in a few years. Those lads scored some incredible waves during one of the best runs of swell of the year in late September/early October. We got HT’s pumping and were the only boat there until about noon one morning. We surfed Greenbush by ourselves, and Maccas pumped for two days, not to mention all the other sneaky surfs we had along the way.“

The other real standout swell hit last week on October 9. Everywhere from The Bukit, G-Land, Desert Point and Bali’s East Coast enjoyed a couple of the biggest days of the season. Set waves were reportedly closing out well outside Kuta Reef. Outside Corner Uluwatu was a solid 10-12ft with only 3 or 4 chargers taking it on, whilst Padang was a more manageable 5-8ft on the arvo dropping tide.

October 10 was a foot or two smaller, but just as perfect on the Bukit, whilst Keramas and Serangan were reportedly still up to 4-6ft solid on the sets.

Up in the Maldives, the story has been similar. Brian James from Cokes Surf Camp said, “We have had some great waves up here this late season, we have enjoyed pretty much back-to-back swells. September and October really fired. There have been a couple of chunky 6-8ft days at Cokes and the rest of the northern atoll breaks, and some really clean 4-6ft days down at Kandooma.”

Coastalwatch chief swell forecaster Ben Macartney said, “There’s one or two more SSW groundswell’s set to light up the region this week before the Indian Ocean falls quiet, leading in an extended run of small to tiny surf across the Archipelago into the final days of October and early November.”