by Ben Horvath (Photo Gallery by Andy Potts and Matt Dunbar c/o The Perfect Wave/Aloita Surf Resort And Spa)

Early June Sumatra vid clips and photo gallery, plus mid June forecast

HT's prefection

May is historically one of, if not the best month for swell on the east coast of Australia. However, the weather on the east coast of Australia in 2014 was unseasonably warm, and the waves were generally uninspiring, with extended unseasonal flat spells. On the other hand, surf in Mentawai has been pumping.

I am typing this towards the end of the second week of June in Sydney. May was in fact the warmest on record, the ski resorts in both NSW and Victoria have had their worst start to a season, and there hasn’t been a single chunky 8ft winter swell yet, let alone a vigourous cold front or polar Tasman Low.

Thankfully, in Indonesia it has been business as usual.  Huey turned the swell tap on in the Indian Ocean in May. The SE trades and long-period SW groundswells have been fronting up like clockwork in the Mentawai since mid May.

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The Perfect Wave’s surf guides and photographers on the ground at Aloita Surf Resort and Spa right in the heart of the Mentawai is that the first few weeks in May were a tad slow, but crowds were down, so you could pick and choose your sessions.

By mid May though, peak season groundswells were lining up consistently. The Perfect Wave’s resident surf photographer Andy Potts said, “The second half of May was magnificent.  Rifles was insane, Lances left,  HT’s and Macca’s all had their days and crowds were surprisingly thin considering the time of year.”

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If you are looking for a land resort where you can access 70% of the Mentawai’s best breaks by speedboat within an hour, look no further than Aloita.

Written by:
Ben Horvath

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