Bilou Beach Villas, Mentawai. Gilligans Island With Insane Waves: Season 2020 Highlights And The New Normal
Have you been scoping online for the perfect, affordable Indo surf holiday, searching for a set up with a bit of independence so there is something that will suit the whole family?
Are you over the thought of sharing a crowded space with a beer guzzling crew on a charter boat, and bummed out about the thought that you could literally find yourself stranded for days surfing waves you wouldn’t say are ideal for you?
Maybe you are that guy or girl that really wants to lay down your own lines, surfing the waves you really wanna surf. Perhaps the flexibility of choosing when you hit the lineup is your strategy for getting waves. If you are a surfer travelling with family or 2 or 3 select mates, or perhaps a trip with guys and groms and this is what you are looking for, you can have all that and more at Bilou Beach Villas.
The key to independence at Bilou is you will have your own villa and speedboat with personal guide! You can come and go as you please, surf where you want, when you want… because the region has an assortment of waves to suit all levels. You totally own the experience!
Bilou Villas are a mere hop and a skip (short boat ride) from the port of Tuapajet on the island of Sipora.
Sipora is the middle of the three main islands boasting the majority of the infamous breaks in the Mentawai chain.
There are 10 waves between 2 minutes and 25 minutes away from your front door. Most waves are within 10-15 mins. HT’s and Lances Left are a pleasant 2 hour boat ride to the bottom tip of the island down at Katiet – perfect for a “Search” style day trip when the conditions align.
Straight out front of Bilou lies a fast peeling right reef/pointbreak called Suicides or “Out Front.” Best on high tide it can be quite rippable on the inside, and extremely hollow and quite consequential on the outside.
Across the channel lies the jewel in the crown – Telescopes, a beautiful wave that really does offer something for all levels. The take – off at Tele’s is reasonably steep, but not ridiculously so if that makes sense?
Once your up you can look forward to a highly negotiable tube section ahead of a performance oriented wall that demands to be smashed. Next there’s a short bend allowing for a quick cutback ahead of the next bowl section and a long running, highly rippable inside wall.
Occy had no hesitation in calling Telescopes one of his absolute favourite waves in Indonesia when we revisited the region with him a few years back on a Perfect Wave legends trip.
Occ ripped Telescopes apart, and also enjoyed a couple of great sessions out front on the right, a sesh or two at Icelands, Scarecrows and Seven Palms (all highly rippable lefts that throw up the odd bowl section) and a day trip or two down to HT’s.
Bilou Beach Villas are the absolute perfect option for the “new normal.” Each villa is fully equipped with its own kitchen and has it’s own dedicated boat and driver/guide.
For non surfers there are a bunch of other excursions offered like snorkelling, exploring other small islands, visiting the village across the channel and trips into Tuapajet to pick up groceries and local product.
Your personal driver/guide is included in your villa rate, and will be on standby from sunrise to sunset making it easy for you to come and go as you please.
Bilou also have a half pipe skate ramp, volley ball, SUPS, kayak (use is free of charge), snorkelling right in front of the villas with a swim raft on the drop off where guests can hang out and fish or snorkel etc, slack line, table tennis….
Owner/operator Gideon Malherbe said, ” 2020 has been an exceptional season wave wise in this part of the Mentawai chain. We had Grant Twiggy Baker stay here early in the season, Twiggy scored some solid waves. In July we had two extremely solid, back to back swells with favourable winds, and August too was exceptional with plenty of swell and favourable winds delivering clean conditions.”
On July 12, Gideon said, ” Us notoriously bad dawn patrollers got our asses into gear before sunrise, made smoothies, baked bread, packed up the boat and headed out to Telescopes for an incredible day of surfing. Crystal Clear Surf charters was anchored a bit further away than usual, we soon found out why when a couple 10 footers rolled through. What an epic day!”
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