Located 90 nautical miles off the western coast of Sumatra, the Mentawai Islands boast around seventy islands and islets renowned for their stunning beaches and world-class surf breaks. The archipelago comprises four primary islands – Sipora, Siberut, North Pagai, and South Pagai. With over 400 exceptional surf spots, the region is a surfer’s paradise offering perfect waves in a tropical environment. Fringing reefs, light winds, warm waters, and a distance from the intense southern ocean storms provide the ideal geography to groom long-period swells to perfection by the time they reach the Mentawai Islands. Among the famous surf breaks are Hollow Tree’s, Greenbush, Macaroni’s, Kandui, Telescopes, Rifles, and Thunders.
The Mentawai Islands’ interior is a dense tropical rainforest with often swampy terrain, where indigenous tribes have been living for centuries. Surfing is the primary attraction here, and its global recognition has made it an increasingly popular destination for surf boat trips. Isolated land resorts have popped up on stunning white sand beaches and crystal clear blue barrels. The islands are sparsely populated, and the fishing in the area is exceptional, with sport fishers catching species such as giant trevally, dog-tooth tuna, wahoo, Spanish mackerel, Coral trout, Yellowfin tuna, Mahi-Mahi, sharks, and Sailfish. Due to their indigenous tribes and delicate ecosystems, some parts of the Mentawai Islands have been declared UNESCO heritage sites.
Serving as the primary port of operations, Padang is situated on the mainland Sumatra approximately 90nm from the Mentawai Islands across the Mentawai strait. It has an international airport, seaport, provisioning, and is famous for its intriguing Minangkabau culture and Padang food dishes such as beef Rendang. Tupejat port on North Sipora Island is rapidly developing into a unique surfer hub and offers a great secondary port of operations for yachts in close proximity to the famous surf breaks of the south and the wave-rich area of Playgrounds. With regular high-speed ferry access from Padang, an airport is also being developed in this region, which will further increase the appeal of development and ease logistics to these once remote islands, making the dreams of every surfer come true.
