Photographer Federico Vanno is no stranger to the Mentawai Islands. A veteran boat guide and photographer/videographer for over a decade, he thought he’d seen it all. “But this was like nothing I had ever seen”, says Federico of his recent trip to the island chain. “I mean, the few surfers that were out here this week were all world-class, just ripping all these empty lineups better than they have ever been ridden. It was intimidating”. 

Nowhere on Earth was the privilege of being a professional surfer more on display. With the best Indonesian season in a decade lighting up everything on offer from Nias to Sumba, the images of empty dream surf with just a handful of lucky lockdown guys in the water proved a siren’s call too strong to ignore for the elite. The moment 'essential visas' were made available, escape plans were hatched. And the knife was really twisted when images of Kelly Slater and Strider Wasilewski’s fantasy Bali vacation began popping up. Then the rumours of Griffin, Kolohe, and the ...lost crew tearing around the Mentawai in a boat they were thinking of buying - or maybe it was a resort? Either way, the mouths of a globe-full of lockdowned surfers were watering just with the thought of it. 

Federico Vanno, by secret invitation, was spirited away from Bali for yet another exclusive Mentawai lockdown charter. He arrived to find out he was to sail with an all star crew that consisted of Hawaiians, Californians, and two of the finest Indonesian surfers the country had to offer - and those two were brothers no less.

Here is a sneak peek of some of the photos from this week that Vanno was able to surreptitiously send out from the deck of their charter whenever the sporadic internet was working. “Being one hundred miles off the coast of West Sumatra comes with its headaches”, Vanno laughs, “but photographing the best surfers in the world in empty perfect surf is not one of them!”

Photos by Federico Vanno
Intro and captions by Matt George

Rio Waida

"You might remember him at the Keramas WCT beating then-world champ Gabriel Medina. Taking his training seriously, he has put on a lot of muscle and his surfing shows it. Good, solid surfing. Really anchored to his board. This was a new spot that didn’t even have a name and this was Rio’s first ride from way outside”. 

Rio Waida

"This is another new spot that we named Highways because it was so fast. On the big days, Rio Waida was in powerful form. All that Desert Point training allowed him to hit the high corners where most would be setting up the barrel."

Seth Moniz

“The weather was so beautiful, the clouds, the winds, but on the first day Seth surfed so long that he badly sunburned the back of his neck. Unable to leave the perfect conditions, he found another way to keep surfing”.