Land camps

Blowin,

Aside from the area Chin talks of, travelling North toward Krui is Mandiri beach where a pommie fella (forgotten his name) has the Mandiri Beach Club right on the beach. That area can resemble South Straddie at times. But you don't go to Indo to surf beachies all the time.

Up at Krui is half a dozen camps and a few home stays/losmens. An American bird called Amy has just built a new one up the point from Secret Sumatra that is probably suited for you and your Mrs, along with Villa Dessa which has the Peak out the front and the Krui's breaks half a km north.

Other spots further north is La Ai (beachie) and further on (half hour or so depending on road condition) is Jennys that has a cheap homestay with the break out the front but is onshore in the trades.

Don't want to put a downer on ya trip but South Sumatra has sky rocketed in crowd over the last few years, particularly with European surfers. You will still get good uncrowded waves but will have to time it sometimes or quietly go explore. Grab a bike. It is a beautiful area to explore with your Mrs and head up the mountains west (north) of Krui on a flat day.

Me. I'm doing a Ments trip this year on a boat. Don't exactly know where, but thanks to ID, will look at all options. I don't think it matters where you go Blowin, your always gonna have fun.

Fitzy

Yeah Fitz I've heard it gets busy, I was there in the middle of the off season and most of the camps/accommodation were closed. Max of 5 out in the water at any time, we had the whole area virtually to ourselves it was very peaceful. It was never flat, and got big at times.
Blowin spend a few hours hunting around on the net and youtube.
A few search words for waves…Ujung Bocur or Karang Nyimbor (same thing), Way Jambu, Mandiri Beach, Jenny's right, Jimmy's left and right, Krui and just south sumatra surf will turn up stuff.
Accommodation search for Damai Bungalows, Ombak Indah, Lovina surf, Amy's Place…there's plenty of other small places with no websites.
One point to make is I think it's best to organise a package with one of the camps, as opposed to trying to arrange all the logistics yourself. You won't save any money, and they'll take all the headaches out of it and meet you in Jakarta and get you back again.

Sounds like you did well chin. Hope the winds were kind. I was there again in June last year and the trades hadn't kicked in (really late) so only one break was really working properly and was ridiculously crowded. Saw some pretty piss poor behaviour that put me off, but still scored some great uncrowded sessions at lesser known spots. Just had to time it right and travel early.

Oh and I forgot one, there is also a camp at A-bomb between Jenny's and Jimmy's.

Blowin wrote:

Once again blown away by the extent of goodwill on Swellnet.

Cheers Chin and Fitzy, pair of legends.

Not a fan of heavy crowds ( who is ? ) , but sounds like a nice area with plenty of options.

Funny you you say about organising a package Chin because I usually prefer to sort it out myself and get walk - up rates at any accomodation. I find surf travel companies wack a sizeable premium on top normally, but if you say it's that much drama....

I've seen a few places on the net that say an airport should have been built at Krui by now but others say Branti ( 140kms) is closest. Some sites say a 6 hour drive from Lampung ? How did you guys get there ?

Thanks again guys

Krui airport has been open for a while now, ive seen pics and camps there promoting it on FB, i think Susi Air operate flights there.

Clip on U tube of krui flight shows fantastic wave setups andcoastline.
Airline reminds me of s.m.a.c ?

Yes Susi were flying but boards are an issue ATM due to size of plane, some guys leave boards at the coast.
At the end of the day the package you buy will decide how you get there anyway.
First time I've ever done a package thing Blowin, but in this case it's the best way. I found my own way to Nias but had months up my sleeve to travel so no time constraints or flights to meet. There's just too much rooting around with connections, transfers and road travel to even think about trying to do it yourself. When you have flights on 2 different airlines and one gets delayed your self made plans fall apart, just let them deal with it. Miss your flight home and you're in trouble. Yes it's 5 or 6 hours on the road including a food stop or 2 but it's not too bad and definitely "interesting"
The packages are arranged by an office in Jakarta, there are several pickups and transfers in all and the guys who do it have done it lots of times, somehow everything runs smoothly.

BTW Blowin. What time of year are you thinking of going?

If it was me, and i was after a mid range option, id look a little into Simeulue and inquire if the situation is still the same regarding if it would be acceptable or not if your chick could swim and hang at the beach in bikinis, as these things can change overtime as locals get a little more exposed and tolerant to tourism/western ideals , im sure it would be not good to walk around in more public areas in bikini or showing to much flesh, but if the camps beach out front is not an area near locals houses kinda out general public view, you may find its not a problem.

Most areas in Indonesia in the very early days of tourism start out like this but as time goes on locals tolerate seeing more western female flesh, although that said the situation in Simeulue may be a little different because its technically part of the Aceh province which is the most muslim area in Indonesia.

IMO regarding Simeulue its in a very similar to the situation with Krui/South Sumatra in that it was once an area off the radar and was uncrowded, south sumatra was promoted for years as this uncrowded area by the first few camps there, then more and more budget camps opened and from all reports now can get pretty crowded.

Simeulue has had a camp there for about ten years but until recently has been still pretty low key/off the radar and they didn't push/market/advertise it to much, but in the last year or two all the other camps have opened and the locals are also getting in on the deal(which pushes prices down), i believe its still relatively uncrowded, but just like south sumatra was its getting promoted heavily as a NO CROWDS area, and you can bet your dollar it wont last and there will be plenty more budget camps to come as it has all the same attributes like South Sumatra, remote but fairly easy to access (fly and drive), a road that follows the coast, meaning cheap and easy to access waves, has mains electricity and towns nearby so logistics are easy like sourcing food and keeping it fresh etc

This is in contrast to other more remote island areas(telos/banyaks/mentawais) where overheads are more expensive and they must charge more to make money, generally speaking the more budget areas in Indo get more crowded and you get guys that stay in areas for weeks to even months.

Yeah IMO its a get in now before it gets crowded kind of area.

Yeah okay, in that case if you chose to stay somewhere thats not dirt cheap more mid range and up, then id contact the camps/resorts in the area your interested in direct via there website or facebook page, and tell them your situation and that your shopping around and ask what there best deal is they can do for you.

Ive talked to guys in the water that are staying at surf camps/resorts that have done this last minute and they have saved literally hundreds on the overall advertised price.

You might be able to do the same through a surf travel company, but there price is always going to have the 10-20% cut they get from the camp/resort factored in, but yeah i guess going through them helps take some hassle out like suggested above.

PS. In singapore the botanic gardens is worth a bit of a stroll often regarded as one of the best in the world, and Little India area has some great cheap real authentic Indian food.

Gidday blown, as above, from everything you say, maybe talk to Kav at that website, you will be in Singapore. As indo said, tell em your situation/budget, you want your lady to have a deluxe, relaxing holiday too. Everything is negotiable. Put them to the test. It might save you heaps of hassle and money. Shop around.

stunet wrote:

Hey ID, appreciate the info. If you'd like a Swellnet leggy shoot your postal address to: [email protected]

Cheers,
Stu

Big thank you to Stunet, received my Swellnet leggie in the mail yesterday:D

And happy to report it looks like a pretty good quality leggie (double stainless swivel etc) going to Indo next month for four weeks so will test her out there.

Yeah, right, string us along. We all know that thermless, stunut and indolence are the same person.

Wowsers upless , a new team member ! Thermless , along with bruteless camless and the one and only uplass

Uplift, sometimes you seem like you genuinely wanna share info here, help people out. Then you tell these stories and I just don't know where the bullshit (judging from some of your other comments) begins. Do you actually just enjoy playing the victim?

Edit: Sorry Uppy being a bit harsh maybe. but seriously, it's easy to see why you get peppered here, whenever you join a thread, it goes way off topic!

Back on topic, thanks everyone, so much practical advice, like what it's ACTUALLY like (e.g. Krui can be like sth strad). Particularly of interest to me is Sth Sumatra.

- What's the language barrier like? Are they Muslims?
- The prevailing trades and wet season is SE and Nov - March?

Tahns k again.

Oh and Blowin, how the fuck is ya trip?!

'but seriously, it's easy to see why you get peppered here, whenever you join a thread, it goes way off topic!'

Am I being 'peppered here?' By what? Ok, I'll try to pay attenton and notice.

I've been surfing for over 45 years. It is very serious, and there is definetely no bullshit, bullshitters, or bullshittees in surfing. And on that note, the world, in fact the universe, the cosmos will finally, definitely, probably very soon, maybe not this year, but maybe next, or possibly the one after finally, really, truly see that surfers, that surfees, are indisputably in fact...

THE WORLDS GREATEST ATHLETES, ATHLETES CAPABLE OF DOMINATING ANY REALM, ATHLETES THAT ALL SHOULD WATCH, ATHLETES THAT SHOULD BE PAYED MUCH MUCH HIGHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And how do I know this. Over the 45 plus years its a story oft repeated, a story told by many, a story snorted out (in and out so to speak) in a boldness unrivalled, and although as yet unproven, a story that is true! I have heard many, many, countless surfers relate it. Could be boxing champs, martial artists, wrestlers, musos, footy stars, runners, tennis pros, golf pros... callers, the list is endless. A story 'peppered' by many. You'll see, no, we'll all see, the world, the universe, the cosmos will finally see, really, really see, that the time is upon us... again... and again... and again... and again... and... many have told it, the numbers don't lie!

JUST FOR FUCKING ONCE THE EXTREMELY LITTLE GUY WILL KICK ####ing ##### big guys, and normal guys ###****ing arses, pepper the ###****ing ####s in fact!!!!!!!

Am I in the right thread?

Haha sick shit. So what was the cost//benefit trade off you went for Blowin? seemed like you were pretty keen on going the cheap route in sth Sumatra at one point.

Ok Uplift, sirfing is full of bullshit artists. I just don't understand why the drama always seems to focus on you...

riiiight I forgot that it was locked in. Yeah totally understand. So did you go to Ebay? do you mean mainland by "on land as well"?

I'm potentially going in mid Oct, pretty keen to get amongst the locals and the mtns. so going by road from Bandar Lampung, as Chin and ID I think a few others like oldgreg suggested, could be interesting.

'I just don't understand why the drama always seems to focus on you...'

Because you just keep focusing on me. And why not.

Yeah I know Uppy, but I didn't start the ball rolling in your direction. Anyway, cheers, sounds like there's some adventures to be had in W Java.

Epic Blowin, I got a mate who's not keen to ONLY surf 3x a day for 2 weeks straight, so I think we'll definitely stick to the mainland. Surprised you haven't been grilled for some of your jokes too btw haha

@ UpLiFt , that's a nice cover photo on your facebook page
how old is your daughter.

I'm looking good eh ambling. How's the waves too. Glad to be the highlight of your feeble exsistance. Don't let your missus see the photo's though. Imagine the poor woman realising that she's stuck with a chubby, limp dick, ludicrous geek, jibbering and blatherin about chargin the trough for his whole useless life. Do you take a photo of me to the dunny with you?

yEP to wipe

Wipe ya knob off? Thats what I heard too.

so obsessed with knobs?? very strange indeed. hilarious stuff.

Dole payment must be in again... have another snort groges.

UpLiFt, my sincerest apologies old chap, due to the age difference in the photo silly me just presumed that the lass was your daughter but its your wife

must be a very touchy subject to launch such a scathing attack back twas a genuine mistake by me

Scathing? I actually built you up a bit, and was trying to not be too hard on you ambling... although I must admit, more for your poor wife's sake. The poor woman's suffered enough already. Yeh, thats him, thats my, ma... ma... ma... oh well, the chubby fucker blabbering about charging 2 foot mid... again. Sigh.

People who UPLIFT you are the best kind of people

You don't simply keep them

You have to treasure them

DODINSKY.

Glad to be your day again ambling.

Bump

Any more recent updates on land camps in ments or telos?? eg. prices, new camps etc?
Also the crowd situation around either playgrounds, HT's, Maccas or telos? I did a boat trip last year and thought the crowds were ok. Has anyone been this season?

Might have to update my original post, i noticed there is about a half a dozen more camps/resorts now :(

IMO you can't really make a call on crowds its just about time of year and just luck on how many boats or resorts/camps are booked up and other factors like conditions, light winds and mid size swell will spread everyone out making it seem uncrowded, while if you get stronger winds and even worse a dropping swell it will send everyone to the same area, even predicable conditions can send boats all in the same route trying to get the best of it.

Haven't been yet going to both Nias, Telos and Mentawai's in a few weeks :P

Hi Guys, just to let you know we are taking over the management of Banyak Surf Bungalows from the old owners. The bungalows are right on the Bay of Plenty on Pulau Tuangku with Gunturs break right off our beach with 5 other breaks nearby (I mean minutes away) Here is a link to google maps so you can see where we are. https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=z8ZhwurPhVSk.kiqMTDCUuK_M
We also do day trips to Treasures and Cobras when they are pumping. Cheers

Got any vids of cobras?

Let's get on it run a muk at the bungalows..you guys taking on maggots

No videos of Cobra's yet, but will be sure to get some next season and post here. This video was taken of other breaks near Banyak.

Enjoy

Hey Banyak - How is the surf in this season?

Hey Mk1
Ok for novices. Pretty much finished up for the year. We open back up late Feb when the swells pick up again
Cheers

Thanks Banyak, are you saying winds are OK but swell is the lacking component?

The banyaks are a bit blocked from south and ssw swells. Cobras, turtles and treasure island pick up a little more south than the other spots but the whole area is known to be a bit fickle compared to mentwais.

Thanks, I am in indo Jan/Feb and looking for areas to go. Was planning Aceh, Bali, Lombok at this stage but keen for anywhere that will have some waves and low crowds.

Similue is one option, i spelt that wrong but who cares.
South coast sumbawa is very exposed to swell with low crowds year round, ots of spots between yo yo ans lakey peak to explore.Bad roads though

Ok cool, I was thinking of hanging in lombok for a while so might go over to Sumbawa while there

Lomboks probably a better bet with more options and more options for monsooon winds just that south coast sumbawa has a lot of unridden spots but they get really windy year round too. also polluted from gold mine run off.