Where are Indonesia's best surf trips?

Indonesia holds more quality waves than any country on earth, and Bali is the entry point rather than the destination for most serious surf trips.

The Mentawai Islands

Off the west coast of Sumatra, and the most consistent high-quality wave concentration in the world. Reefs facing straight into Indian Ocean swell, close together, with different wind windows.

How you go: by charter boat out of Padang, typically 10 to 12 nights, or by staying at a land camp on Siberut, Sipora or the Pagai islands.

Costs: boat charters typically 2,500 to 5,000 USD per person for 10 to 12 nights, all inclusive. Land camps are cheaper, from roughly 1,500 USD a week.

Season: April to October for the biggest swell, with March and November quieter and still good.

The waves are reef breaks and many are heavy. This is not a beginner destination. Malaria is present and medical help is a long way away.

Sumbawa

East of Lombok, reachable by ferry, with famous right-handers at Lakey Peak in the east and a cluster of breaks around Maluk and Scar Reef in the west.

Lakey is a village built on surfing, with several breaks in one bay working at different tides, and cheap accommodation.

Getting there: ferry Lombok to Poto Tano, then four hours to Maluk or eight to ten to Lakey. Or fly to Bima.

Season: April to October.

G-Land, east Java

Grajagan, inside Alas Purwo National Park, a long left-hand point break that is one of the most famous waves in the world. Access is by boat from Grajagan or overland to the camps, which are the only accommodation.

Season: April to September. Advanced surfers only.

Sumba and the eastern islands

Remote, uncrowded, spectacular, and with almost no infrastructure. See Sumba. Waves at Tarimbang, Pero and Kerewei, and further east on Rote and Savu.

Rote, off Timor, has T-Land, a long left that is far easier than most Indonesian reef waves and has a small, pleasant travellers' scene.

Nias

Off Sumatra's west coast, with Lagundri Bay, a right-hand point that is one of the most perfect waves in Indonesia, and a long history of surf travel. Accessible by flight to Gunungsitoli.

Choosing

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Practical notes for all of them

Malaria is present in the Mentawais, Sumba and parts of Sumatra and Nusa Tenggara. This is a real difference from Bali, and it needs medical advice before you go.

Medical care is remote. Reef cuts infect fast, and a serious injury means a long journey. Carry a proper first aid kit with antiseptic and dressings.

Insurance. Check that surfing is covered, and that evacuation from remote locations is included.

Boards. Bring what you need; rentals outside Bali and Lombok are limited and usually poor.

Respect the lineups. Many of these breaks have small local communities and established camp rotations. Politeness gets you waves; entitlement does not.

Boat trip or land camp

Charter boats move with the swell and wind, which is the entire argument for them: if the wind turns, the boat relocates overnight and you surf a different island. They are expensive, and you are on a boat with the same people for two weeks.

Land camps are cheaper, more comfortable and fixed in place, which means some days you surf the wave in front of you whatever it is doing. For a first Mentawai trip with a moderate budget, a good land camp is the better purchase.

In Sumbawa, Rote and Nias, you stay in losmen and guesthouses at ordinary Indonesian prices and walk or ride to the break. That is how most of Indonesian surf travel actually happens, and it costs a fraction of the boat version.

Planning a trip around swell

The Indian Ocean swell that lights up Indonesia is generated in the Southern Ocean, which is why the season is April to October and why the same swell hits Bali, Sumbawa, the Mentawais and G-Land within a day or two of each other.

Book flexible flights if you can, watch the charts a week out, and be willing to move. The surfers who score are the ones who can change islands with two days' notice.