THE HOME BREAK

PITSTOPS

Classification: Fun waves, suited to all levels

Location: 30 feet away… Our front yard!

Have you ever owned a piece of beachfront real estate, with a perfect wave right in front of your house, just a stone’s throw away? Well now, for the next 10 - 21 days, you can!

Pitstops is the most consistent break in the Mentawai islands, suited to all levels of surfing. This right-hand break is right in front of Mentawai Surf Retreat. You can watch the break from the balcony of each bungalow and from the restaurant/bar. Pitstops is a fun right-hander that breaks off a reef and runs onto sand. The wave offers a fast and hollow tubing take-off, followed by a great rippable wall. This is a great wave for speed, barrels, and aerials. Pitstops is an excellent way to ease into the Mentawai experience, working in all tides and in small conditions. It’s great for fun waves, groms, long boarding and even for testing all your boards. When most other spots are blown-out, you can count on Pitstops. Sit back and enjoy the action from your bungalow or the bar… or grab your board and get out there!

CHARGER WAVES

The BIG 5

We’ve coined it! Just as Africa has the BIG 5 of wildlife viewing to experience, so too does the Mentawai Playgrounds have a BIG 5 to experience – Rifles, Kandui, Bank Vaults, Hideaways and E-Bay

RIFLES

Classification: Intermediate to advanced

Location: 25 min boat ride

A mind-blowing right-hander that looks just like the dreamy waves you drew on your old schoolbooks. One of the best waves on the planet. Rifles holds size and breaks mechanically long, hollow, and fast. Conditions need to be just right. Rifles needs a swell with a distinct south in it and winds with some west. Surfers have been known to log over 6 barrels on one wave at Rifles, and many say if you score an epic day here it could truly be the best session of your life. The reef prefers some good water coverage and breaks with some ferocity when bigger. Rifles is for the skilled but can still be enjoyed in chest-high conditions. Surfers dream of scoring this spot and come to the Mentawai Islands in hopes of catching a moment here. Bottom line: Rifles fires and you’re the bullet.

Kandui

Classification: Intermediate to advanced

Location: 20 min boat ride

Kandui is truly a world class, freight train, left-hand barrel. Hollow, fast, and heavy. Hence the nickname “No-Kandui”, it’s hard to outrun, but if you do you’ll never forget it. Even expert surfers are humbled by this wave when it’s pumping. Some incredibly long barrels have been recorded at this break and it can handle up to triple overhead. Around the island you will find Baby Kandui which is super-fast and can be an awesome option if the swell is big. Kandui and Baby Kandui need some good water on the reef to be safe. Like Rifles, Kandui breaks with ferocity and intensity.

Bank Vaults

Classification: Intermediate to advanced

Location: 10 min boat ride / 25 Min Walk

Challenging, hollow, and heavy. This right-hander breaks thick, hard and square. Bank Vaults can handle up to triple over-head, but also works at 3 feet. It’s a wave capable of delivering the squarest barrel of your life but can also dish out a grinding. The large outer peak offers an ideal spot for the photos of a lifetime. Bank Vault’s is within walking distance from Mentawai Surf Retreat but is accessed quickly by boat and is definitely one for the chargers and tube hunters.

Hideaways

Classification – Intermediate to advanced

Location: 15 min boat ride

Turning up to Hideaways when the swell is on, is always a mind-blowing experience. This left-hander swings into the reef and delivers one of the best bowling, bending left-hand barrels you’ll see. When it’s on, the drop is sharp, and you need to take off deep to get the speed required to make it through the barrel. The reef is coral and shallow at low tide, best to surf this one with a bit more water on it or you will be going home with a free Hideaways tattoo. The setting is amazing with crystal clear water which adds to the drama as you see the reef through the wave when you take off. One good wave here will leave with a memory for life.

E-BAY

Classification: Intermediate to advanced

Location: 4 minute paddle – Just around the point from our front yard.

E-Bay can be accessed from the resort, you can walk or paddle over. It is an outstanding wave… a dreamy, hollow left-hander that breaks best between waist high to double or even triple overhead. E-Bay is often compared to the fabled Padang Padang in Bali but has a gnarly end section known as “Greedys” which adds to the challenge. The main tube section is located straight out from two large boulders which adds to the intimidating factor of the wave. It can be enjoyed at waist to head high but is best on a big swell. The bigger it gets the hollower it gets… and the heavier it gets. Regarded as fickle, but when it’s on, it’s one of the best waves around!

fun waves

Surfing in the Mentawais is not all about heaving pits. There are so many other perfect, fun waves to be had. While the chargers are off free-falling into pits, on the very same swell you could be scoring the best fun waves of your life. With two boats running daily unlimited trips to the breaks, we often have the boats heading in different directions suited to the differing surf abilities of our guests.

Burgerworld

Classification: Intermediate

Location: 20 Min Boat Ride – Across the Channel

When most of the Mentawai Islands are flat, you can rely on Burgerworld to dish up something tasty. Not a highly rated wave for the region but when it’s under 1.5m swell, this wave-magnet runs down the point with some size and offers numerous sections to work with. Burgers is a right-hander which prefers a lower tide and a wind with west in it and doesn’t like too much swell as it tends to burger-out and go fat. Great for the ripper or the cruiser.

Beng Bengs

Classification: Intermediate

Location: 8 Min Boat Ride / 35 Min Walk

Beng Bengs is a fun, smack-able left-hander that suits surfers of all skill levels. Not the longest wave in the region but gives up a succession of fast sections for racing down the line and getting your hits in. Beng Bengs is known best for its speed and rippability; and in the right conditions can provide a nice little barrel section. Set in a very scenic and tranquil bay, Beng Bengs is very close to Mentawai Surf Retreat and is usually worth a look. A great warm up location or afternoon wind-down wave that breaks better in low tide and protected in the southern winds.

Nipussi

Classification: Intermediate

Location: 12 Min Boat Ride / 35 Min Walk

Set in a very scenic little bay just around the corner from the retreat lies Nipussi. Just down the coast from Bank Vaults, Nipussi is regarded as the safer and lighter option to its often-brutal neighbour. This wave-magnet works on small and medium swells. When it’s under four foot it wraps from the tip of the point and down into the bay. When it gets a little bigger, it breaks wider in the bay offering some juicy ramps to cut loose on. Nipussi is a super consistent, reliable, and smackable right that works best on a low to medium tide. Always reliable for picking up swell, having this wave nearby constantly offers an option.

4 Bobs

Classification – Intermediate

Location: 25 Min Boat Ride

A fun, rippable right-hander. Although relatively short, it’s consistent and always a fun wave to ride. Breaks over a shallow reef and offers two to three good sections. Get your 4-bobs worth.

A-Frames

Classification – Intermediate

Location: 25 Min Boat Ride

Peaky and consistent, A-Frames can handle size and is made up of two main sections. The outside section throws up challenging shifting peaks, whilst the inside section walls up beckoning to be unleashed upon.

Secret Spots

Location: Near & Far

Our guests often get to surf waves that are not even on any of the maps. There are still plenty of hidden gems.

We are always scoping and keeping our eyes peeled for options in differing wind and swell conditions… guests are probably scoring some empty peaks right now! What are you waiting for?!