Kandui Surf Resort Mentawai Islands, Surf Up Date

Kandui Surf Resort Mentawai Islands
8th August surf report
The swell was pumping again today, although not as big as yesterday.  We have some unusually low neap tides right now and with the long period swell, there is just not much water on the reefs when the waves start sucking out.  Kandui’s and Hideaway’s did not look appealing at all with big waves breaking in what looked like 3 feet of water so we headed for Ebay again where the reef can handle lower tides.  Because it was the best wave going in the area, our plan was to leave late and surf through midday so any crowd that might be there would be ready for a rest and refuel.  Our plan worked out great!  There were only 8 people in the water when we got there and 5 of them got out immediately after we arrived.  We brought the Catamaran with lunch and hung out in comfort until the lineup started getting busy again in the late afternoon.  Conditions were good and we all had a great time!  Some of the crew stayed at the resort and surfed 4 Bobs and Karambat Left, which didn’t have the best wind on it but it was still fun and the guys had a great time.  Looking for dropping swell tomorrow.  Forecasts are calling for good swell this entire trip and the winds are forecast to go variable in a couple of days as well.  Should be a good week.

7th August 2011
Our newest group of guests arrived yesterday and walked straight into one of the biggest swells of the season.  Southish winds have been blowing strong pretty regularly the last couple of weeks and today was no exception.  Kandui’s was a no go.  Strong side offshore winds jumbling up the waves with giant, long period sets draining all the water off the reef before they mutated and surged toward the beach.  Kandui’s is our surfguide/videographer’s, Justice, favorite wave.  But he said that if he had never seen it break before, he would never want to check it again!  It was just so evil looking and totally unrideable.  So we went to Hideaways.  It was handling the wind and swell better, but it was still pretty out of control.  There were some guys out and we watched 5 people catch waves.  One made it, and the other four ate shit and took big waves on the head until they got flushed out down the reef.  “Let’s go to Ebay!”  It was definitely more manageable there.  The swell has to wrap a good bit to get in there and that cut down the size and cleaned it up.  There were still double overhead+ sets and the long period was draining the reef dry, but it was not too bad and we all ended up getting some good ones, albeit not all of our skin was brought back to the resort!  As we motored back, we could see that Baby Kandui was looking good.  As good as I’ve seen it in years!  Swell has to wrap quite a bit to get into that reef as well so the size was not to out of control and the lines had a chance to stretch out and clean up before breaking.  We drive by this wave everyday and it is rarely worth the paddle, but it was probably the best wave around today!   Justice has an injured knee, but it was looking so good that he couldn’t help strapping on a knee brace and getting a couple along with a few of the Kandui crew.  (Oure guests were tired after surfing Ebay all morning.)  We were late to the party, having surfed earlier, but everyone managed to get some good ones before the tide got too low.  Attached are 4 pictures of Baby Kandui’s (light green, boat shots) and 4 Ebay pics (darker green, land shots).  Pretty cool picture of our boat driver, Andy, with Justice in the foreground.  Swell is predicted to be bigger tomorrow!!!