In the pre-trip discussions it became pretty clear that we were going into the unknown. Neither of us had paddleboarded in the Mentawais before and we were unsure firstly whether these waves were ride able and makeable on paddleboards and if so what was the best board to take. After we had booked we looked up a few of the famous breaks to see what was ahead of us.
Meet the f***ers
Bank Vaults is a fear inducing right-hander that bends and warps over the exposed, swell-sucking tip of Pulau Masokut. Deceptively fast, shifting sections look makeable from the channel, but only the real chargers will handle this complex line-up. Gets better when it’s double overhead or bigger and expect to get pinned on the “get me outa here” inside reef as the sets refract from wide, cutting off the escape to the channel. South swells and winds are sketchier, but tide doesn’t faze it. The left around the other side of the tip has been surfed, but is dangerous without the right’s rewards. Intermediates should head straight to Nipussi. Rifles is a gun barrel, straight shooting, take no prisoners, right-hand super-sprint. Riders have to maintain a faster-than-a-speeding-bullet mentality to keep abreast of the constantly peeling sections and ahead of the foamball. It’s not always perfect, often shutting down in unmakeable sections, but when it aligns, it’s one of the best waves on the planet. A regular footers dream wave; turbo charged advanced surfers only.
Could it be possible to get fully barreled and make these waves? We had absolutely no idea. The one thing that we did know was that we had great camaraderie on the water and we certainly push each other. As soon as it gets super big or sketchy there’s an expression that’s repeated – ‘Man the Fxxx Up’. No one wanted to be having the post SUP beer as the bloke that didn’t make the drop, or attempt to make the wave. No problem if you don’t make the wave, but there is a big problem if one proves it can be done and the other just did not MTFU. That’s the beer no one wants to have.
