We would rather talk someone out of a trip than watch them spend two weeks sitting in the channel. So here is the straight version of what the Mentawais ask of you.
The honest baseline
The Mentawais are a reef destination. Almost every wave here breaks over live coral in water that is shallower than it looks, often a long way from a hospital. That single fact shapes everything else. It does not mean you need to be an expert. It does mean the cost of a mistake is higher than it is at your local beach break.
As a working rule: you should be able to paddle into an overhead wave, make a steep drop without thinking about it, and surf along a wall rather than straight at the beach. If all three are true, you will have the trip of your life. If one of them is shaky, you can still come, but the trip needs to be built differently.
You will thrive here if
- You surf regularly and confidently at head high and above.
- You have surfed reef before, or at least a fast, hollow beach break.
- You can read a line-up and pick a wave rather than take whatever arrives.
- You are fit enough to paddle for a week straight. This surprises people more than the waves do.
- You are honest about which peak you belong on. The surfers who get the most waves out here are the ones who sit where their surfing actually is.
You should probably wait if
- You are still getting to your feet inconsistently, or you have only surfed foam and small beach break.
- Overhead waves make you hesitate on the drop. Hesitation is what puts people on the reef.
- You have never surfed over anything but sand, and nobody in your group can look after you.
None of that is a permanent no. It is a not-yet. A season of solid beach-break waves and a few reef sessions somewhere more forgiving will change the trip entirely, and you will get ten times more out of it when you come.
If you are close but not certain
This is the most common case, and it is very workable. The answer is usually a land-based trip rather than a boat. From Sunset Surf Villas you have nine breaks within a short boat ride that range from mellow to expert, including Tikus breaking straight out front, which is one of the more forgiving quality waves in the region. You can surf within yourself in the morning, watch the heavier stuff at lunch, and paddle back out at four when it eases.
The mistake is booking a charter, ending up anchored at a heavy reef on a big swell, and having nowhere else to go that day. A camp gives you options and a beach to sit on. It is the smarter first Mentawai trip for most improving surfers.
What about non-surfers
Partners, families and friends who do not surf are welcome, and again the camps are the answer. There is somewhere to be that is not a boat deck: beaches, snorkelling, hammocks, and at Jenny's in Krui waterfalls and jungle walks as well. On a charter, a non-surfer spends eleven nights on a boat surrounded by people who only want to talk about waves. Some love it. Most do not.
Picking waves that match you
Skill level varies enormously break to break out here, which is the region's great advantage. We have written up each wave we surf with an honest level on it, from all-levels reef to experts-only slabs, in our surf spots guide. If a page says advanced, take it at its word.
And when you enquire, tell us how you really surf rather than how you would like to. It changes which trip we recommend, which breaks we point you at, and how good your two weeks turn out to be.