Rates move with the season, the boat and how many of you are travelling, so any fixed figure you read online is out of date the day after it is published. What does not change is the shape of the cost. Here is what you are actually paying for.
What is normally included
Our trips are all-inclusive in the real sense, not the asterisked sense. On a charter that covers your airport transfers from Padang, the boat transport out to the islands, every night on board, three meals a day, snacks and soft drinks, unlimited tea and coffee, the tenders that run you to the peak, and the crew who make it all work. On the camps it covers your accommodation, the meals stated for that camp, and the boat or transfers that get you to the waves.
In other words, once you have landed in Sumatra, the day-to-day cost of the trip is already handled. You are not being nickel-and-dimed for a tender ride or a second helping of nasi goreng.
What sits outside the trip price
- Flights. Getting yourself to Padang, or to Bandar Lampung for Krui. Usually the single biggest line item after the trip itself.
- The Mentawai surf tax. A government fee charged to surfers visiting the islands. It is a fixed regional charge, not something operators set, and it is collected separately. The current amount is listed on each charter page.
- Travel and medical insurance. Not optional in our view. See below.
- Alcohol beyond what is included, and any extras you arrange on the ground.
- Photography or video packages, where you want them.
- Ferry tickets for the land-based Mentawai trips, which we arrange for you.
- Board and scooter rental where relevant, for example at Krui.
What moves the price
Season
The prime months from around April to October carry a premium, because that is when the swell is most consistent and the boats fill first. The quieter shoulder months are meaningfully better value, and the waves are smaller and cleaner rather than absent. If your surfing suits head-high perfection more than double-overhead reef, the shoulder season is often the better trip as well as the cheaper one. There is more on this in our best time to surf guide.
Boat or beach
Charters generally cost more than land-based camps. You are paying for a crew, fuel, tenders and the ability to move to whichever reef is working. A camp keeps costs down because it is not moving. Which of those is worth more to you is a genuine question, and we have written it up in surf charter or surf camp.
Whole boat or individual berths
Booking a boat exclusively for your group works out differently to taking individual spots alongside other travellers. If you have the numbers to fill a boat, that is usually the better deal per head, and you get the trip entirely on your terms. If you are travelling solo or as a pair, joining an existing trip is the cheaper way on.
Group size and which boat
Bigger boats spread the fixed costs across more people, which is why Ombak Kabau with up to ten guests is the better-value charter, while Odyssey Mentawai with eight guests, en-suite cabins and a surf pro on board sits higher. You are paying for space, comfort and coaching, not for better waves. Both boats surf the same reefs.
The costs people forget
Two in particular. The first is insurance that actually covers surfing. Plenty of standard travel policies exclude it, and out here you are hours from proper medical care. A reef injury that needs evacuation is the one scenario that can dwarf the entire cost of the trip, so read the policy wording rather than the summary.
The second is boards. Bring more than you think, and bring spare fins and leashes. There is no surf shop out there, snapping a board mid-trip is common, and buying replacements on the fly is expensive when it is possible at all. Our packing guide covers what a sensible quiver looks like for these reefs.
Getting a real number
Tell us the trip you are interested in, roughly when you want to travel, and how many of you there are. We will send current rates for those dates, along with what is included and what is not, and we will tell you if a different week or a different trip would get you more for the same money. We are family-run, so the person answering your email is the person who will be there when you arrive.