Indo is seeing the best surf in history right now. And almost nobody’s there. At least not in the Mentawais.
Take a look at the Mentawais forecast right now. Go on, we dare you. After a pretty normal start to the Indonesian surf season, it’s suddenly kicked into some mad stratospheric epic, as the Indian Ocean swell chain pulls through bomb after bomb. Yet thanks to the COVID, these dozens of glorious surf spots are inhabited by just a couple of handfuls of your fellow surfers, who are currently experiencing the high point of their surfing lives. We asked “All Day Ray” Wilcoxen, Kandui Resort manager, to explain some of what it’s been like to try to run a surf camp in lockdown — and what it’s like to be on hand for the best surf in history.
Stay tuned for more on surf travel in the times of COVID soon; and check out the pumping swell from opening day in Bali here.
Kandui, (practically) empty. Photo: Justis St John/Kandui Resort/@stjohnvisual
How are you guys managing this season? Are people coming to your resort? Maybe ex-pats coming from Bali or Jakarta etc? Or have you locked down for 2020?
We have been open the entire time so far and hope to stay open. We’re operating at a loss to say the least, but we really made an effort to keep our staff employed. We’re the biggest employer in the area and with the shutdown, almost no one around here is working, so we felt responsible to keep the local economy going a bit. Thank god for our favorite Polish surfer, Tomek Niewiadomski, who stayed with us throughout the lockdown and offset some of our losses. Still, we’ve been bleeding red ink profusely for about four months now. We were really hoping to get some guests from Bali when travel to the Mentawais opened in late June, but we’ve only managed to get a couple of people. Shocking to me actually. It’s once-in-a-lifetime stuff going on out here right now and not many people seem to be interested.
What are the restrictions in the Mentawai, as they stand? Have they changed recently?
The Mentawais opened its doors a few weeks ago to anyone lucky enough to be in Indonesia right now. All that is required is a PCR/swab test to get out here and a Rapid Test to fly back to Bali. Apparently, the government has set a date on which the emergency tourist visas they allowed during the lockdown will expire, August 13th, so the door is closing for anyone in Bali with a tourist visa to get out here unless the government changes the expiry date. It’s looking like Indonesia will in all likelihood start to offer tourists visas again sometime in September, but to which countries they will be offered is unknown.
Costa Rican Anthony Fillingim, stacking clips in the Ments. Video: Justis St John/Kandui Resort/@stjohnvisual
How have communications been with the regional and national Indonesian authorities?
Communications have been great. We’ve been in constant contact with the head Mentawaiian government official (Bupati) and the top local official (Camat) throughout this whole ordeal. I’m very happy to say that I thought the Mentawaiian government handled things very well in some uncertain and unprecedented times. Tough decisions had to be made, opinions were across the board, and I thought the Mentawaiian government made the right decisions at the right time. So far, the Mentawais have had very few cases and no deaths while trying to keep the economy going as best as possible under the circumstances.
What’s happened to bookings from people who were (and are) unable to travel following national lockdowns etc? How were they handled: refunds, re-bookings, credits?
We have a very loyal base of guests who come to Kandui year after year. We’re allowing every guest to push their trip forward at no cost and most of all of them have rescheduled their trips into 2021. It’s been such a tough situation all around, for our guests and us as well, and most understood how hard this has been for us. We are not rich by any stretch of the imagination and this caught us at a very bad time. Our guests have been incredible and very understanding. Many continue to put money down for trips next year and one even paid in full for several people in 2022 because he knew we are hurting for money. Thanks Al Ramadan!
Anthony Fillingim, Kandui. Photo: Justis St John/Kandui Resort/@stjohnvisual
Anyone in the camp got sick from COVID? Any testing going on?
So far so good out here. We have been very careful. Our island is very remote and isolated and we cut ourselves off completely during the lockdown. The few times we had crew come to the island, and even though there were no cases of COVID in our area, they were still quarantined until we knew things were safe. Now that we are getting a couple of guests from Bali, no one is allowed to leave the island until 14 days have passed since a new guest has arrived. Even though new guests have to be tested before entering the Mentawais, we want to be overly cautious that no one brings the virus to the resort and then it gets leaked out to the Mentawais.
How might you make next season extra safe re: COVID, to reassure customers?
Like I say, we are just about as remote and isolated as remote and isolated gets, and we are downright crazy about the way we minimize and monitor people going to and from the island. Guests have to be tested before coming to the resort as well so, although no one can ever completely eliminate the chance of the virus, we probably have about as safe a place as possible.
Bank Vaults. Photo: Justis St John/Kandui Resort/@stjohnvisual
What’s your own personal ranking of this season so far, surf-wise? Tell us as much as you can about how’s it’s been to surf your part of the chain with such diminished numbers. Ecstasy? Guilt? All time memories?
It will probably come as no surprise to anyone for me to say that it’s been incredible! The last four months have been fun but overall pretty average compared to other seasons, but that all changed this week with one of the best and most powerful swells we’ve ever seen. It feels like the floodgates opened since we have just one lay day and two more massive swells back to back and the long-range forecast looks crazy big again!
Seeing no one in this area for months though has been the craziest experience of our lives. I started coming to the Mentawais in 2001 and it was already busy at times even then. I often wondered what it would have been like to be here in the early 90’s. Well, now I know. It’s just wonderful to pull up to empty waves day after day. It doesn’t even matter if the waves are average or not, it’s freaking empty! Now the season is really cooking and, believe it or not, there are less people out here now than during the lockdown. That is just crazy to me and there seems to be no end in sight. Very unfortunate for us financially, but these memories will last forever. No guilt, brother! We have paid our dues out here and then some, trust me on that one. This is a reward of perseverance and just getting fricking lucky.
Anthony Fillingim again, Bank Vaults. Photo: Justis St John/Kandui Resort/ @stjohnvisual
Are you wigging out about the approaching week and a half of epic surf?
There seems to be no end in sight of big swell! The winds look pretty damn light as well. Gunna be too big for me sometimes but we have a friend and incredible surfer here, Anthony Fillingim from Costa Rica, and it will be fun to watch him charge. Be ready for some crazy video to come out from that guy. He’s been out here for four months and you can imagine the stockpile of clips he’s got going right now. It’s going to be a great week and a half and beyond. And I can’t tell you how nice it is to just rock up to any spot and know it’s going to be virtually empty. All day, everyday… I’ll never be the same after this year. It’s crazy. Once in a lifetime stuff going on out here right now.
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