Mentawais Vs Maldives

[Haz]

Well I dug up a thread from the asl forum with me and nikko (chillin) about to go (not on the same boat/resort or anything), he left a bit earlier, but i'm pretty sure we got the same swell.

Here's one of his pics at Lohi's

Sultan's was a bit bigger...


I reckon that pics pretty close to 8 foot... Solid 6 foot maybe... But definitely not the biggest i saw there.

[Elmako]

Salty, do you mean Sumba, Timor ?

[boardscape avalon]

^^^ i was in the maldives in aug 08 1st 2 weeks, and the same time in 07.Both yrs the waves were epic.Proper barrels at sultans and at colas.lots of photos some were posted in the thread "show us ya pics".In 08 i noticed a large increase in the crowds from the yr before, lots of israeli people who had very bad etiquette, it didn't really affect our trip but they were ruthless to the Japanese , to the point were some of us off our boat had to get involved and sort it.I have been fortunate enough to go to both the ments and maldives and( even though they are very crowded now ), i would still recomend doing both.Where isn"t crowded these days . M.Daly is right now in the Solomons with a boat!

[PeepeelaPew]

...

[OddaP]

Unfortunately I don't have any mates and I'm not likely to go on a trip by myself. I'll see what eventuates this year.

I travel solo probably 50%, a great way to meet people and if its a hard core surfing trip who cares if you're on your own. I would not be that keen to be stuck on a boat with a bunch of blokes I don't know but I reckon land based its a blast.

[PeepeelaPew]

...

[Chillin]

Beachbanga is correct about the waves in Sept 08. I was there the week after him and the first three days where f'ing solid in anyones language. That foto is a an Irish guy named Pete, who now lives in Bondi. He's a big bloke who takes steroids and stuff and is also covered in islander tatts, so he's hard to miss in the water. He's also about 6'2" and the wave is Lohi's, which is not a swell magnet like, say chickens or Jails. Those three days where the reason i came home and bought a 6'9" indo style board to take last year (2009), even though (sadly) i didn't need it. If you read Richard Kotch's (the World Surfaris guy on Huhuranfushi) blog on their website, you will see that whatever the swell charts may say that the swell was so big this year in Mid Sept that Irish Pete, who' goes there a couple of times a year, was getting the watersports guy to tow him in with the jetsk and many surfers, Including Richard who rips, passed for a couple of days. Having said all that, the Maldives is a less phsyco wave than many Indo/Ments waves and therefore attracts surfers of less ability, and iv found that even if there is a bit of a crew, most of em sit on the shoulder picking off the scraps and anyone with above average ability will get more waves in a day than you get in a month at home. Lohis and Pasta point can only be surfed if you stay on the island, so no boats allowed. If you go there for a week and don't get a half day of clean and perfect waves to yourself and your mate, which for me is anytime the rights are firing and all the natural footrs head for them, leaving Lohis virtually empty.

[Donweather]

Here's one of his pics at Lohi's

nikko.jpg

Sultan's was a bit bigger...


I reckon that pics pretty close to 8 foot... Solid 6 foot maybe... But definitely not the biggest i saw there.

Well there ya go......just goes to show that archives can be wrong. Nice pic BB and yeah if that was Lohi's, Sultans would have been bigger and hollower for sure.

[Chillin]

Iv seen many pics of Lohis and been there a few times now and iv never really seen it hollow and barreling, its usually a long rippable wall. For chrissy i got a coffee table book with waves from around the world and there is a pic in there where it fair dinkum looks like a pic of small pipe. I will try and get the thing in my scanner and upload it, although its a two page spread.

[boardscape avalon]

Ringa with that kind of attitude guaranteed you will have a great trip, good luck to ya..Im going to Timor this year because none of my mates can go right.Very few people in the water there.

[boardscape avalon]

Well I dug up a thread from the asl forum with me and nikko (chilliDDn) about to go (not on the same boat/resort or anything), he left a bit earlier, but i'm pretty sure we got the same swell.
DO MY BAGS OVER A SURF IN THOSE CONDITIONS RIGHT NOW!
Here's one of his pics at Lohi's

nikko.jpg

Sultan's was a bit bigger...


I reckon that pics pretty close to 8 foot... Solid 6 foot maybe... But definitely not the biggest i saw there.

[onawave]

ive done both.

if you are taking the missus, go the maldives. if you are going with mates, go the ments. but one thing ive noticed is that with the ments, its paramount you have a good captain. he must know the breaks well, so when it going off its tits, he can direct you to some more empty ones....

in my mind, id rather surf with just my mates on a slightly lesser break rather than a crowded ht's...

re the maldives. the place is setup awesomely. but yes, crowded now. but if you get the right boat, it can be a trip of a lifetime. was for me...

[boardscape avalon]

^^^^ well said

[steve shearer]

Fcuck...I'm going.

that sounds siick.

[onawave]

A good option this year would be jumping on one or two of the legs of Jim Banks's 6 month boat trip from timor to aceh.
http://www.jimbanksurf.com/surftrips.html
I applied for a job as a deckhand but didnt get it

looks like insane trips....

ive already booked a trip to the ments this year in may....

wonder if i can get another one in....

[Ken Oath]

This year will be interesting in the Ments as non Indo flag vessels cannot operate unless they pay the government a large bond or change the flag to Indo, i know of two boats that have pulled out so far, maybe a quiet year ahead

[Beanpole]

A good option this year would be jumping on one or two of the legs of Jim Banks's 6 month boat trip from timor to aceh.
http://www.jimbanksurf.com/surftrips.html
I applied for a job as a deckhand but didnt get it

looks like insane trips....

ive already booked a trip to the ments this year in may....

wonder if i can get another one in....

Geez I should have snared the mint condition 7' I saw in cash convertors a couple of years ago for $350

[zingomar]

In the Mentawais in peak season it can be pretty busy. I heard of 4 boats at Lances Lefts all day. That is full on unless you are very comfortable with taking off way inside. If you are a little more cautious and sit wider, you'll have 20 guys inside you and will get scraps and wide ones like back in Australia.

If you have the guts to sit way inside at HTs you will not notice the crowd with 4 boats there. If you sit wide you would get a few waves a session.

There are lots of spots but in smaller swells it can focus in on a few spots. We had a swell with 1-3 wave sets with 10 minutes between them for quite a few days. We did well as we were the only boat at a few spots.

Check the youtube vids and look at the crowd level to get a feel for it.