Kingfisher Mentawai Resort: A playground of perfection, by Josh Allen
Unknown to many who venture to this part of the Mentawai Islands is a playground of world class, uncrowded perfect waves at your doorstep! Sure, You have a perfect Left out the front fittingly named “Lances Left”, a super fun and hollow right hander across the bay known as “Bintangs” and of course “HT’s” which is arguably the most well-known right hander in Indonesia about 10mins away by speed boat.
But what makes this place special is the close proximity to many other surf breaks and hidden treasures you wouldn’t know about unless you stay at Kingfisher.
Ben and his crew have this region so dialed that you will not see Ben or his surf guides looking at swell charts or maps your entire stay, they have been here so long and know the area so well that they know exactly what’s going on at any time throughout the day. One day we were surfing perfect glassy Lances Left and Ben advised we should leave for another fun right hander in about 25mins because the wind was about to swing cross-onshore. One of the boys said “you must be kidding, its pumping out here!” Well…Ben was right! Sure enough, almost to the minute the wind started to swing from the North East creating an onshore chop in the Lances left wall and increasingly harder to surf. We did as we were told, climbed on board the speed boat and within 20 minutes we were surfing another right hander with absolutely no one else out. “You must be kidding, its pumping out here” one of the boys shouted in a slightly different tone of voice.
Kingfisher is also located close to a plethora of D’Bah style beachies scattered throughout! About 25mins South of Kingfisher is a super fun beach break which picks up a lot of swell and works well in most winds. We surfed perfect punchy rights hugging a shallow sandbank for 2 hours allowing for up to 5 turns and the odd cover up here and there. Obviously you come to Indo to surf reefs but when the beachies are this good you are always willing to make an exception.
The other great thing about Kingfishers location is the way the currents work around the island making it extremely inviting for fish to present themselves…Spearfishing is hugely popular with most surfers who come to Kingfisher and you can normally score the odd GT, coral trout, Spanish mackeral and an array of tuna out the front, near Bintangs and at a nearby reef which meets the mouth of the mangroves a bit further south. All spearfishing and fishing equipment is provided by Kingfisher but you are welcome to pack your own as the equipment is a little old school.
If you are looking at spending a little time out of the water, resting those tired limbs from so much surfing or simply want to do some exploring around the island. Kingfisher provide free scooters for all their guests. A great thing to do during your stay is to venture through the jungle as a group on the scooters. With 100 yr old palms on either side and friendly waving locals scattered throughout various villages you can travel from Lances Left to HT’s in roughly 20 mins depending on the terrain and how hard you are willing to push your bike up and down the bumpy terrain. Scooters are equipped with board racks too which makes it a bit easier on the daily surf check.
If you are interested in booking a trip to one of the best surf adventures in the World Surfaris range, look no further than Kingfisher Mentawai Resort. It has everything you want from comfortable air conditioned rooms, huge meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, enough wifi to reach family and friends back home and the best service money can buy from Ben Pike and his team of hard workers.
In 2017 Kingfisher Mentawai Resort will be hosting the winning team of the Australian Boardriders Battle. As part of our sponsorship of this event all you have to do is mention the ‘ABB’ to immediately receive $150 off your Kingfisher booking. We also have a 10% off deal currently running until the end of Feb 2017. This is a huge saving off a great package with great value for money.
We look forward to helping you out with your Kingfisher Mentawai Resort stay in 2017!