Mentawai Island: the secret to a swell time

“THIS is surfing paradise,” I thought as I flicked easily off a wave, which seemed to be descending into the setting sun.

Then I spotted noted big wave rider Tim Taplin and his dad Pete – and didn’t feel quite so cocky.

Tim, 20, has threaded more tube rides at the aptly-named Macaronis break, off the Indonesian islands, than the rest of our group combined. As I watched in awe, his dad and his mates towed each other into mountainous outer-reef breaks with all the enthusiasm of five-year-olds on monkey bars.

Australian South Coast legends, Tim and his dad were enjoying a father-son odyssey aboard chartered yacht The Barrenjoey.
Seconds after he had conquered one large peak during a memorable late afternoon surf, Pete was sledding behind the jetski, waving at me descending from my relatively pedestrian backhand turn.

But what the heck … as we paddled out, colourful tropical fish splashed at our surfboards to counterbalance the equatorial heat and glare amid this shark-free domain – happily adrift 150km west of the Indonesia island of Sumatra.

By Ben Johnson
The Sunday Telegraph