m e n t a w a i :: f u s i o n™ ....a new way to surf mentawai.....

Surfing Families New Wave in Mentawais

Getting wet in the Mentawais just got a lot easier for the majority of surfers on the planet.....the ones with families!

Everyone wants to surf Mentawai but pulling together the minimum group of 6 to 8 guys to charter a boat is about as much fun as herding cats. Getting shacked in perfect Mentawai barrels has always been worth the months of planning and the drama of crossing 100 miles of ocean on a small boat but clearly most surfers who have been through the boat-trip wringer are ready for something more laid back and buffed.

Mentawai Sanctuary have been working overtime to deliver a new composite surf vacation that takes all the stress out of booking and organizing a visit. They are marketing these new surf vacation packages under the   m e n t a w a i : : f u s i o n ™ label.

MS Sales Coordinator, Jesse Liddon, explained the concept."If you have ever tried to organize a group to go out on a surf charter you know how much work it is.... and thankless work a lot of the time. Most surfers who try to set up "boys only" or "girls only trips" vow never to do it again!"

The Mentawai Sanctuary team have gone to great lengths to take all the stress out of the booking process and give surfers and their families a lot of choices so they can customize their vacation exactly the way they want it. Everything can be arranged on-line including your deposit and final payment and our resort based packages have no minimum number to confirm a booking. Invite your friends by all means but just give them the website address and let them do the rest themselves. The booking process is backed up by Adventure Engine, the world's biggest portal for on-line adventure packages.

"We are the first surf company in the Mentawais to offer combinations of a week ashore and a week on a live-aboard" Jesse added. Surfers can book as singles, couples or groups and they can mix and match and change dates even while they are out in the islands. "We wanted to spice up the atmosphere and appeal to women. 

The market has been dominated by  "trips for the boys" and while the surf is unbeatable, guys start missing their families and partners after about a week and vice versa. So we thought, why not make it possible for the guys to surf on the boat for the first week and then the family can fly in for the second week and spend the rest of the vacation together at a small luxury resort like Lance's HTs Lodge". A lot of the girls are opting to spend the first week in Bali so this works out for everyone.

The concept would not have been possible without the cooperation of Island Aid. The not-for-profit now has the use of a small ship to support community programs in these remote islands but they need to keep the boat running and cover overheads. Jesse clarified how this work.

"Every guest that travels to Mentawai on the ship is contributing 50% of their fare towards paying for the infrastructure needed to support humanitarian work. We are finding that visiting surfers are increasingly interested in the idea of giving something back to the area. And the new ship is fantastic to travel on. She powers along like a locomotive on rails and we can travel in comfort at night so we get to see and surf a lot of remote locations in a short time on the live-aboard legs".

The new ship, "Lautan Megah" or "Great Ocean" is much larger than the conventional surf charter boats on offer in the Mentawais. She is 100 tons and 100 ft of solid GRP and Yanmar factory engineering, yet she uses less fuel than most boats half her size. Lautan Megah's schedule connects with Tiger Airways Tuesday flight from Singapore to Padang both inbound and outbound and she crosses the 100 mile wide Mentawai Straits overnight so no surf time is lost. 

"Families are going to love being aboard this little ship. She feels so stable and safe and the crossing is now a highlight of the trip.... she is a great party boat and yet you would never know once you are below in your cabin". Lautan Megah runs a door-to-door service so there is no mucking round with punishing speedboat rides and domestic carriers.

"We have priced these  m e n t a w a i : : f u s i o n ™  packages below the luxury charter boat trips so that families can afford to visit the Mentawais for the first time" 

Contact Jesse via the members page.

For information about community efforts go to: www.island-aid.org