Winter is coming.
Time to start thinking about a tropical surf trip.
Weather deteriorates, you start missing surfing
And soon our Instagram inbox starts filling with questions…
Is the Shoulder Season Worth it?
In one sentence: it is!
But it is not that simple.
That is why we have prepared this article for you.
The Size of the Waves
The first thing you need to understand is that the Mentawai Islands are “facing” south – southwest.
Therefore, they receive storm swells from the southern hemisphere, which originate in the large area circled in the image below.
These storms occur with greater strength and intensity in the southern hemisphere winter, when the weather is more vigorous there.
But during the summer in the southern hemisphere, these storms do not go away.
They only decrease in intensity.
Although weaker than winter storms, those storms still exist in the summer, and send medium-sized swells into Indonesia with great frequency.
It is in the summer months that intermediate surfers will rarely get into too big of a wave.
And the more experienced surfer will still find plenty of fun.
The surf is above 3 feet virtually every day, and you will rarely find another boat to share the lineup with.
To prove my point, I stopped writing, went to MagicSeaWeed, and looked at the forecast for Pitstops, one of my favorite right-handers. For the next 7 days, starting today, the forecast is here:
See that?
3 Feet Everyday.
The Legend of High Season
But then why is there this legend that the season in Indonesia goes from April to October?
I can explain it….
This conventional wisdom was created because of the winds….
The most famous waves in Indonesia…. Desert Point, Uluwatu, Padang, Supersucks, G-land etc, are all left-handers.
And are all located in an area of Indonesia where the predominant winds are southeast (SE), or so called tradewinds.
As you can see from the crude illustration I made below, this wind is offshore on the lefts.
It turns out that this predominance of tradewinds winds only happens in the winter months of the southern hemisphere!!!
In the summer months, the predominant wind is west, which is onshore for the lefts.
And then the conventional wisdom was created… “Indonesia’s season only lasts from April to October….”
But It’s Nothing Like That
This area where the lefts prevail, and where all these famous waves are located, is restricted to the south of Krui.
And not the whole of Indonesia.
It is only the most explored part of the country (Area 2 on the map below).
Are you following how conventional wisdom is created?
In area 1, on the other hand, where the Mentawais and Banyaks islands are located, tradewinds don´t prevail, and the waves refract a lot, breaking “around” the islands.
So there will always be somewhere offshore.
So the winter months in the northern hemisphere deliver high quality surfing there too!!!
Mind the Rain
The only thing you have to pay attention to if you are willing to travel to Indonesia in the northern hemisfere winter is the rainfall.
And I have a simple tip for that:
Don´t go in January and December.
It rains almost every day, all over Indonesia.
So leave your trip for November or March and you won’t go wrong.
Aloha
That’s it for today!
If you are interested in booking a trip in the Shoulder Season, call us on WhatsApp by clicking on the floating button.
Have a Good One!
