Overview of Telo's: The Telo's are made up
of two main Islands that are surrounded by about 99 smaller
islands,
situated
between
Nias
and The
Mentawai's, the area is very remote, untouched
and
sparsely populated,
geographically the islands are closer to the mentawai's, however
the people, culture, local language originated from Nias. An
extremely beautiful area, think tropical paradise.
The
waves: Generally
the waves in the Telo's are not of the same quality or consistency
as the Mentawai's, with
many
of the better
surf spots needing a solid swell to get going or a swell with
a lot of west direction in it, hence the waves can be
fickle in nature, often turning on then turning off, within
a short amount of time, due to this the area holds an air of
mystery and holds a secretive nature that has been around since
surfers
started venturing there from Nias over 20 years ago. Perhaps
for this very reason just about every surfer/charter boat/surf
resort has a different name for the surf breaks in the area,
we have only included the better known ones.
Crowd wise in the past the area has been very un crowded,
however there is now a number of surf camps/resorts there,
so perhaps it may be better to say crowds may be hit and miss,
if there's
a solid swell and light winds I'm sure there would be un
crowded waves about, but if conditions are small options can
be limited
hence
crowding may occur.
North Telo's- The waves in this area are
generally of a fairly average quality (for Indonesia), more
suited to older surfers/long boarders, often
being fat or sectiony, although there is the odd world class
set up, the better spots tend to be very fickle in nature requiring
a certain set
of
conditions hence don't show there true nature very often.
Church's/Misho's- is perhaps the most consistent
wave in the area, an average left by indo standards but still
can be a
lot of fun, fairly long sectioning lefts, generally better
surfers can take of deep and race or float a fast section,
with most other surfers taking off where the waves slow down
a little, winding through a series of sections suitable for
off the tops and cutbacks with the odd barrel, located in a
picture perfect setting between a number of islands, with
two churches in view one on separate islands. (vid says
Mentawai's but yes it's telo's)
The Boot/Max's right= A right located in
front of a surf resort this wave is on the other side of Island
that Churches left breaks
off, not as consistent as the left and more suited to a bit
better surfers, the right having more bite than the left, a
high
performance wave with a variety of sections with the possibility
of getting barreled not the longest wave, end section often
closes out on shallow
reef.
Pinnacles- Another of the more well known
reliable waves in the areas, the wave is a right that is
similar in some ways to Burger
world in the Mentawais, breaking
down the edge of a tiny picture perfect tropical island, the
wave itself unlike burger world is better with a bit more size
head high or bigger the wave peaks up outside in a peak, with
a good drop and a nice shoulder to carve the wave then tapers
of and if your lucky lines up for a nice inside section, again
not true Indo quality, but the combination of the setting,
warm water and the fact that its the kind of wave average
surfers can surf at a solid size mean its often a lot of fun.
Hollow right- (Satu batu,Corona's, Ranngas, GT's) One
of the better waves in the Telo's this wave like many waves
in the Telo's it is known by different surfers/charter
boats/camps
by many different names, it's even been featured among Mentawai
magazine articles/video's just to confuse. fairly short, but
yes this is a perfect hollow right, however there are a number
of draw
backs,
one it's fickle requiring a certain set of conditions, and
due to the nature of the area it is often a long wait between
sets, think flat 15 minutes then bang a head high set, this
combined with the small take off area, means it doesn't handle
a crowd at all, this wave also has a
habit of breaking boards and body's on it's shallow reef, definitely
only for better surfers.
School yards/Mouse traps- One of the swell
magnets of the area, a right that lines up in a unique shape,
then runs through a series of sectiony "mousetrap" like sections,
again not world class but, can be fun in the right conditions.
Off
course
there are other waves in the area, mostly rights but the odd
left, mostly either low quality that are swell magnets or higher
quality but fickle.
Mid Telo's- Generally this area requires a solid swell to
get going, although when it does there is a number of waves
(mostly lefts) many of good quality.
South Telo's- Again mostly rights of varying quality with
a few lefts thrown in the mix, this area has possibly the best
quality waves in the Telo's when on although the area is also
extremely remote.
Duru/Pasti,Rollins is a fairly reliable long right with
a number of sections including some nice barrel sections,
one of the better waves in the Telo's, again site of a surf
resort/camp.
Telo island lodge- Up market personalized
surf accommodation, located on a pristine island in the North
area, with a right out front, run by very experienced Aussie
operators(ran hinako's
hideaway until quake affected the area), aimed more at the
more mature
surfer with $$$, Max guest 8 ($500-$755pp pn, no that is not
a typing mistake, see web site) www.teloislandlodge.com
Resort latitude zero-Another high end style
resort, also run by very experienced operators, who have run
charter boats in the Sumatran islands for years, very nice
set up complete with pool a true resort, max guest 12? ($-$pp
pn) www.resortlatitudezero.com
Surfing village-Located in the south telo's
in a beautiful bay in front of a great right hander, owned
and run by two brazilians that could pass as Aussie's, a unique
set up/building design. www.surfing-village.com
Charters generally don't focus
exclusively on the telo's, but are normally included in
a trip called (north Sumatra charter) that either begins
in Sibolga near Nias on the mainland or begin in Padang
on the mainland where the charter boats for Mentawai's are
based.
North Sumatra trips generally visit
the Telo's, Nias, Hinako's and the Banyaks and sometimes
Simeulue, If conditions are not good in the Mentawai's or
very crowded, charters may also visit the telo's as part
of there trip, but this is not as common and even then they
would generally only visit the south Telo area.
Please see Mentawai boat charters for
charters boats that also do charters to this area.
