Naish Team Rider Gareth Grant Scores in Mentawais

Naish Team Rider Gareth Grant recently spent some time in the Mentawai Islands, Sumatra. The Mentawai Islands are a group of Islands off Indonesia, which are the mecca for surfers. Surfing has become an industry in itself with surfers converging on this region from all over the world. Surfers first discovered this area in the 1980’s, and name breaks have been photographed extensively including HT’s & Rifles. Travel options are either stay at one of the land camps (Wavepark & Kandui are good options) scattered through the islands or take a boat charter and let the captain try and discover uncrowded perfect waves.

For those of you who don’t know, Gareth spent 4 years living in the UK and was the UK Surf SUP winner in  2011 and represented the UK at the ISA World Champs in Peru.

Gareth spent 10 days in May with local SUP ripper Jim Richardson on the Mangalui ( Mangalui.com). A purpose built surf charter boat which prides itself of finding uncrowded waves, depending on the swell and weather conditions. Gareth said, “The Captain of the Mangalui is exceptional eg. waking at 2.00am to steam off to the next wave, arriving at dawn for the first surf of the day. Nothing is a problem for the Mangalui staff, dropping and picking surfers up from the line up at the surfers whim, even to re apply sunscreen or a change of board. The chef produces amazing food and even caters for the Captains vegetarian requirements. Each evening the gang decide what the next days wave options are, and the decision is made to either stay in the same place or venture off in search of more perfect waves.”

SB/ What boards did you ride?
GG/ The go to board was the 8″0 Hokua LE (80 litres). A versatile, nimble board ideal for paddling into waves but giving the ability to turn quickly. The board is so responsive, as the Naish Hokua range have such refined rails enabling rail to rail surfing. Another good option was the 7″6 Hokua which was so quick down the line. I have been riding Naish boards some many years and the 2014 Hokua boards are the best I have ridden.

SB/ What is the best time to travel to the Mentawais?
GG/ There is surf all year round, however the peak season is from April through to September / October. Companies like ‘The Perfect Wave Travel’ can advise on the best time to go for varying abilities.

SB/ Quads or Thruster?
GG/ I rode a Quad setup, using Shapers Core Lite AM2. Quads have a lot of speed, which help when a section needs to be made.

SB/ What are you doing back in Australia now?
GG/ My family has resettled and kids are at school. Apart from work, I am SUPing as much as possible, competing when I can and trying to give the young grommets a run!

SB/ Who are your sponsors?
GG/ Naish Australia, Wind Surf Snow, Shapers Fins.

Have you been to the Mentawais yet SUPboarders? If not then it’s definitely a place to add to your SUP wish list!