Indonesia - Sumba - Surf - April 2010

Sumba surfing


15/4/10 – cloudy rain

I arrived late in the afternoon. The surf was wild but there were reasonably sized and good waves breaking all over the reefs and along the beach. Too late to surf but it was nice watching.

16/4/10 – sunny

I had an early 1 metre plus surf at low tide on the left over the reef. It was a good wave that continued onto the beach and ended on sand.

At about mid day, I surfed at a right that formed up directly in front of the resort at high tide. It was about 1 metre plus with a good takeoff and a long fast wall that ended full in deep water. It was a lot of fun and the water was very clear underneath.

In the afternoon, I surfed on the beach rights which were okay at about ½ to 1metre.

17/4/10 sunny

I had early surf on the left at about 1 metre but it was a bit sluggish and closing out on the beach section. The waves were far between.

I paddled off the reef and down the beach where there was a small ½ metre right peeling for a short distance close to shore.

After that, I decided that the swell was dropping too much for this venue and would try my luck at Sumba 2.

17/04/10 – sunny, cloud, rain

I arrived late afternoon. Surf was breaking well but a long, long way out to sea.

18/04/10 – sunny

Long and fun head height waves for morning surf and afternoon surf.

19/04/10 – sunny, rain

Morning surf was ½ head height and a little bumpy.

A boat arrived in the afternoon with a number of friendly Austrian surfers. I had a fun ½ head height surf with them late in the afternoon.

20/04/10 – rain, cloud

I was starting to get a cold.

Surf was very small though the Austrians got themselves a few fun waves early morning before they left on their way to Bali.

21/04/10 – sunny

I took some flu tablets for the cold. I had a later morning surf in half head height waves that were fun, fast and breaking close to the reef.

The afternoon surf was excellent with head height plus waves.

22/04/10- sunny

Took flu tablets but I felt like crap.

The surf had picked up to double head height. The take off was fast and furious and there was a lot of water movement. My first wave was looking good but ended up bad with me being dragged under for ages and pummelled by endless sets after that. I managed two more waves but I was stuffed.

Back to Sumba 1

23/4/10

Not encouraging enough to surf.

24/4/10

The window of surf opportunity opened in the afternoon with the left breaking 1/2 metre off the reef into deep water. The wave was breaking deeper on the reef so the ride was long and fun.

25/4/10

No waves, too small.

Indonesia - Sumba - Tarimbang - Hill View - April 2010

We travelled to the top of the hill for mobile phone coverage. The views were amazing.

When the generator, which provides power, was off, there was mobile phone coverage in the resort. Still, the drive was worth it.

Indonesia - Sumba - Tarimbang - HIKE - April 2010

The walk from martens to the beach was about 500 metres.

The beginning of the walk was along a narrow track pass a number of wooden and thatched houses. The locals were friendly. There was music coming from one house, which was a bit puzzling as there was no electricity nor was there a generator operating.

After the houses, we followed the road to the beach or there was a turnoff part of the way down the road through the jungle. The jungle was thick along the road with intermittent houses and small fields. The biggest problems were the dogs that roam freely. They were aggressive and intimidating. If one started barking or howling, others would appear and join in the game of terrorise and eat the tourist. Mind you, the locals eat the dogs. Blacked furred dogs are the preferred dog to eat.

The jungle track was cool as it ended suddenly on the beach and the vista of the stunning beach and headlands. Monkeys are living in the nearby jungle but I didn’t see any.

Where the road ends are a number of concrete slabs which, I was told by the king of tarimbang are graves. It was a popular spot for locals to sit, mainly because everywhere else was muddy.

The beach is white sand with safe swimming. A small river empties into the sea just beyond the road ending. We helped the king of Tarimbang cross the river by carrying him. He was built like a match stick and looked about 100 years old.

Towards the headland were the fishing canoes. Beyond them were the headland cliffs and small inlets.

The beach and headlands are an amazing beautiful sight.

Indonesia - Sumba - Tarimbang - Martens Homestay - April 2010

Mobile - 085281165137


Cost - 150 000 rupiah per night with three meals. Coffee is available all day.

Marten’s is run by Marten, who is a friendly guy. His wife runs the shop at the front of the ‘resort’. There are a number of people working there but nobody seemed to be doing nothing much.

The car/driver from Waingapu is 650 000 rupiah for a three hour journey which is quite rugged in the last hour.

On arrival, it took awhile to get the room organised. Marten collects your money, etc and you each count and write in on a piece of paper and sign. He then puts it in safe keeping. No money is needed while here. Things bought in the shop are written in a book and you pay at the end of the stay.

The guest rooms have a small veranda and room with a thatched roof on stilts. The bed is a mouldy mattress on the floor with a mouldy pillow. This is covered by a mosquito net. Nails are the coat hangers around the room. When these rooms are full guests stay in the staff rooms.

There is a shared bathroom and toilet.

There is a large entertainment area with a few chairs, lounges and tables. There is one power socket which works when the generator is working. Locals come in the evening to recharge their mobiles. The meals are served in this room and guests eat in groups of four sharing a number of Indonesian dishes.

The staff is reasonably friendly and helpful to a certain degree.

Advice

Buy these things in Waingapu

A mattress, a pillow and fruit, especially, oranges

Get a lightweight hammock in Bali about 100 000 to 120 000 rupiah

Torch

Indonesia - Sumba - Kelala to Tarimbang - April 2010

Kelala to Waingapu 500 000 rupiah


Waingapu to Kelala 650 000 rupiah

This was a long drive.

As the crow flies, the distance isn’t too far but the roads in Sumba are different. The drive from Kelala to Waingapu went via the south and east coast which is relatively flat. It lasted 2 ½ hours.

The second leg of the journey from Waingapu to Tarimbang involves hills and badly maintained roads during the last hour. The drive was 3 ½ hours.

There was a lot of rain which isn’t much fun in steep and windy roads which are deeply potholed.

Indonesia - Sumba - Kelala, Mr David's Resort - April 2010

Mr David’s resort - 350 000 rupiah per night with three meals


Telephone - 081337873589 ask for David.

Sumba driver with reasonable English – Youdi – 085253497776

Waingapu to Kelala – 500 000 rupiah one way

Mr David’s resort is in Kelala in the east of Sumba. It is next to a beautiful while sand beach and reefs with reasonable surfing waves.

The sleeping area is a ‘villa’ made of wood on stilts. There are two rooms per villa. The two rooms share a wide veranda that has some chairs, table and hammock. The rooms are large and consist of a mattress and base with an overhanging mosquito net. The only other piece of furniture is an open cupboard to put a few things. There is also a power point. Power is only on while the generator is running. At the rear of the villa is a shared bathroom with a traditional showering area and a western toilet with a traditional flush system (that is, scoop up the water from the mandi to flush the toilet. Overall, it is basic but very roomy and clean.

There is a huge eating/entertainment area at the entrance of the resort. It is a wooden building with plenty of tables to sit at for dinner and heaps of chairs and lounges on the other side to watch television or DVDs.

The three meals are included in the price and are served at the tables. They are huge and if you are still hungry just ask for more. While I was there I had lobster, whole fish, beef steak and fish curries. These were all served with vegetables, rice and a variety of tapa type dishes like avocadoes, and hummus. The meals were excellent. This is good because there is nowhere else to eat or nearby shops. The kitchen was very clean.

David wasn’t there while I was there but his wife and three helpers looked after me very well without fussing or hovering. In fact, they were all pretty shy so if you want something, you need to ask.

The ‘package’ cost 350 000 rupiah per night, which is a pretty good deal considering the meals that were offered. I never did finish all thee meal and I’m a big eater.

The drinks – soft drink, beer and extra water – cost more but were fairly priced. Water was offered with meals at no charge.

Overall, I though the place was excellent. It was quiet, peaceful and clean.

I went twice to Mr David’s. The first time I was on my own and the only guest there. The second time, I came with Ross and there was another guest there, named Eric. Eric was a different sort of person with a lot of stories to tell.

Indonesia - Sumba - Kelala Beach - HIKE - April 2010

The beach at Kelala is a long, long beautiful white sand beach lined with umbrella palm trees. At the western end, the beach is long, wide and sandy with good swimming and the northern end has a narrow beach with a series of reefs that jut out to sea. Waves crash on the outside fringe of the reefs curving inwards at the reef openings. On shore the waves lapped peacefully at my feet.

I had a number of walks along the beach in both directions. There were few local people and mainly I met cows, butterflies and the odd dog or two.

 

The fishing boats which were far between were of the paddle dugout type. The fishermen huts were thatched and the area around them was roughly fenced.

 

The sunrise was serene and the sunsets were an awesome display of changing colours. The sunset show lasted for what seemed like hours.

indonesia - Legian bali to Kelala Sumba - april 2010

After a night’s rest in Legian, Bali I was ready to move on to Sumba.

I caught a taxi to the domestic airport in the morning and bought a ticket to Waingapu in Sumba. It cost 725 000 rupiah with Merpati. I checked in and this time my surfboard cost 125 000 rupiah. The domestic departure tax was 30 000 rupiah.

I called David at Mr David’s resort at Kelala in Sumba to book a car and check room availability. There was no problem with rooms and a car would be at Waingapu airport to pick me up. The car was 500 000 rupiah.

The flight was good with no problems. At Waingapu, I walked from the plane to the small air terminal for a ‘customs’ and my bags. These arrived a short time later but the area was so small it was difficult to get my surfboard without bowling a couple of people over.

The car hadn’t arrived but one of the transport drivers rang David and he ended up driving me the 2 hours to Kelala.

The drive was amazing. We didn’t pass through one town, even though they were indicated on the map. Basically, a town constituted a number of houses and huts that were in reasonable proximity to each other. The traffic consisted of a handful of cars and about two handfuls of motorbikes. The road was one lane and in reasonable condition. The landscape was very dry and very flat with some crops and livestock.

Nearer to Kelala the landscape became a bit hillier and the vegetation lusher. It was raining at this point onwards. The final leg into Kelala was on a sandy road/track.

The resort was very open and there were no problems with my arrival. I was the only guest there.

I checked into my ‘villa’ which was a large clean room on stilts with a large veranda and checked the beach/surf. The surf looked okay but a bit wild and the beach/sunset was awesome.

Indonesia - Lakey, Sumbawa to Legian, Bali - april 2010

The surfed looked good as we were leaving Lakey on 14 April 2010.


We paid our food/drink bills, said goodbyes to our Sumbawa bike mates then our van took us to Bima airport. There were a few of us in the van so it was a little crowded.

The drive was about 2 hours of lush hills, salt marshes, green rice fields, busy towns and laid-back villages. At Bima airport, we paid a departure tax of about 10 000 rupiah and 50 000 rupiah for my surfboard.

The flight was clear in parts with great views over Sumbawa, Lombok, Nusa Penida and Bali.

We touched down in Bali, went through customs and we said our goodbyes. Marty, Nick, Nick and Mat were off to Berewa and then Nick and Nick were off to G-land. Me, I was off to Legian and the Kumala Hotel for some resting, beers, stone massage and food. The taxi from the airport was 120 000 rupiah (60 000 for my board.

Indonesia - Sumbawa - Hu'u, motorbike and dinner at Jay's - April 2010

 

 

Hu’u is the small village to the west of Lakey. It consists of a main road with a number of dirt roads branching off in a rectangle shape. The homes are fenced and dotted along the main road and the side roads.

12/04/10 - sunny

I went the first time through the village with Harry my motorbike driver. The people were very friendly saying hello or waving.

I met Harry’s wife and some of his kids as well as visited his house. Further along through the village, we met Jay’s wife and some of her family.

13/04/10 - sunny

On the second visit, we were all invited to jay’s home for dinner. Jay was Marty’s motorbike driver. The meal was really nice and we got to meet more of his family.

We had a great time after dinner with Marty giving away stickers and Marty and Nick buying fish. It caused a mini riot but it was in the name of good fun.

Indonesia - Sumbawa - Periscopes - surf, HIKE, motorcycle - April 2010

Periscopes is a bit of a distance from Lakey Beach. Like most breaks around the area transport is required or else be prepared for a long walk.

The motorcycle ride to Pericopes can go two ways:

1. Along the road – We drove along the main road swerving around the potholes, goats, horses and whatever. Just before the large sign announcing the beginning of Hu’u village there is a dirt track which follows a canal leading the surf at Periscopes. Along this track there are a number of makeshift plastic sheet homes and huts. It is quite a sight passing people living, preparing food, washing and bathing along the edge of the track and canal. Most seem to be itinerant field workers.

The track becomes very bumpy and narrow passing tall elephant grasses and rice fields. Eventually the track ends and the bikes are parked and we climb over a small bamboo fence and walk the short distance to the beach.
2. The second way is via the beach. There is a sandy track to Nungas then it is over the small sand dunes and down onto the ‘hard’ beach sand. The ride is exciting, especially, while holding on to your surfboard. Now and again the bike would spin out when the sand became too soft. There is a small shallow river crossing, where all control of the bike is just about gone. Better to walk this section. It is a cool way to get to the surf and far quicker than the road.

Periscopes is a right reef break. It is a fun, fast, variable and good wave.

10 April 2010 – sunny

We had our first surf at Periscopes late in the afternoon. It was about 1 metre plus with just a few guys out. A great wave though the wind was a bit strong.

11 April 2010 – sunny

We had morning surf at Periscopes at 1 metre. Fun!

The afternoon surf was blown out by onshore winds. We had a walk on the reef during the low tide. Lots of sea creatures!

Looked again in the afternoon but it was blown out so we went reef walking.

12 April 2010 – sunny

Once again a morning surf at about 1 metre plus. There were some good waves.

13 April 2010 – sunny

We had very early surf at Periscopes. There were only two of us out for the first hour. Great waves! After two hours the crowd increased heaps and it became a little intense. Luckily, I was inshore by then and watched the tension and drop-ins mount.