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Mentawai Surf Trip
 The Mentawai Islands are a chain of about
seventy islands and islets off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia.
Siberut (4,030 km²) is the largest of the islands. The other major islands
are Sipura, North Pagai (Pagai Utara) and South Pagai (Pagai Selatan). The
islands lie approximately 150 km off the Sumatran coast, across the
Mentawai Strait. The indigenous inhabitants of the islands are known as
the Mentawai people. The Mentawai Islands have become a noted destination
for surfing.
History
Following the Pleistocene glaciation, the
Mentawai Islands were separated once more from the Sumatran mainland by
rising sea levels. The Mentawai people are estimated to have arrived on
the islands somewhere between 2000 and 500 BCE, migrating from the north
through Siberut and then moving south to Sipora and the Pagai islands.
Their Austronesian language, their customs and habits of life indicated as
early as Crisp's report an origin that was distinct from the nearby coast
of Sumatra.
The Portuguese were aware of the islands
early in the 17th century: a map dated 1606 shows Siberut as "Mintaon". In
August 1792 John Crisp, an employee of the British East India Company,
visited the Pagai ("Poggy") islands at his own expense to study the
Mentawai people. His account was published in 1799,[1] providing the first
details of the Mentawai people in western literature. The Mentawai Islands
officially became part of the Dutch East Indies on 10 July 1864, not
having been subject to the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. In 1901 the German
Royal Missionary Society established a presence on the south coast of
North Pagai island at the invitation of the Dutch colonial authorities.
The first missionary was murdered, and it wasn't until 1915 that the first
person was converted, with the program then being extended to other
islands.
After Indonesian independence, Catholic Italian missionaries established a
presence in the islands. Post-independence government policies relocated
the indigenous population into villages, in contrast to their traditional
dispersed house groups (uma), with the aim of promoting "development".
Cultural tourism started to develop in the late 1980s, and when in the
mid-1990s world-class waves were discovered by some Australian surfers,
surfing tourism started to develop.
The island of Siberut was extensively logged
from the 1970s after the government granted logging permits for most of
the island. In 1993, the logging concessions were revoked and about half
the island was declared a national park. In 2001 logging recommenced after
a new logging permit was granted for an area of 500 km².
Culture
The Mentawai live in the traditional dwelling called the uma which is a
longhouse and is made by weaving bamboo strips together to make walls and
thatching the roofs with grass, the floor is raised on stilits and is made
of wood planks.
The main clothing for men is a loin cloth and they are adorned with
necklaces and flowers in their hair and ears. Women wear the same thing
except they wear a piece of cloth wound around the waist. Women wear small
sleevless vests and they sharpen their teeth with a chisel for aesthetic
reasons. Tattooing is done with a needle and wood which is hammered on the
needle.
Men hunt wild pigs and deer. Women and children gather wild yams and other
wild food. Small animals are hunted by women. The Mentawai keep pigs and
dogs and sometimes chickens as pets.
How to Get to Mentawai Islands, Indonesia
Mentawai Islands, Indonesia is isolated from the rest of the world. To
visit at the island you need to fly to Singapore (7 hours from Sydney),
stay overnight there, and then fly to Padang (an Indonesian Port) (1hr
20min flight). From Padang, the only mode to reach at Mentawai Islands is
boat, which takes an overnight 10-hour journey to straight waves.
Mentawai Waves - Surf Breaks
If you visit at Mentawai Island, Indonesia,
you can see various waves in this chain of islands such as E-Bay, Nipussi,
Pit Stops, Bankvaults, Kanduis, Scarecrows, Telescopes, Iceland, Bintangs,
Lances Left, Hollow Trees, Maccaroni's, KFC’s, and Thunders.
Mentawai
surf Trip Package
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