MENTAWAII 2010 TAKE 2… BOTIK RESORT “LIVE THE LIFE YOU LOVE”

And after a boat trip throughout the Mentawaii islands for10 days nothing like spending more time on the islands but this this time staying on land in order to enjoy the maximum of what both of these great surfing experiences can offer. If while on a boat if you have more mobility to seek more distant waves, on a resort the comfort to be installed on the ground in front of a paradisiacal beach is a luxury and at the same time a visual therapy. On May 29th I came down from the AILEOITA-2 on the island of Botik where I would spend 12 days installed at the BOTIK RESORT of my good friend Mario.

The Botik Resort is located in the region of Palygrounds in the heart of this area that has the greatest diversity of perfect waves in a short distance of all Mentawaii....Waves like Riffles, No Kandu, E-Bay, Hideways, Bank Vaults and Pitstops are only some of which any session may become the best of your life! Add to that a structure worthy of luxury villas in Bali where two large houses with two bedrooms each with AC and fan featuring 2 large double beds, a bathroom and huge balcony with huge sofas to relax accommodate a maximum of 8 people ensuring the exclusivity and lack of crowd. In addition the resort has two boats to take guests to the surf sessions daily allowing each group of four people to choose where to surf.

The entire resort was built in the middle of the local vegetation and has an excellent restaurant with cable TV on a plasma screen, Internet WIFI access, food western style with balanced meals ensuring maximum energy to the surf sessions.

And it was with this perfect structure that we spent 12 days surfing in the most consisten area of the Mentawai islands ...

As soon as I arrived the weather was weird with strong winds and few waves so I decided to get some work done on the internet and enjoy a little rest with all this structure after the boat trip. Then would come to Bali a couple of customers Fabio “Pulga” and Catarina who had contacted me by email to be booked at the resort the same week that I ... another great advantage of modern technology as I had contact with them via e-mail through my cell phone while still on the boat in the Mentawaii in places where there was signal and the phone worked.

Besides this couple, already at the resort were my good friend Petro and his wife but they were already leaving, the professional photographer Felipe Oliveira and my friend the owner of the resort Mario with his girlfriend Melissa...we would be very fortunate, only four surfers with the entire resort for us. Simply perfect!

On the third day the couple arrived, the wind dropped and the waves began to break all over the spots and "mission surf was again on the priority of the day.

We started our surf sessions with a powerful Bank Vaults with 5 - 6 feet heavy and a bit wobbly where some waves were closing out but the ones that opened provided good barrels. Then we went to Nipussi where the waves had 4 - 5 feet with a better shape. Surfing in warm tropical crystal clear waters in front of white sandy beaches full of coconut trees in the background is really a dream and after every session we couldn’t stop to make coments and admire the lysergic scenery typical of the Mentawaii. On the way back and forth to the waves passing through these islands, usually with a red-orange sunset in the back was another constant that kept us regularly in a state of nirvana ...

On the week that followed we surfed really good waves in 4Bobs, Nipussi, Aframes and Bank Vaults until one of the pearls of the region decided to wake up. On June 4th in the morning there was a good medium swell pulsing in the region and the wind and tidal conditions were perfect for Riffles. We went to check and our jaws dropped with what we saw...Perfect rights of 4 - 5 feet very long were pelling endlessly by hundreds of meters providing between 5-6 barrel sessions from the outside to the inside by the channel being licked by a light offshore breeze. A mild crowd of about 20-30 surfers were spread among all sessions of the reef ensuring that everyone could catch the wave they wanted without having to compete...we surfed till we got exausted...deep tubes, long wave sessions being crossed at high speed, quick turns session between one barrel section and another...the best surf session of this trip was taking place and the scene was absurdly perfect.

After we finished surfing the tide began to drop, strong winds came and the weather began to get very bad... On our way back to the resort, black clouds came strong at us and we even saw a mini tornado to form...we arrived at the resort and the wind started blowing very strong sweeping the ocean...we could not not believe how everything had changed so fast...that morning had been blessed!

During the following days a strong wind punished the region and we always surfed Nipussi as it was the only protected spot in the region. Perfect rights of 4-5 feet were the main menu of the last days of the trip.

On the last day of the trip I was pleased to meet some great Australian longtime friends from Bali who were beginning their trip on a boat; Critta Byrne, Trent and a group of friends from Woollongong shared the waves and the laughter with us on this that was our last day in paradise.

We returned to the resort, packed our things and went to have dinner early because our journey would begin at 05 am the next day...we ended up leaving only at 09am due to a strong wind that blew throughout the night and early morning preventing our departure from the island by a speed boat that would take us straight to the city of Padang as we had planned...so we ended up going to Siberut to catch the ferry to go out that night to Padang. In Siberut we heard that another boat the like the one we would use for the trip had crossed the storm at sea breaking in half and three people had not yet been found...but that was another story!

As we sailed back to Padang, memories of absurdly perfect waves, starry nights on the beach front of the resort and amazing sceneries were going in my head like a movie making sure I’d have to come back soon...

Mentawaii islands, the place where all your dreams come true!!

ALOHA!!