A bald island

My favorite island in the Mentuis has one resilient coconut tree.

A mere 100 sq feet of golden sand support this lonely piece of vvood from being another flotsome ( a floating log) Kevin maneuvers the boat around.

In an area full of lushly wooded islands with world-class breaking waves, this bald island awkwardly holds its own. The ocean is eroding it from all sides and in a few years it will be a memory.

Nature is constantly changing, but I admire the courage of this piece of land for not going down without a fight.

The rest of the islands are transforming as well, but instead of mother nature orchestrating the music, it’s man making noise.

The islands in the Mentowise are lush, sandy pictures of paradise and the graceful waves the breach the shores arouse the desire of surfers from around the world and from every socio-economic background. (Well all the islands except my “Charlie Brown” sandbox of an island.)

The Mentowise islands are off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia and are renovvned for their vvaves. Surfers flock here by speed boats from Sumatra.

For the budget travelers there are losmans, cheap rooms or homestays that offer basic accommodation including a bed and a mosquito net. Or for a higher price, and level of comfort, resorts offer western conveniences including internet and air-conditioning. Both are mostly catering to the surfers: losmans have walking trails that lead to waves and resorts have speed boats that cart guests around to the happening waves.
In the water it doesn’t seem to matter where you’ve come from because everyone is there for the same dream: to ride a perfect barrel.

The seasonal (about May to September) fleet of buzzing boats and boards is grovving.

Kevin has been coming to the same surf for four years and “I’d be the only one in the water during this time of year,” he says everyday when we pull the boat up to the surf and see 15 guys making a splash.

Things are achangin around here. Word is out about the tropical paradise and the world is moving in.

Around the island Kevin and I frequent, which has waves: bang-bang, ebay, pit stop and napussy, I’ve met (or at least watched through binoculars guys and girls from Canada, USA, Argentina, Japan, France and Australia surfing.

I don't meet many people because I steer clear of the reef-breaking surf, but it's amazing to vvatch people successfully surf these advanced vvaves -- and painful to vvatch them vvipe out.

My hope is that vvhile this place vvill continues to grovv in popularity it can maintain its unspoiled beauty and the "little guys" like my favorite island are overlooked or pushed aside.