Surf Solomon Islands – Scoping the Solomons

Source: http://www.coastalwatch.com
Text and photos: Brad Malyon

As surfers most of us embrace that sense of adventure that is part of a well-deserved surf trip. Whether it’s half an hour up or down the coast or boarding a dodgy chicken boat in Padang Harbour, it doesn’t matter, its all about leaving the hustle and bustle of everyday life. We all love it and in most cases it’s all about that “search” for perfection that drives our wandering souls. So when I received a phone call from Coastalwatch editor Horvath to document a surf trip with three amazingly talented pro surfers to some out of the way destination I jumped at the chance, saying yes before I even knew where in the world I was going.

All I comprehended after my first briefing was that we were off to the Solomon Islands, somewhere out in the Pacific.

Fast forward to when I was gazing through the window of our trusty twin otter plane overlooking a series of perfect reef passes with Californian Benji Weatherly, and coolie rippers Shaun Harrington and Brent Dorrington alongside me, and I knew we were in for something special.

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Surf Pacific Islands – Without a trace

 

Source: http://www.coastalwatch.com
Text: Reggae Ellis
Photos: Dave Sparkes

The first time I had a chance to go to the Mentawais was way back in 1992, the trip Tom Carroll, Ross Clarke-Jones and some mutual friends did on the Indies Trader before it was a charter boat and when only a handful of people knew about the waves up there. The crew on that original trip were the only surfers in the Mentawais at the time, experiencing a sense of isolation and adventure that few surfers will ever share, surfing perfect waves, never knowing what lay around the next corner.

For reasons I can no longer remember, I didn’t make it on to that trip and I didn’t make it up there until 1997. By that stage the surf charter business was growing quickly and the days of scoring waves with only your fellow boat passengers were gone with usually another one, maybe two boats anchored off the best breaks. Of course, things have changed dramatically over the past decade, with the once-secret islands being the most photographed and filmed surf studio in the world. The result is land camps, dozens of boats and 40 surfers out at some of the breaks. For the Mentawais, the days of being Mysto Indo are long gone.

Fortunately the world is a big place and there are still plenty of virgin and uncrowded waves to be surfed. When I heard that the original Indies Trader was again on a voyage of discovery, this time searching for waves within a group of 100 islands in the Pacific, I wasn’t going to repeat my mistake of 1992. The surf potential of the islands is vast, and little is known. Distance and a history of military no-go areas in the islands has restricted any surf exploration over the past 50 years so it means the opportunity to surf new waves in pristine tropical waters with absolutely no other surfers other than those you are with still exists. I wasn’t going to let it pass. It is the surfing dream.
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From issue 286 of Surfing World

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