NORTH SUMATRA OVERVIEW
Surfing in North Sumatra is island based as it is in the Mentawais. We have divided the surf locations in this region into the islands of:
Telo Islands Map / Accommodation listing
Nias & Hinako Islands (Asu and Bawa)
Banyak Islands
Simeulue island.
There is also surfing in North Aceh, which we will include in the directory at a later time.
The first island chain after the Mentawais is the Telo Islands, which are also referred to as Batu islands. Above the Telo Islands is Nias with the smaller islands of Asu and Bawa (part of the Hinako islands chain) just off its south coast. Then come the Banyak Islands, which are above Nias but closer to Sumatra, while Simeulue is the northern most surf island in this region that we cover. [SEE MAP]
North Sumatra is one of the more remote areas of Indonesia with surfing dominating the tourist landscape. There are over half a dozen reputable charters boats and each region covered in this North Sumatran section has adequate camp and resort options, many built by surfers for surfers.
Sorake Beach Nias attracts more surfers than anywhere else in North Sumatra. It is home to “The Point” (Sorake Beach Lagundri Bay) the glamour wave of the North Sumatran region and receives constant surf media attention. It deserves its reputation and being a right makes it a bit of a rarity in Indo. Like all world class high performance waves though it attracts big crowds of expert surfers including ripping locals that expect their status as locals to be well and truly respected. When The Point is firing the atmosphere in the line-up can be far from mellow.
The Point may be the glamour wave of the region but all the main islands of Northern Sumatra have a their share of quality waves.
The remoteness of the other areas of the region won’t guarantee completely uncrowded waves, especially at the better known breaks as it can only take several charter boats to crowd out a lineup, although it would be rare for surfers to complain about their wave count at the end of a trip. Being totally surfed out is probably a bigger problem.
Due to the remoteness and difficulty of travel most surf holidays in North Sumatra are either charter boat based or limited to staying at a camp for usually a week at a minimum.
North Sumatra in general practices are stricter code of Islam than other areas of Indo so brush up on your dress codes (especially females) and local public behaviour expectations, especially drinking /drunkenness while in public places / outside your surf camp. In 2023 and Australian (click here) was lucky to avoid a serious jail sentence for a drunken rampage in Simeulue. He avoided a jail sentence (reportedly could have been five years) but only because his family agreed to a large compensation payout ($AUD25,000) to a local victim.
Trip preparation is important in North Sumatra. Apart from maybe Sorake Beach Nais don't expect surf hardware, ding repairs etc to be on hand – travel with ample supplies of the essentials – wax, leg ropes, ding repair kit fins, sunblock and medical supplies. Same applies for cash (Rupiah only). Cash up at the airport or mainland town before travelling to your north Sumatran surf spot. Depending on where you go there maybe ATMs but it's best to assume they won't be. Finding you have no access to cash is one very avoidable way to totally stuff up your surf trip.
If you are a surfer totally averse to crowded line-ups this may be the region for you. Boat skippers know many uncrowded waves away from the name breaks, while if you are land-based either gain the trust of some of the local surfers or do a little searching. You're bound to find great waves not on the surf radar for just you and your mates. Try doing that in Bali.
Malaria precautions are needed for North Sumatra especially the Hinako Islands – see Medical section [HERE
