Comments...

comment by Anonymous, 2009-10-27 06:49:06

Boat charter
all foreign flag boat charters in mentawai will be kicked out by Indo government, Indo Customs Board found they did tax fraud. All Foreign Flag boats in Mentawai is in very serious porblem, Be careful before book your boat trip with Foreign Flag boat.

comment by Anonymous, 2009-10-20 04:09:41

Cheap Places
Does anyone know of any cheap places to stay. Not looking to spend $200 a night. Hostels ? Camping ? Thanx

comment by Anonymous, 2009-06-16 19:42:15

Rough Paradise
I just arrived from a 3 week trip. Its possible to travel independent ,and its cheap.
Some places to stay with the locals , decent , cheap. The food is basic but good. People are lovely , genuine smiles. The locals are waking up for the bizz.. With makes the foreigners who have bizz there mad.
If you have money , shortime and just care about surf go to the resorts or charters. Big Bucks
If you want the ultimate surftrip get on the ferry , get a basic indonesian book a go. The surf is powerfull , so if got a serious injury you are by your own..... Overall the level of confort is different but the waves are the same.
Just take lots of boards , because some of then will stay there...
Lodging 50 000 rp
Boats 4 surf 50 000 rp
Meal 20 000 rp

Best wave 4 me- Bankvoults and Rifles

comment by Anonymous, 2009-05-27 10:10:53

Surf photographers/videographers for hire
Anyone traveling to Indo from June 23rd-Jul 23rd and would like to hire a photog for a portion of your trip? Let us know: www.freedomriding.com
We will traveling all around for those 30 days: Bali, Mentawais, Nias, Deserts, Lombak, etc...

comment by Anonymous, 2009-05-12 14:17:14

Wavepark
Christian's comments regarding wavepark are certainly unfounded. One can only guess as to what his motivation is, competitor perhaps? After checking resort possibilities across Indo for a trip early this year I settled on Wavepark. I liked the fact that they didn't prostitute themselves across commercial agencies and they had by far the most informative website. I went there only armed with what I had read on their webpage, I knew no one who had been there or to any of the other resorts in the area and what they delivered exceeded my expectations. Christie Carter is truly an exceptional surfguide, professional and with knowledge only 10 years in the area can give. He has a dedicated passion to the islands and their people which is self evident after spending time at his resort. As a surfguide, when he takes you to an uncrowded break, sits in the boat on his own for an hour waiting for everyone else to get their share of waves before coming out to share a few and ripping the place apart that speaks for itself for how he treats his guests. Unlike the young Indonesian surf guide from another camp in the area who snaked and dropped in on his own guests while his boss was in the water! While I cannot comment on the level of service and comfort at the other camps in the area having not stayed at them, I can highly recommend wavepark to those seeking a great holiday. If you go there, you won't be disappointed.

comment by Anonymous, 2009-05-09 14:51:26

Part Three: Mentawai Controversy
Mentawai Government Control:
The issue is too sensitive to be really detailed here. The reader can refer to the Global Surfers original posts. In short, “Kake” analyzes a well known corruption case and link it to the techniques Mr Cameron uses to control the Mentawai Government.
The demonstration appears to be founded on real facts but does not present definite written proofs of the direct implication of Mr Cameron.

And here stops the Global Surfers/Realsurfers discussion.

The facts we have evoked here reveal all the weaknesses of the Mentawai communities facing the development of Surf Tourism on their territory.

The discourse served on the surfers forums about “democracy, self-determinism” is completely beyond the Mentawai reality. Colonialism, manipulation, corruption, intimadation are the reality.

The surf tourism is now regulated by laws designed by Mr Cameron and “offered” by him to the Mentawai Government.

The law is enforced by a person who appears to be fundamentally violent and use intimidation tactics on a daily basis . (And has the means to do so).This is why the Padang surf community does not dare to speak up.

It`s only after Mr Cameron` influence on the Mentawai Government will be understood that a new regulation, taking into account the highly complex Mentawai reality, will be possible and colonialism will end.
Only after the situation is fully investigated, the Mentawai people and the surf community will be able to consider properly:

What sustainable development for the surf in Mentawai?
What place for the Mentawai people?
Monopoly or free enterprise?
How to manage the carrying capacity?
What balance between boats and resorts?
What power balance between foreign investors/customers and the local authorities?
What taxes structure?

Use of the “charity image”.

Like many surf apparel companies do, Mr Cameron uses the “charity image” for his corporate communication and PR. Fair enough, our world is not perfect and the local people benefit even from these PR operations.

However, there is no record of any recent charitable activity of Mr Cameron` Island Aid in Mentawai that could justify the monies collected by Island Aid from donors.

Now, a real discussion can begin. Starting from the reality. Not the pretenses. And documented.

comment by Anonymous, 2009-05-09 14:48:51

Part two: Mentawai Controversy
From Global Surfers Mentawai Forum:
Another activity Rick likes to do is closing competitive resorts. Rick does not like competition in his kingdom. He has succeeded to close ``Katiet Villas`` a resort a competitor had built partly on land Rick claims he had rented in the past (and paid for?). Rick advertises now this as being his resort. Las, the resort is closed and will remain so until the Court decides who the real owner is. But that does not deter Rick, who advertises for years another non-existing resort: Ebay, which he has never finish building!
(Quicksilver Travel should at least check that the resorts they sale do exist!)

Another investor had to learn to survive another of the Rick attacks. One day Rick came to M.A resort with one of his employee, Mr Sayful, a policeman, declaring to the staff and the patrons that he, Rick Cameron closed the resort, on orders of the Regent of the Mentawai. In actuality, the Regent had never closed this resort, and dared to say so, so the resort stayed open, to the furor of Rick. One month later, the same resort was invaded by a gang of young people under the protection of the same policeman Mr Sayful.

Mr Sayful established himself on the resort, allowing the gang and its leader to stay there.

The records of the satellite communication system of this resort show that Rick called or was called 14 times in a single day from and to this resort. What the hell was he calling for? He had never called this resort before. Could it be possible he had some role in this occupation and had some orders to give to his employee, Mr Sayful? Could it be possible he was hiring a mob of young people and some stray cops to close competitive resorts?

This is the weapon Rick uses the best: spreading fear. In Padang, nobody among the surf community has ever dared to speak up, but Christina Fowley. Courage is missing. Charging tubes is OK. Confronting Rick Cameron is not. To repulse any threat of competition, Rick needs to make Mentawai an unsafe place for investors. As he writes in one of the numerous threatening emails he showers on the expat community of Padang: ``If I am not safe, nobody is``.
Unquote.

comment by Anonymous, 2009-05-09 14:47:15

Mentawai controversy
From "we found them virgin and let them beautiful", global surfers Mentawai Forum"
Quote:
Now, Rick has developed other techniques to rip off, exploit and take advantage of underprivileged Mentawai people.
Remember that thanks to the Perda 16, the Mentawai people have no right to develop any surf business on their own lands, but they do have the right to rent them to Rick Cameron, who, due to Perda 16 `` buffer zone`` system, by renting one small speck of land, control 2 kilometers of shores.
Well, Rick has rented small plots of land in front of each of ``his`` waves. The rental of each of these pieces of land costs him around 500 USD per year. Not too bad for 2 kilometers of perfect beaches and shores, and a world class wave. For around 3000 USD per year, Rick has the full control of half of the best surf tourism sites in the Mentawai Archipelago.
A ridiculous cost for what he wants to sell 7 000 000 USD.
But Rick does not even pay to his land owners. He lets them come to his house when they approach him begging for money, humiliates them by keeping them waiting for 5 hours before receiving them and later refusing to pay his debts, sending them away. Why should he pay for his rental fees? He has got the contract, that`s well enough because no land owner would ever dare to go to Court against him, knowing only too well he would put him in jail. As he has already done.
He is important and powerful so why should he pay the poor and powerless Mentawai land owners?

He has also stolen the land ownership paper (called ``Certificate``), from one of these land owners, in a way to even better secure his obedience. The local authority, the Camat, has tried to ask for the Certificate back. Rick never even answered. What can the Camat do? Maybe report Rick?
But report him to whom? To the police? At what level? Rick has got powerful friends very, very near the top of the hierarchy in Padang.
Unquote.

comment by Anonymous, 2009-05-09 14:43:41

I have some answers
To the person needing HT's information. Its an easy affair to get to HT's. When you get to Padang, just look really lost while holding a surfboard at the airport. You'll be accosted by some friendly guide that can organize to take as much money as is humanly possible while delivering the absolutely bare minimum.

The ferries to the Mentawais are on a regular schedule until they're not regular, so kick back and enjoy dusty Padang until you get confirmation that in fact the ferry will leave (or not). The port you want to head to is called Sikakap, and don't let any of those blood sucking guides tell you otherwise. From Sikakap it is an easy 2 hour ride south along the east coast until you get to the village of Bosua, where you can find cheap places to sleep and eat. There are probably a dozen homestays there, and you'll have no problem getting fresh fruit and veges, fresh fish and other healthy staples. Cheap cheap cheap as well!

Be careful of the speedboat drivers as they'll probably want their money up front, and because you're a tourist they will ask for 3 times what they deserve. The standard fare for the speedboat is around Rp. 50,000 or about $5 USD. They'll back off if you threaten to fight them over the extra charges, so go ahead and act macho.

The last thing is that this whole trip can be made even cheaper by inviting 8 of your best mates with you. Everybody can share the same speedboats, food and laughs along the way. Make sure you choose mates that don't care about meeting girls, because there have been cases of beheadings for some tourists that like to be touchy feely with the young virgins.

I hope this has been useful for you, and good luck in your big adventure. Dean.

comment by Anonymous, 2009-05-09 14:15:19

What to do?
Is there anybody who knows how to get to HT's and stay with the locals there? What ferries, what days? Peace.