Investigative reporter comes off second-best in reef encounter

All of the Melbourne surfers I meet in Indonesia are regular Urbnsurfers who dedicate themselves to fine-tuning their pop-up in the weeks prior. I hit my local pool instead, discovering a long-lost love for swimming hoovered out of me as a 5am child squad swimmer. No pop-up practice, but at least I can build some paddle strength in the pool.

Aside from building surf fitness, the most critical part of the pre-journey preparation is destination selection. Do your research. Most of the high-quality and accessible waves in the most famous destinations such as Bali are crowded, which is precisely what you want to avoid if you’ve taken a plane to go surfing.

Direct flights to Denpasar from several Australian airports make it a relative breeze to get to Bali, but be prepared to sit in a 50-person line-up at the world-famous Uluwatu.

I spend a few family-friendly days at Kommune, an upmarket surf and yoga resort in Keramas on Bali’s west coast that sits next to a world-class, right-hand reef break. When it gets above one metre, it is an exhilarating wave that attracts incredible surfers. When I paddle out, US professional surfer Kolohe Andino is dominating the break, along with 20 or so other hot surfers. I am not one of them.

I pick off the smaller waves and enjoy some heart-stopping hollow rides, but it’s as crowded as Portsea back beach in summer, and it’s where I make my first acquaintance with Mr Reef. Not a man I’d choose to meet again, I tell myself. Little do I know, the feeling is not mutual.

The better breaks at slightly further afield destinations from Bali, such as Nusa Lembongan or Lombok, are marginally less crowded, but it still requires a bit of paddling nous to get up your wave count up if you’re an intermediate surfer.

I’m also pushed in the water and threatened with death by a barrel-chested Gold Coast surfer. His fury is the product of miscommunication. I explain to him that I thought he told me to “go, mate!” on my last ride, so I took off on a wave I thought he was abandoning. Not quite. What he actually said was: “No, mate!”

We both had a chuckle, although I silently wonder if it was a discussion that could have been had before his murder threat. I also decide not to mention that his three daughters have been dropping in on everyone on every wave. I strike the Gold Coast off my holiday list and focus on the prize: Latitude Zero.

From Australia, it’s a three-flight plus boat-trip journey to arrive at the resort founded by respected Mentawis surf pioneer Matt Cruden. After building and captaining a now legendary boat (the Mangalui) to explore the Sumatran coast line, Cruden, along with Mangalui’s chef Adam “Wal” Roffey, decided to develop an upmarket surf resort to cater for differing levels of skill and offer a greater chance of uncrowded waves in a remote tropical paradise.

To realise their vision, Cruden and Roffey had to navigate Byzantine local and regional politics and undertake a herculean effort at hauling timber, stone and iron across a remote and sometimes stormy ocean.

The pull was obvious. Dozens of magic waves set against stunning white sand beaches and untamed jungle. You can drive in a boat for an hour and see less than half a dozen other boats. It wasn’t just the infrastructure that Cruden – by all accounts, a delightful and fiercely determined waterman – pulled off, although the resort is beautifully finished.

Cruden, Roffey and their staff’s attention to detail is remarkable. The resort has its own green room producing vegetables and herbs. Rainwater is carefully harvested. The accommodation is impeccable, the food delicious and the Indonesian staff treated like family.

Aside from the abundant selection of waves, the highlight of the resort is its local and overseas staff and their dedication to helping you reach your surfing dream in the absence of crowds. Much of that comes down to the endlessly engaging resort manager Cam Lamont.

He was formerly an elite and no doubt highly stressed chef overseeing 130 staff at Star’s Gold Coast casino resort before devoting his life to introducing people to this stretch of the Indonesian archipelago. He swapped feeding Chinese billionaires with free diving, bringing gifts of fish he’d speared to local villagers to build rapport.

His obvious affection for the local culture and people underpins the resort’s commitment to sustainable co-existence within an environment that couldn’t be more different from Bali. Not a tattoo shop or inked and Glad-wrapped Aussie in sight. Latitude Zero is the only building on its island, one of a chain of 101 that make up the Telos.

Lamont intended to stay here for two months. That was 10 years ago. Along with Cam are surf guides like Jordy Phillip, who similarly chose to forgo the rat race (Phillip was briefly a budding professional golfer and also a sponsored surfer) for a vastly different life.

While it isn’t cheap to stay here as a guest, Latitude Zero is unquestionably among the best of upmarket surf resorts in the Asia-Pacific. The staff, remote breaks and emphasis on surfing camaraderie (surfers travel in groups of four or eight, surfing in shifts to lessen numbers) maximises not only wave count and the chance of a barrel, but relaxation and reflection (there’s not much actual rest on a surf trip).

If you’re not reimagining your more stressful life choices by day three, you’re not trying. For me, it’s a reflection on why I endure the endless stress and litigation of my work (I’ve been an investigative journalist for 20 years and been sued for most of them). Can I change my mindset?

The camaraderie on my eight-person boat is heightened by the fact that my companions are members of the Australasian Lawyers Surfers Association (ALSA), which has booked out most of the resort for its annual conference.

For a person who’s been sued as often as I have, this initially looms as a less than enticing proposition. But this is a group as dedicated to surf-related charity as much as it is – in the words of its gregarious co-founder Matt “Warbo” Warburton – to “stoke”.

My fellow surfers care more about charging waves than charging by the minute and the waves surrounding the resort cater perfectly to two dozen lawyer/surfers of varying skill. For his part, Warbo never stops hooting in sheer delight. But even the better surfers face the same hazards. In addition to the relaxation and reflection, there is also the third “R”. Reef.

An encounter with that shark tooth coral is a certainty while surfing in Indonesia, so preparation (a good medical and surfboard repair kit) is essential. A badly bruised rib, care of the reef at Bum Cracks, ultimately cut two days off my seven-day trip. But at the urging of Phillip, I still paddle out for two more sessions before my bruising and pain become too intense.

It’s during one of these sessions I get the left-hander, a late drop taken amid the roar of a Sumatran reef break and the joyful hooting of my surf companions. I don’t surf it well, just hold the line with my rail and fly but, damn, I go fast. And, damn, it feels good. Afterwards, Phillip paddles towards me, an ear-to-ear grin. “I told you, bro. You gotta get back out there. Change your mindset.” I grin back. Back bleeding, ribs in agony, I had paddled into one of the best waves of my life.

Nicholas McKenzie is an investigative reporter with The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald and, with legal academic Tanya Mitchell, co-winner of ALSA’s 2023 “Leggat Big Wave Cup” . While surf legend Nat Young is a past winner, more recent winners are awarded for commitment to “stoke” rather than skill.

THE DETAILS

FLY
You need to get to Padang Airport in Sumatra, which typically involves two flights from Australia (Melbourne/Sydney to Jakarta and then to Padang – see qantas.com; garuda-indonesia.com; airasia.com). You will most likely overnight in Padang on the way to Latitude Zero, where there are a range of four-star hotels at reasonable prices.

SURF
A room at Latitude Zero for a single traveller or couple ranges between $3000 to $8000 for seven days’ accommodation, inclusive of food, surf guiding on speed boats, and return flights between Padang and the resort. Alcohol and massages are extra. See resortlatitudezero.com

The writer travelled at his own expense.