Text + photos: Tim Hain

As an Indonesian surfing destination, the island of Sumatra is generally reduced to Nias and the Mentawai Islands in the minds of the majority of surfers worldwide, as Nias was probably the first Sumatran surf spot to gain international recognition back in the 80’s, and from the late 90’s until the present the Mentawai’s have rapidly become the single most popular boat trip destination in the world.. to the point that you’d think there is no other trip worth going on in the universe! And whereas that may be close to the truth, as the waves there are certainly world class, there are also other alternatives worth checking out. Enter South Sumatra, a wave rich area very accessible from both Bali and Jakarta, where it’s still possible to surf with only you and a few fellow-adventuring surfers in high quality waves.
So for those who still yearn for the simplicity, solitude and flexibility that only a real land-based surf adventure can provide, but don’t want to go the way of Timmy Turner and disappear into the deep jungle eating noodles and grubs and invite some rare bacterial infection to inhabit your intestines or brain, South Sumatra is for you. And all it takes is a 20-minute flight from Jakarta to the Bandar Lampung airport, then a 5-6 hour car ride up and over the mountains and you’re there!

The area is commonly referred to as Krui (pronounced “Krewi) for simplicity’s sake, but Krui itself is actually just a small town with a beautiful crescent shaped white sand beach that is situated in the middle of this surfing paradise. One bank (no ATM), a host of small stores and eating places (warungs), and the many kiosks selling mobile phones and phones cards that line both sides of the small and frequently congested pot-holed road make up the town, but take one of the side roads to the southwest and there lies the beach, home to a couple of waves, a lefthander the breaks off a reef point to the south and a sandy bottomed righthander just to the north. Both take a good-sized swell to start firing, but according to one of the locals the lefthander can resemble a mini-Teahupoo under the proper conditions.
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