No Band - No Barrels. Pay by the wave now in the Mentawais.
Actually, it will cost you a million! One million Rupee. That's around $100 bucks in Aussie Dollars, or the price of a good leggy and a few blocks of wax. For that, you get a colored wrist band allowing you to surf the pristine waves of the Mentawai Islands, and you get to help out the locals who are finding it tough to benefit from the thousands of surfers who visit the islands every year. The problem you see, is that many surfers choose to charter yachts or boats to visit the hundreds of great waves on offer around the islands. These surfers never really go on-shore, never spend money, and as such aren't a benefit to the locals who watch their waves being ridden by rich tourists.
While $100 might not seem like a whole lot when compared to your average surfing holiday, that money to the locals would benefit them greatly. Better facilities are being promised by the Menawai Regional Government, in addition to less crowded waves and an improved experience for tourists.
To be exact, the government says: "You are hereby advised that commencing from the date of August 1, 2016, Mentawai Regional Government through the Department of Tourism Culture Youth and Sports has imposed collection levy surfing for surfing in Mentawai with the amount of Retribution For surfer Abroad Rp 1,000,000 per person per stay (15 days) and the surfer archipelago (except surfer local/Mentawai) Rp 100,000 per person per visit (15 hr) in accordance with Regulation Kab Kep Mentawai No. 2 Year 2015 Year 2015 on the Management and Utilization of Tourist Attractions Surfing and Regulation Kab Kep Mentawai No. 8 of 2015 about retribution Recreation and Sports."
Would you mind shelling out $100 bucks to the locals on a surf holiday in the Mentawais? Share your thoughts with the community in the Surfing forums right here on Seabreeze.com.au
Wamberal, NSW
