Anyone been recently? Is it worth the mission ?

We visited Kata Beach Phuket Thailand Sept 22-October 3 last year. Not a surf destination, but gets a few small fun waves in the off season (wet). It was pretty consistent & surfboards were cheap to rent with a good variety to choose from. Waves are nothing special. But its warm, stuff to check out like James Bond Island, place from the movie "the beach", food/beer is cheap, reasonably cheap shopping to keep the missus happy. Transport is expensive compared to Bali, but hiring something & driving yourself is easier coz roads are no where near as busy once you get past Karong Beach. I would be happy to go back for another trip if I didn't have other places I wanted to go like Sri Lanka. Waves were better than what the missus filmed below coz the best days were generally overcast & raining. The beach was empty & the temp was perfect on those days. Waves a lot of fun, it was winter at home, but must stress they were nothing special, just fun & easy if you have your girl with you

Hey,
It is a bit of a mission to get there and If i was going id go early or late in the season as it gets really crowded now up to 60 people in the lineup ,there are a few other waves around with an epic right off an island not far away so youll need to stay somewhere that has boat trips as well like nembarala resort ,plenty of homestay accommodation too and very cheap ,great wave wish Id hit it twenty years ago .good luck

Thanks. Mick I have a well earned holiday to myself this time round just surf focused. Ricardo - 60 people does not sound like fun! Sadly the only time I can go that fits in with work in the first two weeks of August which is bang in the middle of the peak season. I like the idea of the cheap home stays - some of those resorts looked a little exie.

Plenty of options in August mate...I was gonna suggest Northern PNG, but I'm pretty sure Dec-Mar is the go there...what are ya just chasing somewhere diff for a change? How bout Micronesia, heaps of options there & not too far away

Yes have considered that as well. Indo has super cheap airfares at the moment - only $575 return from here which is very very cheap. So looking to leverage that into something special without a Ments cost. In my household if I spend $4k then the Minister of War n Finance thinks she sad spend $4k as well. So a surf trip costs me $8k. Trying to avoid a big blow out this time round - she is off to NZ to visit family n I head to Indo

Any other ideas gladly received.

Ted I just picked up one way flights direct to Lombok for $99 from Perth.
Hit Lombok then jump on a Merpati death flight to anywhere in the archipelago that is on.
Was thinking of Rote myself but we'll see where we end up once the forecast is in.

$99!!! Jeepers what a steal. I would be there every other weekend not been to Lombok since 1995. Have fond memories but not epic ones. Although one morning at DP was insane but very challenging. Some mates got some good waves at Heaven on the Planet a few yrs back but it was crowded.

You probably won't like it when I tell you the return was $37 then will ya Ted?

With the new airport Lombok flights are cheap as chips, then you just island hop from there. If you can organise it so that there's 4 or 5 of you it makes it affordable to do your own boat trip too.

Jeepers Smicko those rates a mad!! I booked some up today for $556 return from Sydney which is bloody good value. Will be the second cheapest flights to Bali I have ever had and they were a few weeks after the bombing when our refunded flights had their prices dropped to $300. But that was a long time ago. Still no decisions have been made on the ultimate destination. Will do some more research and thinking about things the next week or two. Or may just play it by ear. The good news is that I have 17 days locked in without the lady. So there is lots of options

Where are you guys finding these flight deals?

I keep an eye on Flight Centre but just never seem to find the real deals.

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Ted the Kiwi said..

Thanks. Mick I have a well earned holiday to myself this time round just surf focused. Ricardo - 60 people does not sound like fun! Sadly the only time I can go that fits in with work in the first two weeks of August which is bang in the middle of the peak season. I like the idea of the cheap home stays - some of those resorts looked a little exie.

Well eared holiday Bhahahahaha

ted your killing me 1. you just got back from one epic sesh

2. you never work

be off with you

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vanders1 said..

Where are you guys finding these flight deals?

I keep an eye on Flight Centre but just never seem to find the real deals.

Vanders I got those flights with Virgin - they have a sale page that ends up in my inbox every so often. Air Asia is another one worth keeping an eye on. Although the flights tend to go via KL so if you do not mind an extra 5 to 8 hrs commute you get some great deals. Or if you want to get to Medan for the northern Sumatra trips then Air Asia is a super cheap option. If you live in Darwin or WA they offer amazing direct flights.

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weiry said..

ted your killing me 1. you just got back from one epic sesh

2. you never work

be off with you

1. Surf was small this AM - 2ft and weak but super clean - hardly what I would call epic but still fun
2. I work at evenings and weekends so that I am free for mid week uncrowded sessions - its been an arrangement engineered over many years of mutual understanding with the boss. The work gets done and I get to enjoy the conditions when they are on. Its not always a smooth ride though - last week I had to spend 3 days in the big smoke whilst the surf was cranking at home I am fortunate with work that when I do travel we are allowed to tag on a break at the end if it suits. My boss leads the way on this one

I have heard nothing but good things about Timor....I would also love to do an overland/island hop west from Bali feral style

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vanders1 said..

Where are you guys finding these flight deals?

I keep an eye on Flight Centre but just never seem to find the real deals.

Put this in your faves Vanders www.jetstar.com/au/en/deals

I told you before ted I won't talk on line about my trip to Sumatra, in respect to the people. But I've changed my mind. More later