Macaroni Squeeze

Diehard surfers never abandon good waves. And they certainly never leave perfect Macaronis with just three people in the water – unless, of course, they are forced out at gunpoint. This was the scenario our group found itself in as we reluctantly vacated the Maccas line-up and paddled back to our boat, under the stern gaze of the local Mentawai police. I still couldn’t believe what was happening. All seven surfers in our group were top-tier American pros earning serious coin to disassemble waves like this and capture it on film. But now we were all wilting under the pressure of our surf guide, Dale, who was leaning over the side of the dinghy, pleading with us to leave the water.

“You can stay in the water, but we can’t guarantee your safety,” screamed Dale. “These guys are serious, they’re talking about sending the villagers out here with bows and poison arrows.”

Just then a crack of thunder split the afternoon sky, adding emphasis to Dale’s already panicked words. Then more screaming from the surf guide: “You guys seriously have to leave the water now!”

The day had started casually enough with an unremarkable dawn surf check at small Greenbush. From there we motored straight to Macaronis to find four boats in the channel. Two were tied up to moorings, the other two were anchored in the bay just opposite the wave. The swell was still filling in, but there were already a few overhead sets coming through.
The sight of a Macaronis wave can turn even the most jaded pro into an excited grom. Our group included four surfers on the WCT Dream Tour and another three who burn through passports like toilet paper, all in search of perfect waves. However, before we had even dropped anchor these guys were already scratching out to the line-up, frothing for their first Maccas session of the trip. Our photographer and cameraman were then ferried to shore to shoot the day’s action. None of us had any idea that by anchoring our boat in the channel and paddling out for a fun morning surf, we were actually breaking the newest law of the land in this part of the Mentawais.

In 2009, two moorings were put down in the bay at Macaronis, the mechanical lefthander deemed by many surfers as “the funnest wave in the world”. With the new moorings came new laws established by the local kepala desa (village head) and enforced by the local police. The Macaronis Resort land camp outlines the new rules on its website:

Basically, no more than two surf charter boats are allowed to be at Macaronis at any time. Throughout 2009, visiting boats were warned that the mooring system would take effect beginning the following season. At the time of writing, the charge to tie up to one of the two moorings was 300,000 Indonesian rupiah per day (about US$30). Charter groups can reserve and check the status of the moorings in advance by going online to the Macaronis Resort website.

Our captain, a frail Indonesian man who looked like he hadn’t slept for days, failed to relay any of this information to us. Instead, while we were out surfing, he and the crew were walking on eggshells, anxiously awaiting a visit from the local police. Both our captain and surf guide knew the mooring rules were already in effect, but after seeing four boats in the bay they figured they could get us in the water for at least an hour.

We had only been surfing for about 30 minutes when five officials from nearby Silabu, dressed in brown and green government uniforms, motored out on the Macaronis Resort speedboat and boarded our ship. They said they represented the kepala desa and told the captain we had to leave immediately. Our captain argued that he had only anchored because he saw more than two boats in the channel and now his surfers were already out in the line-up (apparently, two of the four boats weren’t surfing and were allowed to stop in order to use the land camp’s facilities). His stalling was able to buy us more water time, but eventually they gave our captain an ultimatum: If we didn’t leave the water in one hour, he would be taken to jail and we would be removed by force at the hands of the local villagers.

At this point, our crew – a mix of Javanese and Sumatran guys – were visibly shaken. They had heard stories about the savagery of the Mentawai people and weren’t keen to find out if the old tales of cannibalism and poison arrows still held any truth. It didn’t help matters that earlier in our trip the boat’s first mate told everyone a story about a dispute he had witnessed at Lance’s Left between a visiting surfer and local villager. According to his story, the misunderstanding resulted in the local kid returning to the beach with a bow and arrow and stalking the boat for nearly an hour trying to get a clean shot at the surfer’s head.

Our crew of professional surfers, meanwhile, was incredulous. Reactions included: “Is this really happening?” “Can’t we just pay them off?” and “I wonder what the guy would say if I gave him $1,000?” The swell forecast was so good that some of the guys suggested renting rooms at the land camp just so we could have access to the waves the following day. In the end, we all succumbed to fears of restless natives armed with machetes and poisonous blow darts, and left fun Macaronis to a crowd of three Brazilian surfers who must have thought they’d won the lottery. With a bitter taste in our mouths, we traveled three hours south to surf small onshore rights at Coldsprings. The wave was productive for photos and the pros made it look like the best day of the year at Lowers, but there was no denying that the morale of the boat had suffered a serious blow.

How visiting surfers view the new rules at Macaronis will most likely depend on what side of the mooring buoy they’re on. Guests of Macaronis Resort shouldn’t see any problem because it essentially gives the land camp near-exclusive rights to the wave. If you’re on one of the two charter boats lucky enough to snag a mooring it’s a great deal – government-regulated crowd control all day. One thing is certain: if the new mooring system wasn’t in place the day we arrived, there would have been seven or eight boats anchored in the bay and three times the people in the water. Crowds of fifty surfers have become a regular sight at Macaronis in recent years.

However, if you’re Joe Goofyfoot who surfs religiously before work everyday and has been saving up for a Mentawai fantasy trip for over a year, you are not going to be a happy camper when some guy in a green uniform tells you that you can’t surf your dream wave. We met one group of surfers who told us that during their 11-day charter they had tried on two occasions to surf at Macaronis and both times they were denied access.

“We have guests paying anywhere from US$2,000 to 4,000 for a ten-day trip to these islands,” explained one concerned charter boat captain. “How are you gonna tell them they can’t surf one of the best hotdog waves in the world?”
That night we anchored at Silabu. Not even charter boats with a mooring reservation are allowed to spend the night at Macaronis anymore. We decided to take a gamble and return in the early morning in hopes of snagging one of the moorings for the day. Our crew woke up at 3:30am to pull anchor and get us running towards Maccas. We arrived in the dark to find one of the moorings open, the other already claimed. Without hesitation, Adi, our speedboat driver, tore out on the dinghy into the black water and pounced on the mooring line. As our crew quickly tied us up, we could already hear by the thunder over the reef that the swell had increased overnight.

Now the mooring system worked to our benefit. The day dawned with offshore breezes grooming a pumping swell. The frequency of waves was exceeded only by their perfection. We sampled the finest delights Macaronis had to offer with just one other boat and a handful of guests from the land camp who staggered their sessions throughout the day. It was the Mentawai equivalent of an exclusive velvet rope party, and the surfers made sure none of the delicacies on the menu went to waste.

“Geez,” exclaimed Dale the surf guide as he watched Pat Gudauskas pigdog through one of his thirty backside tubes of the afternoon, “how many barrels can you get in one day?”
We surfed from sunup to sundown, logging about eight hours total in the water. Videographer Mike Lopez shot over two hours of footage and photog Nathan Lawrence filled up his 32GB memory card and had to retrieve an empty one from the boat.

“Great job out there today, boys,” exclaimed a surf-delirious Alex Gray, Bintang in hand as we all watched the last rays of sherbet light slip below the horizon. “Now let’s just burn down the land camp and go home.”

We didn’t burn down the camp, but we were able to reserve the mooring again for the following day and enjoyed an instant replay of all-day perfection. We also got barred one more time when we tried to return later in our trip for an evening session.

It will be interesting to see how these developments at Macaronis play out. The West Sumatra Police, stationed in Padang, have authority over the local Silabu officials policing Macaronis. Considering the significant economic boon the surf charter boats provide the city of Padang (e.g. tax revenue, jobs, airport traffic, hotels, money spent in Padang, etc.), it would seem to be in the government’s interest to keep the 35-odd boats who use their port happy. However, if the new mooring system at Macaronis continues to go unchallenged, could we see this strategy of limiting boat access in favor of land camp use spread to other premier breaks in the Mentawais?

As it stands right now, you can potentially surf the funnest wave in the world with a guaranteed manageable crowd, enforced by the local authorities. But you better wake up early to claim that mooring buoy. Otherwise, watch out for poison arrows.

First published by Bali Belly magazine, Issue 002, June, 2013