The Curious History of Indonesia's Best Right… 

Really interesting history Dan. I went to Lagundri Bay in 1977 and spent 5 weeks there living/ camping in the first building ever built near the break. It was a half built two storey house, thatch roofed, no power, built by the nephew of the landowner, a local coconut farmer. I spoke reasonable Bahasa Indo so he was jazzed to have me there. Didn't pay rent, just looked after his house, did some gardening and hung out with him when he visited. There was a newly dug well next to the house, kids from the hilltribe village above the coastal strip brought fruit and vegetables for me to buy and l bought fresh fish from any fishermen who came past on their way into the bay. Mostly l surfed alone, only had a couple of fellow Aussies there for one week. I've got some photos from that time, couple of him getting some classic Nias waves, the house and environment etc. I was shocked when l looked on Google Earth decades later to see the development there. Couldn't really believe it possible as it was so remote when l was there.... long trek to Teluk Dalam by boat from Gunung Sitoli, then 12km walk out to the bay with pack and board, bugger all provisions available out there so a weekly trek into TD even for some decent kretek ciggies that didn't give me instant lung cancer!! Fantastic memories, great waves. Alas, no pix of myself surfing there. Memories of regular deep barrels still fresh in my mind, still pinch myself thinking how lucky l was to have that experience.

Great story Dan. I heard of Nias as a keen young bloke and travelled there in 81. I was 21. There for 11 days and it was ON. I have only ever broken 2 boards my whole life and a solid 8 footer hit me on the right shoulder..crashed me down on my knees and straight through the board. It was a real grinder and at the same time had ripped my boardshorts down through the centre as well. It was my favourite board that had taken me through the Indo. archipelago for the leading 8 weeks. My host's name was Rufus. Crazy that I have never been back but I intend to do the Mentawais when I retire in 3 years, still surfing and riding quite a similar board to then. Practice light Yoga and surf each week. You can all do it. Stay stoked, it's the best sport/lifestyle I've seen. Keep the stories coming.

Myself and my girlfriend Vicki took a cargo boat out to Nias in 1976 just taking a chance on finding a good reef break. I had travelled along the Sumatran coast in 1974 and saw plenty of swell and knew that Nias would be a good chance for a wave and the stinky old cargo boats left for there fairly regularly from Sibolga.When we arrived in Telukdalam just me and my girl , there was a surfer standing on the wharf with a board . I could not believe it , he was a yank. Anyway he called out to me " Are you going to Lagundi ?" I said "what's that"? He said the most insane righthander you have ever seen , I said " how do we get there" ? So it all fell in place for me just like that! There were only six surfers there , most of us had our squeezes with us so about ten or so people all together. We had a thing called the brotherhood where we made a pact to never drop in and no body did but with only six of us , well WTF! We stayed in the village as there were no places out on the point then. Food was very scarce and we were all as skinny as after six weeks. One of the surfers went troppo , maybe too many mushies but , anyhow he freaked all the villagers out with wild stories about cannibals coming to eat everybody and burn the village down. He packed his kit and walked out , his girlfriend stayed behind with us as she was freaked out by him too. The next morning people starting to arrive in the village carrying quite a bit of stuff and we soon found out that that night half of Telukdalam had burned down ! As the house we were staying in was needed for homeless relatives we decided to leave. It was very disturbing walking into Telukdalam , the southern half of the town was a burned out ruin. We asked around about Kim the troppo dude and we were told he had just taken a boat to Gunungsitoli .We never heard any more about him or what had happened but we were glad to be getting back the mainland of Sumatra for FOOD! I went back regularly until the mid eighties and then made the move down to Telo where I spent quite a few winters surfing alone or with a few friends.You youngsters have got it all laid on now food and entertainment but you missed all the adventure and the craziness of Indo in the early days , what an experience it was. This is not a bad article , a bit exaggerated in parts and the break is not shallow by Indo standards and there were no active cannibals there in those days. The locals were pretty weirded out by us though. The first time we went to the traditional village all the adults ran inside and the half naked children threw stones at us! But they did that in Bali too in those days, up in the hills that is , boy I could tell some stories.

Very interesting to listen to. I would love if you could make more videos like this. I really enjoyed it👍

I was there for the giant 2018 swell. Absolute insanity... At the peak of the swell nobody wanted to have anything to do with the waves and all of the best big wave guys in the world were there so that's saying something! Craziest waves I have ever seen, huge boulders and chunks of the reef were being broken off the shelf and thrown up onto the shore. Afterwards the whole village stunk for weeks due to all the sea life that had been ripped off the reef and washed up onto the beach rotted in the sun. The 2006 earthquake raised the reef almost six feet too, not just a couple of feet. Since then it has settled back down about a foot or so. The earthquake also destroyed an epic, flawless left inside the bay called 'The Machine' any of you who were lucky enough to surf that wave will know that the name was very fitting! It was an absolutely perfect barrel machine, similar to the top section of Macaronis. It will eventually come back though as the island continues its slow sink back into the Indian Ocean...

Hey Dan, I found the video really interesting. Definitely do more, not sure which surf spots 🤷🏼‍♂️ I think people will respect these surf spots more with having the knowledge of it’s history.

From the old movies, the wave used to be a long wall with both amazing tube and high performance wall. Now after the earthquake it is shorter and more of an intense slab tube.

I lived there in Feb/March 1977 for a month with my mate Pete, it was before there were any dwellings out at the point/reef. We were told by the locals who we lived with in Lagundri we were the second new batch of surfers to arrive. We had traveled by steamer up the Sumatran Coast from Jakarta to Padang, we were careful to take our own food. From Padang bused it to Sibolga, waited a week for the Missionary boat to Gunungsitoli, no airport in Nias then, then an open 14 foot wooden boat down the coast to Telukdalam. Then a very old American type school bus dropped us off and walked the last 4 kilometers to Lagundri arrived at dusk with the firefly's and the village singing songs rehearsing for the upcoming local village sing off which took place a few weeks latter. Didn't see any westerners while there only the locals. We took our malaria tablets once a week and I had a tropical medical kit which came in handy for those tropical ulcers. I don't need to mention the surf as Dan's video speaks loud. Our surfing ranged from 3 to 8 foot while their, we only left as out 3 month visa ran out. We surfed Bali and Java on our travels up which took a few months, originally surfed Bali in August 1974. We had many many adventures on our 18 month backpacking trip, no hotels then, lived with the locals all the way through to Morocco. Yeah the reef was different back then before the earthquake but still a freight train when 8 foot with no one else to be seen.

I was there literally 1 month after the reef rose and stayed for a few months, was just a handful of surfers there and none of the locals were surfing due to fear and also working with NGOs all over Nias island to get things back together, had the new reef alone many times as everyone was surfed out, at night everyone went up to the village in the hill as they were scared to stay near the ocean, often was dinner by candle light and just no one around except the few western surfers, one of the best experiences in surfing i've ever had, my fav wave in Indo for sure, id been to Nias pre quake but the new wave was amazing we had everything from 2 to 12ft for a few months, was lot of swell... many barrels, i've been back since a few times but won't again too crowded guys fly in for the good swells now

I think Eric Aeder's iconic photo of that lone fisherman in his prahau floating in front of that absolutely flawless barrel and the majestic palm trees in the background (now all cut down and covered with losmens) sparked the beginning of the end. As beautiful and as timeless as that photo was (cover of Surfer Magazine late 70's), it sparked an insatiable fever in all of our hearts to go there and see it for ourselves. I know I couldn't resist. As they say - the rest is history...

Love the Video. These stories are cool. I like that it gives a bit of depth and is sub 10 mins. thanks and keep going!

Many thanks 🙏🏻 ya vid’s are joyful to watch 👍🏻

love the new concept!

Keep them coming please. A refreshing insight and much more entertaining and informative than the usual zoomed in vids we get bombarded with.

keep it up dan! you're making headway ... and yes , love the inside knowledge!

More of these historic deep dives plz! Top tier content 👌

This i great, keep it coming!! You could maybe compile a few of these single episodes into a podcast format, it would be great!!

LOVE the new format bro! hope to see you in the line up at echo soon

Cool informative videos as usual cheers buddy 😎

Great story, yes keep going with the history of surf spots, different surfers snd surf explorers.

It takes me a while to give a channel a subscribe. This video has convinced me this is a place for great content. Super interesting, thanks for sharing!

Great video!! Thanks for sharing🙌

I liked it! Love hearing the history of surf spots. Keep doing them I’ll watch for sure 👍

Sick mate ! Thanks for the share

Super cool video! Would definitely love more of this content, I know trestles has a pretty interesting history that could be a good vid

i like these videos. well put together information. cheers

Great video and love the historical part!! Very nice to give some context and it’s such an intriguing history. It deserves a video just with the historical aspect of the islands.

That was a great vid mate!! Keep it up yeeww

another sick video man very interesting

Loved this format...more appreciated

I confirm the wave is better because I've been there before and after the earthquake. It's the easiest barreling wave in Indonesia when it's between 6 and 7 feet but above it gets slaby and scary. Due to the mission to get there the crowd factor could reasonable be sometimes.

That was a fantastic presentation of a wave that I've been aware of since the 80s.

Great video, yep I enjoy hearing more about these places, thanks Dan

Insane story! Look like perfection 😍

Awesome buddy keep up the good work . Good vibes from OZ

Great and very interesting variation on your Vids………

Yes, more of these would be great, nice to know the how/what of breaks around the world.

Great video. Really enjoying your surf stories. :) Keep going. I'd love to know the top 10 most consistent surf zones. Where can you travel to that has the highest % of getting really good surf and not get skunked by lulls/wind etc

Dan The MAN keep em coming my friend Be well and Safe travels 👍🤙

Great.. been to Nias 10 years ago.. off season, around christmas and nye. Small crowds. When its small always has a ripabble little right.. got some very beautiful 3-4ft offshore days there. The wave doesnt get to barrel a lot but still so much fun... I remember to be such a Big journey to get there. Still very remote and laidback back then.. good times. Now with one little kid to take care of, not sure if i'll ever be able to get back there !!

amazing dude well edited

We are our own worst enemy. Humans can't help but destroy the things that make us happy and keep us happy. Sad but true.

Really interesting history bro!

Dan, you can bet that some of the Nias Locals had somewhat to do with exploiting it. For example, many years ago, some of the Medewi Boys decided to start a surf camp for Canadian and German Tourists. Medewi became so popular, that one of the Locals ,Muklis Anwar, started to fight with these new arrived Tourists. He is still, after all of these years, possibly wondering why he and his Family ever started to promote the Spot. We’ve been receiving reports through the Coconut Wireless, that he has become overweight and rarely surfs any longer. Sadly, a Victim of his own financial schemings…….

Love this content. Too monstrous for me to surf but great to learn about.

Nice job. Thanks Dan.

Massive Nias is one of the most incredible waves on earth. I will never forget what those barrels look like

Loved it. Do Treasure Island in the Banyaks, some great history there. I've never surfed Lagundri but plenty at Treasures, the best right in Indo to me.

The one place I regret not going to in the 80's when I had the chance.

Great video bro ❤ Warm regards from Nias

Great video

I saved and still have the Surfer where they highlighted that spot... Erik Aeders photos are stunning and I drooled over that article for years. Do this type of vid on Third Dip on the west side....I dare you. 🤙

Great mahi mate

how about when Mundaka went away then returned

Good vid

Thank you for the great content and keep it up may I suggest doing a spot in Hawaii on Oahu where I live there no surfing only bodysurfing point panic next to world famous Waikiki beach. Aloha and Mahalo 🤙🏽🌊🌋🙏🏽

Was there 91 loved it

That was an epic account, and many yews to the boys that found it. Desert Point aka Bangko Bangko in Lombok is an interesting place. Was there in 1997, got there when it was glassy and flat and fisherman said the moon tells them a huge swell was inbound. They were right, and told me not to wear my red board shorts out there or the goddess of the sea loves to take those colours was my best Bahasa translation. They were right. Almost gave up my last breath out there. A very humbling experience.

Awsome concept of surf and surf spot history - a bit like another channel i like a lot "Tasting History with Max Miller" haha! Funnily enough, as much as i'm interested in history i skipped through the first 2 mins of non-surf history - i guess when i look at surf vids that's the mood i'm in, but with a bit of practice i'm sure i could embrace a surfing/history channel :) How about you do a vid on the history of Rip Curl and Quicksilver and drug smuggling in Indo that's talked about in the Sea Of Darkness doco! I finally found that doco available to watch online after years of searching for it occasionally, and then i never watched it! It's pretty long - maybe you could do a short run down of the facts presented in it? Maybe you could avoid mentioning any names so those rich guys don't try to sue you haha! Cheers man

So interesting

Anyone else remember Nias on the cover of surfers journal about 25 years ago?

JBay mate! 🙏🏼

I preferred the wave before. It was a freight train barrel now it more of a slab which makes it easier to get into and surf which I can see that those with less ability would think it a better wave.

It's actually interesting to know. Plus in spite of the trend, some of us older or really older surfers are not on the trail for the perfect wave anymore if ever. You may wonder how many, probably not many, are starting to question the whole Bucket List of Surfing adventures ethos. I use to be like so many wanting to go and see more places. But then I realized that often I was just there maybe a week or two and then gone. So, not wanting to promote consumerism any longer, I am kind of dropping out and that may not fit in a lot of programs as far as the world adventurer image many people adhere to. But tell me, maybe I am just really old now, but are some of you guys starting to question the whole consumerism and bucket listing of experiences? I mean, going to spots or breaks or even just countries and mountain ranges too just to add a notch to the bed post Why I am saying this is that somewhere I have heard of this thing we call Climate Change and a lot of it seems to be "manmade". So, adding up one plus one in this case, seeing not just the surfing community but the whole tourism industry as a whole, promoting a lot of "fad" tourism or Bucket List go here and then there and on and on. But none of these places will stick very long. It seems to me that to really start to "get" a place, like you said, the history and culture too, one has to embrace the whole experience and that takes repeat visits or even very long stays, sometimes like seasonal expats of as many months as a passport entry will allow. Some even go and just stay, finding work or even a spouse and a life there, where ever there is. I'm just wondering if any of you others are starting to look at us as a collection of actions and not just each doing our own thing. And collectively, are we contributing to the change and even the destruction or at least the pollution, not just of the place physically, but of the culture too. I remember people telling me of Bali in the 80's and even then it was a mainstream destination. Now, well you are probably just culturally still at home, with all the hotels and shops and fast food and it's hardly the Bali of let's say the 1970's. I went once and have no desire to return. But it's not Bali's fault or anyone's. It's what happens when something in it's element, pristine and clean becomes exposed to mass invasion. The places change. And then there's all that jet emissions too. So, are we ok with just doing our own thing? Or are some of us starting to wonder if we are just making a mess of things that will be quite a bit of a very hard problem for future generations to resolve? Maybe, sacrilege so say it, maybe we don't travel as much? Maybe we start to find a different approach to life that isn't so consumerism and consumptive? Sorry if I sound like I am criticizing you all. I did my share of regional travel too when I was 30 years younger. But we all, well most of us, get to see a lot of birthdays, and after a while, I know this sounds crazy, but there is just not that much that the "world" is selling that I want to buy. Maybe it's time for me to pack up and head for some monastery in the Rila Mountains?

History is cool.

Awesome edit mate 🤙 I reckon the biggest problem with every small island tourist resort is disposal of rubbish and sewerage. See Nias is no different.

Yea Dan! a history series will be good J bay next please.

Before the earthquake there was a left inside the bay called 'The Machine' that was like Greenbush.

Nias earthquake devistated the region and jacked the islands up was March 28th 2005 +/- 22:00hr.

It would be interesting to know what could have been with Doheny if the Dana Point harbor was never built.

good content :

What about Peter Troy?

i wanna go

👍👍👍

Real good surf story. No click bait with Bullshi* music in the background. Thanks.

After promising to keep it a secret, he literally went straight back with some other dudes 😂

Sorry but you should talk about the point and the left . " The machine"

Kook!! You are blowing up these surf spots!!

This goofy foot wants lefts😊. Good history lesson.🇺🇸🍻✌🏻👍🏻

🫶🏿🫶🏿🫶🏿

Hi Dan, Just a comment the 2004 boxing day indian ocean tsunami did not impact nias. It was the 2005 earthquake, that caused a more localised tsunami. This was the Earthquake that uplifted the reef in Lagundri bay.

Pronounced LA GOONDE

Exposing all the zones on da planet..yikes!

Nothing will be how it was anymore with you exploiting everywhere. Write a book and keep out the visual media.

not here ot see peoples face, here to see surfing video.. : randoomly click at 3 point , get youtubers s face at each click.. so title is clickbait

Peter Troy was there before Kevin and John. He gave them a detailed map and set of directions as to how to get there. I too went there but we kept it to ourselves. Obviously many didn't, now that too has surfers curse. Your a part of it, money money money hope your proud of yourself.

Enjoyed , Appreciated ,love, hope to see it one day , on the spur of the moment bucket list . Wishing .aloha DSC777

Spent a full month there in 2007 just after the earthquakes, was awesome sick waves and plenty malaria kkkk