Reports

February 19

Well we had a cracker of a January out here with waves almost every day.

I showed up with Walt (our new Operations Manager) on Jan 23rd and met up with Wes, one of our shareholders who spent 5 weeks at Macas with his partner Sitri, from just after Christmas until the end of January (lucky bugger!!). We enjoyed some all time sessions in late Jan, with some very memorable 4-5 foot glassy sessions on dark, and cross / off-shore winds most afternoons.

Pitty we had no decent camera, and even if we did, I dont think any of us would have been in the boat taking photos.

The swell from Jan 23 - Jan 30 hang around all week, with just the three of us surfing. Was great to be back out here and surfing Macas all by our selves, picking and choosing which ever wave we wanted, and not much time to sit on our boards and talk when its like that, non-stop rotations and getting surf fit... early season sooo good, and the waves are well worth the wait when they finally do come.

Wes's first 3 weeks at Macas were with Barts, and they scored some good waves thoughout. Wes did say though his better week of waves was definitely the last week, a little bigger and was nice having it all to our selves.

After Jan 30, I spent a week at Macas on my own, overseeing landscaping and finishing of the new buildings. Still a few waves about, surfed Macas several times on my own, such a sereal feeling, ony 2-3 feet so nothing to rave about but still, surfing fun waves like that on your own once a day, makes every day a good day.

Since Jan 08, we have had a real lul in the Indian Ocean, but looks as though there are some waves brewing for next week, a SW swell followed by S swell. We will be here to score a few and hopefully post a few shots of the new buildings, rooms, bar and swimming pool / landscaping, so stay tuned for that.

This week Barts and I are at Macas, basically its been 2 foot, I havent bothered, but Barts has gone out for a few naked surfs I believe.

Had a few fishing missions, but a little under prepared with old lures, had a couple of big strikes, but so far only managed to bring home a baracuta, which the Indo workers have been using for bait, and have been bringing home 15 - 20 reef fish a night, incuding Grapu and Trevally, so the baracuta in the end did have a use for something.

We'll be back some time next week for another report, until then here are some very average photos taken with Wes's iphone during late January.

Not to worry about videography and photography for the 2012 season though, we have employed videographers for the entire season that will also do a few stills as well; the roster will soon be released on the macas website with samples of their work. A personalized DVD is great to take home, showing some of your best waves, and enjoying memorable moments with friends spent at Macas Resort.

Cheers

Mark @ Macas

A few shots from Jan 20 - 30, pretty damn average photography but better than nothing!!

Above: Wes on one of many...

Above: Foamy little barrel

Above: a few nice ones rolled through unridden as well...

Above: Nice set rolling through on our way out.... deserted Macaronis.

Above: Walt finding a hollow one..

Above: Our newly renovated main building, bar and resto first floor, guest rooms on second floor, look out on third floor, swimming pool and gazebos around the back, one of our two 7m speedboats in foreground.

Above: View toward 'fish fingers' right hand beach break, with 1.5m of white sandy beach, great for a stroll, with crocodiles up the back swamps... very timid though!!

Above: Our most regular food item...

Above: Sitri and another epic sunset...

Feb 05, year 2012….

Today….. sea eagles circling in the sky, and turquize blue waters lapping the white sandy beaches of Teluk Pasongan. What a magical place this is...

5 Villagers, surfing at fish fingers on their newly found sticks, picked up from the jungle. I recognize one with the blue rails. 18 months down the track, it must be salvagers rights by now…

The green palms, setting such a surreal contrast, to the deep blue sky, white sandy beaches, and crystal clear ocean. An abundance of fish swimming beneath the boat, as we head toward the lagoon entrance; a new generation to those wiped out some time ago…

Not a boat in sight today, and a south swell kicking in; beginning to hit macas and the right out back.

A paradise again, from what was a completely different place some time ago; has now re-evolved.

Animals, relocated back to the shorelines, birds moved in again, and another generation born. Water monitors plentiful, crocodiles standing strong in the back swamps.

The bleak night of October 25, and the dark day of October 26 year 2010, remembered now like a funeral for what was originally here before, and giving memory of a different time, and a different place.

As life keeps turning, we also have cleared away the rubble, and rebuilt our peace of paradise again.

Perhaps it was meant to be, only god knows. Out with the old, and in with the new as they say; a new era to the Macaronis story. Still, the waves haven’t changed one bit, it’s still pumping here as usual.

Our loyal staff, with us though troubled times, and now seeking brighter days. A tear in the eye for many, has become a moment of pride and satisfaction, to see what has been achieved. The new resort, now back to its best, and ready to rock n roll, for the season ahead.

What will be, will be…. We look forward to welcoming our loyal guests again; and some new ones as well. Also our surf guides, and co-owners, who have committed so much toward rebuilding in this magical place.

Super stoked, and we’re looking forward to passing on some of that stoke to those visiting in year 2012.

Here’s to a new era, at Macaronis Resort…!!

Time to go surfing……………

Yearly highlights and links to full Reports from past years...

Have a scroll down to view some highlights from past 4 years, or click on the links below to view the full season surf reports....

Click Here for Complete 2011 Boat Trip Reports (during recovery after tsunami)

Click Here for Complete MR 2010 Trip Reports

Click Here For Complete MR 2009 Trip Reports

Click Here For Complete MR 2008 Trip Reports

October 2011 Soft Opening with Tassie Crew & Other Memorable Moments

The first movie (below) was made all in one afternoon here at Macas. We arrived and it was pumping, with Rye Craik, Kirby Brown and a few other good surfers in the water including Macas surf guide Bootsy. Check it out, not bad for a movie shot and edited in 12 hours.

The second movie is some moments of the soft opening trip with Tassie crew; Cain and Trent (organisers of the tsunami fundraiser), Brad, Mikaela, Pat, Finger and Matt. Photos that follow are a few other shots taken during 2011 season aboard Mikomba 1 and Saranya charter boats, which covered for the resort while refurbishments of the resort were being carried out.

Above: Morning barrel @ Macas...

Above: Morning bush bonanza..

Above: Smoking Macaroni...

Above: Another pit @ Macas

Above: Picturesque Macas... 6 guys out.

Above: Some rights thrown in for good measure..

Above: Thanks to Wayne Reid (above) trip organiserof Northern Beaches May Trip, hacking into a bowl of Macaroni.

Above: Northern Beaches boys on top deck enjoying a few cold ones, with Barts front left.

Above: Up close and heaving @ Rednuht....

Above: Makeable too...

Above: Of course some epic Macas was scored as well...

Above: And then more sick rights at Roxies, 'macas in reverse'..?

Above: More Roxies Perfection...

Above: The new view from the reef.... (since the Year 2010, Oct 25 tsunami)

Above: And the same view from da tube...

Above: Barts smacking one...

Highlights, Classic shots and footage of year 2010:

Some flicks from Seba....

Macaronis surf report video 4 from seba carvallo on Vimeo.

Macaronis surf report video 3 from seba carvallo on Vimeo.

Macaronis Surf Report video 2 from seba carvallo on Vimeo.

Macaronis surf report video 1 from seba carvallo on Vimeo.

Above: Deep @ Macas..

Above: bottom turn headed for the lip..

Above: Evening glass off...

Above: Epic..!!

Above: Perfection...

Above: Boys feasting on nuts...

Above: a view of the 'old' Macas.... more mangroves in da background...

Above: Alex nicely hitting the lip...

Above: nice one Bootsy

Above: Dave nice little shack

Above: Independance Day Party...

Above: Macas from the Viewing Tower

Above: Nice one Nicko.....

Above: Steve cutting back....

Above: Haza in da office..

Above: Christian back for trip no.2

Above: Jamie in the green room

Above: Loren enjoying a glassy one on 'Monkeys corner'...

Above: Loren stalling for the green room.

Above: Pat on a bomb..

Above: Ex pro Todd Holland getting some shade

Above: Todd again on a glassy one...

A few Vid's made in May by Andrew Bailey...

Some epic Greenbush in April 2010....

Yep we have had smoookin waves at Greenbush that week...

Greenbush again.... sick tube Jono!

Soli goin for the sky, on a macas sunset arvo session...

Willsy backhand attack @ macas...

Soli with one of several GT's we've got trawling and spearfishing.

Colette taking off on a sizable one @ macas.

Troy in the baz @ the bush... glassy perfecto.

We also had some smokin rights at a rarely surfed favourite of Barts, here he is on a nice one.

A nice shack at the 'Nuht'...

Inside shack....

Alex @ Macas Right

Alex... not as deep as usual but a nice bowl of Macaroni...

Macas, replicates those tiny waves you see at a river mouth 1 inch high, but this is 5 feet and firing...

Barts in primo posi... what a machine....!!!!

Barts getting a buttock massage.

Barts, glassy morning epicness.. go in big fella haha.

Mark Morgan going for some airtime....

Jason smacking a lip to pieces.

Jesse from Tassie, another shack please...

Jesse, boys got a few bulky ones at Macas Right...

Marty got a few nice ones...

Pete spent a lot of time in the green room.....

Pete smacking another..

Pete shacked again...

But votes are, Alex was the stand out, he was ripping.... another tube @ macas.

Mid April, the Bush on fire...

Barts incredibly shacked at the Bush.....

Barts nomor 2...

Barts nomor 3...

Barts nomor 4... heeemmm fark yeah.

Gerry Scored at the Bush..

Yes boys scorred big time!!

Yes we brought the swell up over a few Bintangs, you can thank us.

Above: An empty one going through..

Above: Snakey wishes he was here right now...!!

Above: Fun times..

2009 Season Overview:

Year 2009 was one of the best seasons I can remember in my 9 years living in the Mentawais. Swells were very consistent and winds were not overly influential; in fact the whole season basically pumped, with early season perhaps offering the best conditions with some large swells also hitting early.

This year we opened for trading in mid January with a few guests visiting from New Zealand and Australia. Myself, Christian, Dylan and Margy enjoyed fun waves every day on our own, and as always the early season produced some excellent fishing. On the way to Macas the first day of the trip from Sikakap we managed to hook up 6 Tenggiri about 15kg each. This first trip we saw no boats and enjoyed Macas entirely to ourselves with waves every day in the 2-4 ft range; although not that big we still enjoyed fun conditions and some very long sessions in the water.

Later during February whilst we completed some maintenance for the season ahead, we had Matt Graziano visit from Estonia, a fellow partner in Macas Resort. Matt stayed for 6 weeks whilst spending some time teaching an English course in Silabu Village. During February Matt and I also scored some really good waves totally alone at Macas. Mid Feb the swells began getting more solid; I even somehow managed to snap my old faithful 6’2 on a solid 4-5 foot day in February.

March soon arrived and this was an amazing month to say the least. In March we had a few small groups visit including Claus who was on his 4th trip to Macaronis Resort in 4 years. With very few boats around probably due to the effect of the global financial crisis, Huey sent in 100% perfection with some of the most solid double up swells of the season hitting in flawless conditions. Some of these swells were perfect SW direction and the double ups produced some incredible waves reeling down the reef; and the morning and evening sessions were some of the best sessions I can remember in the Mentawais (sorry no photos of these sessions, but definitely in the memory bank!!).

During March the 1 – 2 boats that dropped by every now and again were all laid back, and the guests on board were mainly older guys just looking for some mellow Mentawai perfection which they got and a bit more. One day late in March, we surfed fun waves at Macas with some crew from Barrenjoey, who had planned to head to the Hole that evening, and we awoke the following morning to find the bay completely empty with 6 foot solid perfection on our doorstep, one of the best sessions of the year with just 4 of us surfing for 6 hours straight, sooooo many big glassy barrels that day and perfect conditions for Claus, Dan, Matt and myself.

April produced similar conditions. In early April we had a group of pro's visit from New Jersey who had a good trip but unfortunately the swell and wind conditions were not exactly what we’d hoped for but still they managed to get some fun waves, including a few solid sessions at Thunders in the last couple of days. We tried to convince the group to stay on the following week as a bomb swell was on the way, but as some of the guys had to head home for other commitments it could not be arranged. Low and behold the swell that second week was double to triple over head flawless with solid pipe style barrels, with only the odd boat dropping by for a visit now and again throughout the week.

The month of May began to get busier, with some pro's visiting Macaronis including Ross Williams, Rob Machado, Brad Gerlach and the Red Bull team including Mick Fanning, Adriano De Souza, Jordy Smith and several other young guns. Apparently there was a gap in the pro circuit at this time and suddenly Macas and Greenbush had turned into a entertainment park for the pros ………. with some amazing big glassy barrels scored at Greenbush (click here to view on you tube) and some incredible surfing at Macaronis (click here to view on you tube).

June and July were prime time Macas. With a fairly mild season for winds, these two months had consistent solid swells hitting regularly and there were that many opportunities to surf Macas and surrounding breaks that there were heaps of waves to go around (May in fact was a little busier). Most of our guests being competent surfers over this period enjoyed the excellent quality of the waves, also visiting Greenbush and Lances regularly.

August and September produced some of the more solid swells of the year but true to form, there was a bit more wind about during these months but still plenty of opportunity to score good waves at Macas and surrounding breaks. During this time we surfed Silabu Left regularly and always on our own, and also Bat Cave was a popular choice, either heading up doing a day trip on Indies Explorer or doing a trip in the long boat with a picnic lunch on the deserted Bat Cave Island beach.

Throughout October things started winding down. The second week in October was a magic week of swell which everybody was totally stoked with having 16 guests at the resort surfing perfect 4-6 foot waves every day, but apart from that things started to slow down, still with some quality waves around but not as consistent as the earlier months. Luck of the draw really, considering late October 2008 we were still surfing waves in the 6 foot range whilst Robbie Page was visiting Macas Resort with a group of guests from Portugal.

Also in October we felt the effects of the tragic earthquake that occurred in Padang on September 30th. As a result we had a few cancellations – and had the conditions been epic then it could have been a repeat of March with epic surf and nobody around to surf with, but we weren’t that lucky with the swell in the end.

Anyway a great year of waves all round... hope to see you at Macas in 2010 !!

Cheers

Mark @ Macas

2008 Season Overview...

Well the 2008 season started out in a mad rush as usual, after totally refurbing the Indies Explorer inside and out after purchasing the boat in late 2007. Indies Explorer has been an excellent addition to the resort operation owing to its size and ability to carry large groups and supplies, as well as acting as back up transport to Padang if ever required.

Our early trips in March 2008 saw excellent consistency of clean waves in the 3-4 foot range. Conditions in March and most of April were mostly very good as well with light winds and glassy conditions. In late March a solid 6 ft swell hit late one afternoon with only 3-4 guys out, a nice surprise for the crew that were out surfing that arvo.

Above: Macas late March 2008, a big swell hitting with only a couple of guys out!!

The early season of March, April and May produced some very good fishing in the Macas area. We scored some nice Coral and Carnation Trout which are great cooked Sumatran style with coconut curry paste and grilled over coconut ash BBQ. We also scored plenty of Tengirri (Spanish Mackeral) and a few Great Trevally that also went down a treat on the BBQ. See a few of our fish photos below caught over this period...

June and July as always produced some excellent waves with larger swells arriving resulting in some bigger, heavier barreling waves. But as usual during these months there was a bit more wind around meaning conditions varied from day to day. Then arrival of August was pretty much similar conditons, but true to form August gave us a bit more wet weather than usual that soon cleared up toward the end of the month and conditions again settled.

Above: A nice little barrel May 2008

Swells arriving from early September onwards produced some epic waves due to weather conditions stabilizing and there being regular glassy conditions. The SE trades did not influence too much in 2008, meaning although Macas is a great wave to surf in on-shore conditions anyway, we did not need to worry too much as the winds were often off-shore all morning and sometimes all day even.

Above: A nice little September tube, there were plenty of them to go around and many of the larger variety as well.

In early October we had Nigel Wallace and his mate John Kolehmainen from Tassie visiting who had won the trip in the West Coast Classic of which Macaronis Resort is an official sponsor. Conditions continued to please with glassy conditions and solid swells arriving regularly in the early part, then we experienced a 1 week small wave period where guests surfed mostly at Thunders that week, before we scored another nice swell at the end of October.

With just a group of 5 Portuguese lads, Damo from Tassie and Robbie Page - 2 times World Grand Masters Champ and Pipe Master staying at Macas Resort, we all scored some epic waves and had a great time surfing waves that were glassy all day long in the 6-8 feet range. That last swell was a really nice way to end the season, that's for sure.

Above: An empty 6 foot tube going through unridden at Macas, late October 2008

Perhaps our only disapointment on that last swell was the lack of communication between charter boat operators who again had shown up in a group of 8 boats to try and surf Macas even with a nnumber of guests staying at Macas Resort. This re-enforces that the Mooring Buoy system soon to be launched in 2009 is vital for long term sustainability and is the only solution to reduce unnecessary over-crowding of Macaronis by charter boat visitors.

Please stay tuned for 2009 Reports, until then we wish you all a happy and safe festive season and would like to give our many thanks to everybody that has supported Macaronis Resort this year, whether you stayed at Macaronis Resort or just visited off one of the charter boats for a beer at the bar.

We hope to see you all back again at Macaronois Resort in 2009!!

Warmest Regards,

From All Macaronis Resort Staff and Management.

For full 2008 season Reports please Click Here

Until we provide more reports, we'll leave up some surf photos from the 2008 season for you to check out...