Surf Season in West Papua

We often receive questions from surfers about the right time to visit West Papua. Surf season usually starts from October, November, December, January, February to March. There are plenty of surf spots which visitors can explore. All of the spots in Tambrauw regency haven't been explored by any surfers. The easiest way to go there is by passenger boat from Sorong city to Sausapor town. KM. Sunlia and KM Ave Maria have regular trips to between Sorong and Sausapor town three times a week with ticket price of Rp. 100,000 rupiahs or approximately 9 US dollars per passenger.

There are numerous Surf spots in Manokwari regency, Tambrauw regency and Sorong regency which members of Abasi Surfing can show to foreign surfers. If you are interested in surfing in West Papua bring your own surfboards and please, contact us by email to: abasiklubsurfing@gmail.com

Surfing at Amban Beach of Manokwari

Manokwari has got plenty of surf spots. One of them is the Amban beach. The sea floor is mostly covered with black sand, suitable for beginning and more advanced surfers.
I was at Amban beach this afternoon and I was able to take some pictures of surfers at sea. The following photograph shows a new surfer from the Netherlands was riding his yellow board on a sunny day. His name was Rufus and he was at sea with several other surfers from Susi Air. It was a great experience for him to surf in Manokwari.

Abasi Surfing as the only club that conducts surf trips for tourists can arrange your trips in Manokwari as well as other parts in the north coast of West Papua.
Please, contact us by e-mail to: abasiklubsurfing@gmail.com before you come to Manokwari. Don't forget to come between Oct., Nov., Dec., Jan., Feb., and March.
Members of Abasi Surfing will be happy to teach the basic techniques of surfing if you are interested in learning wave surfing in Manokwari.

Wave Surfing Lessons for Beginners

Wave surfing is sport for those who love the sea. Abasi Surf Club provides surf lesson for beginners during October, November, December, January, February and March every year.

This basic surf lessons lasts from 3 days, 1 week and up to 2 weeks. The course will be conducted at surf spots that are safe for beginners. Experienced surfers such as Theo, Jake, Henoch, Aaron and Rigel will be the instructors.
There are no specific requirements but course participants have to be able to swim.
If you are interested in taking surf lessons in Manokwari city, please, contact us by email to: abasiklubsurfing@gmail.com

Waterski Lesson in Manokwari City

Theo and Rigel were "taking off" the water leaving behind them the Ottow Geissler Cross Monument of Mansinam island. They were towed by a speedboat. The boat driver that afternoon was Henoch Marien. All of them were members of Abasi Surfing. When it was not a surfing season, Abasi Surf Club provided waterski as an alternative water sport for tourists. Anyone who is interested in taking a waterski lesson needs to have basic wave surfing skills such as maintaining balance when standing on surfboard stand and being able to surf on the waves. Surfers from Abasi Club can teach these skills too.

The best time to enjoy wave surfing at Abasi Beach is between December and March. During these months they will be at sea teaching surf lessons to beginners or guiding experienced surfers who come from all corners of the earth.
If you plan to have a surfing trip Manokwari in December, January, February, March and early April, please, contact us by email to: abasiklubsurfing@gmail.com.

Water Ski in Manokwari

August and September are still not the favorable months for surfers in Manokwari. My friend Theo was a little bit poetic when he wrote the following lines on the wall of his facebook:
No beer no problem
No woman no problem
No condom no problem
NO WAVES BIG PROBLEM
He got a lot of comments from his friends for "this short poetry." No doubt, we needed a solution for this "wave crisis."

A rope and a short wooden stick as a handle are the answer. That afternoon, Theo was able to stand on his board again crossing the waters between Mansinam island and Kwawi beach pulled by a speed boat. Boys from Abasi Surf Club are getting busy at sea again.

Surf Guides at Abasi beach

We understand that not all of the visitors who come to Manokwari regency are experienced surfers. There are a lot of surfers that are still in the beginning levels. To help them learn how to surf, we have some members of Abasi Surfing Club who can teach basic surfing techniques at Abasi beach or other coastal areas in the northern or eastern coast of this regency. They are Henoch, Aaron, Rigel, Benny, Herman and other boys from the club. Most of the members of the club began surfing with simple wooden boards. It was approximately five years ago. Now they ride the waves using standard surf boards made of foam and fiber reinforced plastics. They will help beginning surfers choose waves that are are safe and where to start the take off and where to jump into the water.

Surfing is a fun but dangerous sports. It is important to consult local surfers about the underwater contour of the sea bed in the surf areas before new visitors can start surfing at Abasi beach for the first time.

If you plan to visit Manokwari city to learn how to surf, please, contact Salomina Rumadas (the founder of the club)  by email to abasiklubsurfing@gmail.com

Australian surfer at Cape Bakaro

Two weeks ago I received an email from Matt Fox, the project manager of CII for West Papua province of Indonesia. He said that he would come to Manokwari and interested in surfing. One week later he arrived in Manokwari. On the first day, I brought him to a lift-net bagan in the middle of the sea where we saw fishermen catch fish and enjoyed some grilled fish there. Then I arranged his morning surf at Cape Bakaro. Matt is an Australian. He was the only tourist at the beach that morning. Accompanied by a local surf guide, Matt rode the morning swells of the cape.

There are a lot of Australian surfers at Kuta beach of Bali island but very few of them go to Manokwari of West Papua to surf at this cape. I hope that more surfers will come to this city to enjoy surfing. Cape Bakaro is also called Pintu Angin (meaning the Gate of the Winds). If you are interested in surfing, snorkeling or hiking in Manokwari, please contact us at abasiklubsurfing@gmail.com