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

Pinto Angin

Long time photographer and surf writer John Callahan has just published an article about SurfExplore trip in Pinto Angin of Manokwari city. It is published on surfline.com, a famous website that is visited by tens of thousands of readers every month.
Pinto Angin is a spot in the eastern tip of Dore bay - around 20 minutes by car from Manokwari city. Pintu Angin is always exposed to high swells coming from the Pacific ocean. Pinto Angin means the Gate of the Winds. It  is part of  Cape Bakaro. The following picture shows how a Japanese surfer, Hayato Maki, was riding the waves of Pinto Angin during a sunset time. The sunlight coming from the west create a contract look of the photograph.

Please, contact us by email to abasiklubsurfin@gmail.com if you plan to visit Manokwari for surfing at Pinto Angin, the nearby Abasi beach or other places in this regency.

Surfing at Pinto Angin

Pinto Angin or the gate of the winds is a surf spot in Manokwari city that is only recommended for experienced surfers. It is not suitable for beginners. It was visited by some surfers from SurfExplore team between February and March 2013. The members of the team were John Callahan, Hayato Maki, Emiliano Cataldi and Phil Goodrich and Alberto Castro. These experienced surfers also explored a number of surfing sites in the north coast of Manokwari. They drove a 4WD pick-up truck Toyota Hilux during their exploratory surfing trip along the empty beaches of Manokwari. The Pinto Angin (in Cape Bakaro) and the North Coast of Manokwari directly face the Pacific Ocean. Wave hunters will find these sites worth surfing.

Hayato Maki at Pinto Angin of Cape Bakaro

I posted some information about Cape Bakaro, and Abasi beach in the forum of globalsurfers.com as a way to introduce or promote Manokwari city as an alternative destination for surfers. To make it easy for anybody to visit this city, I give some description below:
Traveling to Manokwari city

1. Fly from your country to Jakarta. Then take a domestic flight to Manokwari (check the website of Lion Air, Sriwijaya Air and Express Air). Another alternative is flying to Singapore and then continue your trip to Manado city by Silk Air. After that you need to take a domestic flight to Manokwari.
2. Contact us by email to abasiklubsurfing@gmail.com before you come so that we can arrange your accommodation, travel permit from the police station and give you the estimated budget that you may spend while surfing in Pintu Angin and other beaches of Manokwari.

In addition to surfing, Manokwari is a great place for nature lovers who want to see the tropical rainforest of West Papua.