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We're not selling beds and boat rides.
By Diego Riveros, Mentawai Surf Camp
After 18 years in the Mentawais, I've watched surf camps multiply across these islands like reef breaks after a cyclone. More operators. More beds. More boats. More identical packages with fixed dates, shared lineups, and the same gamble every guest has always taken: book months in advance and hope the swell shows up.
We decided to stop competing in that game.
Not because we can't — we've been doing this longer than most. But because we've built something no other camp in the Mentawais can offer, and selling it as just another set of beds and boat rides would be doing it a disservice.
What we built is flexibility. And now we've made it even simpler: every package comes in two versions. Flex or Fixed. You choose.
The problem nobody talks about
Every surf trip carries a risk the industry has normalised to the point of invisibility: you book fixed dates months in advance, you fly to the other side of the world, and you have absolutely no idea what the ocean is going to do when you arrive.
You book March 15–25 six months out. You arrive to two-foot onshore mush. You surf anyway because what else can you do?
The industry's answer has always been: book more days and hope. Or come back next year. Neither is a solution. They're just ways of making a predictable failure feel acceptable.
And alongside the swell gamble sits the growing problem of flight disruptions — cancelled routes, rerouted connections, airline instability. A guest on a fixed booking who misses a connection doesn't just lose sleep — they lose paid days and arrive stressed and short on time.
We built a real answer to both. And then we gave people who don't need that answer a way to save 30% by opting out of it.
Flex or Fixed — the core choice
Every package now comes in two versions. The room, the boats, the food, the guiding, the 4K video, the transfers — all identical. The only difference is timing control.
Flex costs 30% more. What you get: a full calendar month blocked for your booking, 21 days of enhanced swell monitoring, and exact dates confirmed 14 days out — shifted up to ±10 days from your target to wherever the best swell is sitting. If your flight gets disrupted, the window absorbs it. On Day 8 you can extend pro-rata if the waves are still firing.
Fixed saves 30%. You lock exact dates now. Same room, same experience — you simply take the forecast risk yourself. Perfect for locked school holidays, tight PTO windows, or when budget is the priority.
The trade-off is honest and deliberate. Both are legitimate choices depending on your situation.
For the full comparison: mentawai-surfcamp.com/articles/how-to-choose-your-surf-trip
The five packages. Two ways to book each.
All packages run 10–20 nights. Pricing scales with duration; anything beyond 14 nights is pro-rated at the nightly rate.
The Bunk Room
Solo charger · shared room · minimum cost · maximum waves
The entry point. One surfer, one bed, same access to the fleet, the guiding, and Lora's kitchen as every other package.
Flex: AUD $5,460 · Fixed: AUD $3,822 — 10 nights
mentawai-surfcamp.com/packages/the-bunk-room
The Private Sanctuary
Solo or couple · private ensuite · board rental + coaching included · 1 non-surfer joins free
Our best room. Private king or double, ensuite, largest floor plan in camp. Board rental and daily coaching included. One non-surfer joins completely free — same room, same meals, same transfers.
Flex: AUD $11,400 · Fixed: AUD $7,980 — 10 nights peak
mentawai-surfcamp.com/packages/packages-private-sanctuary
The Premium Pair
Two surfers · private ensuite · your room only · full month blocked for both
Private ensuite, your two only — no strangers. The couple's choice, the best friend's annual escape, the father-son pilgrimage. One booking window covers both surfers, forecast optimised for your two levels.
Flex: AUD $7,875 pp · Fixed: AUD $5,512 pp — 10 nights peak
mentawai-surfcamp.com/packages/packages-premium-pair
The Crew Trio
Three surfers · private ensuite · lowest per-person rate in the private tiers
Triple room, private ensuite, your crew only. AUD $685 per person per night — the lowest per-person rate across all private-room options.
Flex: AUD $6,500 pp · Fixed: AUD $4,550 pp — 10 nights
mentawai-surfcamp.com/packages/packages-crew-trio
The Full Camp Buyout
4 to 11 guests · this isn't a booking · it's a takeover
All four rooms, all six boats, the full crew, the kitchen, the dock. No other guests. No other agenda. Flat rate year-round — you pay for exclusivity, not timing.
Flex sweet spot: 6 guests × 10 nights = AUD $4,750 ppFixed sweet spot: 8 guests × 10 nights = AUD $4,988 pp
mentawai-surfcamp.com/packages/the-full-camp-buyout
What's included in every package
All meals (breakfast, lunch at the break, dinner at camp) by Lora Riska · Daily guided surf trips to 35+ breaks · 4K video analysis of every session · Starlink WiFi · All Padang transfers (airport, hotel, ferry, speedboat, return) · 2 Padang hotel nights
Not included: Mentawai surf tax (AUD $200 per person, payable in cash at the port) · Travel insurance (mandatory — must cover surfing and medical evacuation) · Alcohol · International flights
The family behind the camp
This is not a corporate operation. It is a family — and understanding that changes how you understand what the camp offers.
Diego Riveros built this camp from scratch 18 years ago. He designs and builds our boats locally in fibreglass — replacing dugout canoes that require cutting old-growth rainforest trees, and creating skilled jobs for Mentawai people in the process. He runs the operation, reads the forecasts, decides where we go and when.
Lora Riska is Diego's wife, co-founder, and the person who makes the camp feel like a home. A Le Cordon Bleu graduate who chose to cook here because this is where her family is. Her kitchen bends to whoever is in camp — early dawn patrol breakfasts, late lunches when the swell holds, celebration dinners when someone scores their first barrel.
Thariq (Torik) Juaco — Diego and Lora's eldest son — is our head surf guide and coach. He grew up surfing every break within our 10km radius. He reads the conditions daily, splits groups by ability, and goes in the water with you at the peak on set waves. One of the finest guides in the Mentawais.
Zak and Sacha — the Rad Bros, Diego and Lora's younger sons — grew up here too. They surf the inside waves with guests, emotionally supportive and perceptive, helping people discover what the wave is doing in real time. There is no equivalent to surfing with people who have known these breaks their whole lives.
Why flexibility is the hardest thing to offer — and why we can
Three things make it possible here that you won't find combined anywhere else.
The fleet. All fibreglass, all designed and built by Diego and the team. Six boats total — the Liverpool runs at 38 knots. When the forecast shifts overnight, we're at the break before anyone else has launched. We maintain the fleet from our own dock and service station.
The local knowledge. Torik has surfed every break in our zone for years. He knows how a north swell wraps around the southern end, how a tide shift at 3am changes Bank Vaults, how to read satellite imagery and know which side of the Playgrounds fires by 6am. The Flex window is only as good as the people interpreting it — and that knowledge is not downloadable.
The kitchen. Lora doesn't run a canteen. She runs a kitchen that adjusts to who's in camp and what the day demands. The flexibility of the kitchen is as much a part of the experience as the flexibility of the forecast system.
How to book
Email info@mentawai-surfcamp.com (individual rooms) or buyout@mentawai-surfcamp.com (Full Camp Buyout) with: package name · Flex or Fixed · target month and dates · all guest names and surf levels · any dietary or room configuration needs.
Quote within 24 hours. 50% deposit locks your booking.
Full how-to: mentawai-surfcamp.com/articles/how-to-book-your-trip
Come and find out
The swell still runs. Rifles still fires. The sun still sets behind the palms.
We're here — with the best fleet we've ever had, a family that knows these waters as well as anyone alive, and now a genuine choice: pay for certainty, or save and back yourself.
Either way, you're getting the same waves.
Diego RiverosMentawai Surf CampWhatsApp: +62 811 660 4419www.mentawai-surfcamp.comAll packages: mentawai-surfcamp.com/ratesHow to choose: mentawai-surfcamp.com/articles/how-to-choose-your-surf-trip
