Surfing Nias / Lagundri Bay

Right Reef · Best May-Sep · 4-15 ft · Crowd 4/5

Consistent SW swell, SE offshore wind

The Point at Lagundri Bay is a right-hand barrel on Nias that has been famous since the 1970s. The 2004-2005 earthquakes lifted the reef, and since then it breaks shallower, hollower and more often than before.

You paddle out through a keyhole in the reef, and the takeoff happens in almost the same spot every time. The barrel is thick and makeable, and then you paddle back round. It's best with 4-10ft of SW swell and SE-E winds. Below mid tide the reef takes over, so choose your sessions carefully.

The bay is lined with losmen and camps, some of them run by the same families for decades. The lineup gets busy and locals have priority. Bring a step-up. Getting to Nias takes time, with flights, a drive and often a wait for swell.

Right Reef · Best Jun-Aug · 3-8 ft · Crowd 2/5

SW swell, E offshore wind

Sorake is the section further down the reef from The Point at Lagundri Bay. The rights here are longer and more open, with more water over the reef, so strong intermediates can surf the bay without taking on the main barrel.

On small and medium days it's a wall for turns and uses the same keyhole to get out. When the swell gets bigger it becomes a serious wave too, though it gives you more warning and more ways out than The Point.

Local kids learn here, and staying on the beachfront means you can watch it from a hammock and time your sessions with the tide. Everyday shortboard, with a step-up in reserve.

Right Reef · Best Jun-Jul · 6-20 ft · Crowd 1/5

Big SW swell, E wind

Bawa is in the Hinako Islands, off the west coast of Nias. It's a big, powerful right that needs a real SW swell to break well, and then it produces long, shifting walls where positioning and a strong paddle make all the difference.

You can only get there by boat, from Nias or from the camps in the Hinakos. There's no village to speak of. The sets swing wide over a big area, so most of the challenge is reading the ocean. It works from 6ft to 15ft on east winds, and the channels are deep.

Most people combine it with Asu on the other side of the island group, staying in a basic camp or on a boat. Bring big-wave boards and spares.

Left Reef · Best May-Sep · 4-12 ft · Crowd 1/5

SW swell, SE-E wind

Asu is a long left in the Hinako Islands, across the channel from Nias. It gets the full force of the open ocean, with thick, fast walls, sections that keep coming and barrels where the reef allows.

It's exposed to swell almost all the time, so it's rarely flat, and even small days are hard work. It works from 4ft to 12ft on SE-E winds. You need to be fit to surf it well.

There are a couple of basic camps with generators, plus boats that anchor during swell runs. There's nothing else to do but surf, eat and sleep. Bring a step-up and spare boards, because supplies are a long way away. It's a very good wave for goofy-footers.

Left Reef · Best May-Sep · 3-8 ft · Crowd 1/5

SW swell, E wind

Afulu is a left on the north-west coast of Nias, near the village of the same name, and the best left on the island. It breaks over shallow reef, with a fast takeoff, long walls and a hollow section on the inside. Rides run from about 50 to 150 metres.

It works at 3-8ft on a south-west swell with east winds. The tide matters a lot, because the reef gets very shallow at low tide. It's for advanced surfers, though it's less heavy than the slabs in the south of Nias.

Afulu is a long drive from Lagundri on a rough road, and there are only a few places to stay. Bring what you need, and be polite to the local surfers.