Mentawais tsunami – donate here
SurfAid’s Tom Plummer and other assessment teams spent yesterday surveying the damage in villages along the tsunami affected areas of North Pagai and South Pagai. Photo: Luke Gerson
SurfAid’s Tom Plummer and other assessment teams spent yesterday surveying the damage in villages along the tsunami affected areas of North Pagai and South Pagai. Photo: Luke Gerson
Our friends at Photogerson.com have just sent us a warming and fascinating set of photos of the Mentawai people. Luke and Kate have been in Indonesia for some time, you may remember last year we published their photo essay of the Mentawais.
Surfing and surf-related travel provide a natural interaction with the environment. But being aware of the environment when surfing doesn’t necessarily come naturally.
Today, journeying to remote areas is comparably easy. Our travel decisions – how we travel, where we stay, and which businesses we support – shape the local environment and community and can ultimately determine whether we leave with more of a realistic view of the area or something further from the truth.
Regular readers will know that I travelled to the Mentawais back in April of this year. So when news of the tsunami struck, I was more than usually worried about the fate of the folk out there.

Mr B, whose fourth film, ’21 Days Later’, is out this month on DVD, chats to Christiaan Bailey about his work, trying to extract money from the surf industry, and the British surf film scene…
Back in April I made a trip to the Mentawai Islands, which are situated several hours West of Sumatra in Indonesia. Usually with these sort of trips I’m hellbent on getting the best possible shots I can for whichever magazine I’m shooting for and don’t get to surf much.
Mentawai Dreaming
Mark Sankey and Alexa Poppe uncover the isolation and challenges of the Mentawai Islands, and consider the challenge of balancing tourism and sustainability.
The life of Jai
Jai Lee's personal struggles and addiction to noseriding have twisted his creativity
El Mar, Mi Alma
A visual love song to the surf blessed land of Chile.
Be Breizh!
Mark Sankey and Alexa Poppe explore the underrated delights that Brittany has to offer.
Taiwan untouched
Neil Armstrong gives us a taste of what to expect.
Pismo Beach. For better or worse
Dan Hamlin and Jeff Pfost contribute a photo essay on Kelly Slater's worst wave.
Tyler Warren Experiments
Tyler Warren pilots a steady course through the hype.
Castles made of sand
Sam Widdows swaps London for Nicaragua, and finds an entirely different tube ride.
Dont Jump Off the Pier
A brief history of surfing in the north-east of England.
Forty Bonzer Years
Malcolm Campbell lists fourty notable things to represent the forty years of the Bonzer.
Mission: possible
Portugal explodes onto the global big wave circuit.
Thirty thousand
Richard James shoots a surf trip of 30,000 kilometres along the west cost of Africa.