Surfing the Telo Islands
Telos is Indonesia's best kept secret. Uncrowded reefs, endless variety and waves that work for every level — from playful walls to world-class barrels. Less known than the Mentawais, but no less perfect.
Beach
A clean, hollow right breaking close in along a long stretch of sand backed by coconut palms, on one of the few Telo Islands breaks you can watch from dry land. It stands up head high and throws with real shape. Nobody out when we photographed it, which is the normal state of affairs out here.
Bojo
A long left peeling down a reef that runs the length of a jungle and white-sand island. From the air the rides look exceptional, two lines unwinding a very long way with the shallow reef visible through the water the whole time. Small, clean and glassy on the day we shot it, with a handful of surfers spread across the peak.
Boli
Two waves and one channel. A left and a right break either side of a deep blue slot, both peeling toward it, with the boat anchored in the middle and shallow reef flats running away on both sides. Rare to find a setup that lets a group split in two directions and still share a single anchorage, and one of the reasons we keep coming back to this corner of the Telos.
Churches
A reef point wrapping around a palm-covered headland, with two or three distinct sections peeling along the reef edge and a deep channel sitting just outside. The reef inside is shallow and startlingly clear. There is a village on the headland and another of the Telo Islands sitting out on the horizon.
Coffins
Heavy, thick and square. Coffins throws a proper open tube with a lip that comes over all at once, running head high to overhead on the day we shot it. Hard offshore, enough to blow mist off the palms behind the break. Coconut plantation right at the back of it, and nobody out.
DC's
The heaviest wave we surf in the Telo Islands. A big, thick, square barrel well overhead with the lip throwing wide, breaking in deep water well off the beach. The photograph shows a surfer set deep under it with no shoulder to escape onto. A wave that demands you know what you are doing, and one our guides will talk you through before you paddle out.
Dislocaters
A thick, powerful wall of water throwing over in open ocean with only a low palm island on the far horizon. Deep blue water, well away from land, breaking solid and overhead plus with nobody within sight of it. Everything about the way it stands up says weight rather than finesse.
Facas
Clean and hollow, throwing a defined barrel section over shallow reef very close to shore. Strong offshore holds the face open and feathers spray back off the lip. Roughly head high in the photographs. Jungle runs right down to the waterline with no real beach and no obvious channel, which is part of why it stays quiet even in a busy season.
GTS
A solid right with a tapered wall and a barrel section that opens properly rather than just shutting down. Overhead, breaking through clear turquoise water. Close enough to the beach that you can sit under a palm and watch every wave, which is exactly where our photograph was taken from.
Jurassic
An island of dense primary rainforest with a long white beach and reef running its entire length, several separate peaks breaking along it. There is no development anywhere in frame, not a roof or a road. The forest is where the name comes from, and from the air it is obvious why. This is the Telo Islands at their least touched.
Lado Lado
A left that sets up as a clean tapering wall with barrel potential on the inside, running head high with the wind offshore and spray blowing back off the crest. Coconut palms and jungle sit immediately behind, with a small beach and a rocky outcrop marking the spot. It breaks very close to shore.
Leba
A punchy right with a steep lip section worth hitting, running head high and over. Our photograph caught it in heavy rain, the palms behind hazed out by the downpour and the whole sea surface stippled, which is its own kind of beautiful. Some of the best sessions in the Telos happen in weather nobody would choose.
Max's Right
One of the best known waves in the Telo Islands, and a long one. It peels a very long way, with a vegetated sea stack standing off the break as a landmark you cannot mistake. Multiple swell lines stack up outside and a second peak works further along the reef. Waist to head high, clean and glassy, breaking well offshore over reef in deep blue water.
Middles
A clean, glassy wall running chest to head high in open water, with a jungle island across the channel behind it. Our photograph of it happens to have the Kaimana steaming through the frame, which tells you how a Telo Islands charter actually works: the boat moves, and the wave is wherever the boat is.
Mimpis
A left that forms a distinct almond barrel and breaks quickly, punchy rather than drawn out, running head high to overhead. A small jungle islet sits behind it. Soft grey light and nobody out in the photograph, which is most days here.
New School
A right with a fuller, more forgiving shoulder and a punchy section where it stands up and breaks. Head high and clean, with two surfers trading it in the photograph. It reads as a performance wave rather than a barrel, the kind you ride for turns, and a good option when the heavier Telo Islands reefs are beyond what the group wants.
Outer Monkeys
A long right peeling out on an outer reef with several sections feathering down the line ahead of you. Head high, clean, light offshore, with no land in sight in any direction. That distance offshore is where the name comes from, and it is also why the crowd in our photograph is three people. Only reachable by boat.
Pasti
A wide channel between two of the Telo Islands with waves peeling along both shorelines and the boat anchored in the middle of it. Long lines of white water wrap a long way down the reef. Coconut plantations and a scattering of buildings sit along one side.
Pinnacles
A right that breaks tight against a rocky headland, with a dramatic vegetated sea stack standing just off the peak. That stack is where the name comes from and it dominates every photograph taken here. Head high on our shots, with overhanging trees and rock close enough to keep you honest. One of the most photogenic waves in the Telos.
Schoolyards
Small, playful and easy to get to. It runs waist to chest high over a bright green reef flat with the boat anchored right off the break, so the paddle out is as short as it gets. Our photograph was taken from the beach with two people in the water. The most relaxed wave in this part of the Telo Islands.
Sigata
A wave that peels a very long way down a reef, wrapping around a point below a coastline of coconut palms. Long, soft lines rather than heavy ones, with the boat anchored off it and a couple of surfers out. Our photograph caught it under a grey, stormy sky with another of the Telo Islands sitting in the distance.
Sipika
Big, thick and heavy. A solid overhead-plus barrel with a lip that carries real weight, breaking offshore in deep water with no land behind it. In our photograph nobody is out and two people are standing on the bow watching it, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Skatepark
The friendliest wave in this group. A soft, rolling right that runs waist to chest high with an open shoulder and no barrel section to catch anyone out, ridden here on a glassy offshore morning. If there is a wave in the Telo Islands for a guest who is still finding their feet, this is it.