I was in Bali when I received a call from my friends in Mentawais. I was invited by Ade Putra, owner of the Shadow Mentawai Surf Camp and his cousin who is the surf guide of the camp. Dody Iskandar came to the camp and I photographed him along with some of the locals on arguably the biggest day of the year. They had another guest named Eliazar, a local grom from the Mentawais who came to stay on the camp as a reward from winning the Grommet Surf Contest last month in Padang, Sumatra.
The swell arrived and we did our first stop in Ebay, giving the opportunity for Eliazar and Dody to catch some waves and score some solid barrels. The swell was solid 4- to 6-foot and was said to be just picking up.
We decided to keep moving and search for a better and bigger spot, so we drove straight to Kandui and the waves were pumping. The waves were much bigger. Easily 10 feet, huge, and insanely perfect barrels. My friend Dody decided to go out and try to get a few, and, what is clearly from the photos, he got some of the best waves in the lineup. Shortly after, another local named Robot also started charging. It was great to watch all these guys charging. I’m so glad I got to capture it.
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