Hideaways (Mentawi Islands) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let's get into it. Here's your 16-day look at Hideaways (Mentawi Islands). The water's sitting at 86°F, which is about 1°F warmer than the long-term average for this time of year – nothing crazy, just your typical warm Mentawais bath.

We've got a solid run of swell on the cards, starting right away. The first pick of the bunch is Sunday the 30th. It's not the biggest, with waves around 3ft in the morning pushing up to 4ft in the afternoon. The wind is offshore and light, so it's going to be clean and lined up. The energy is moderate at 741, but it's early days. It's a gentle start, good for finding your rhythm.

The real meat of this forecast hits on Monday the 31st and carries through to Tuesday the 2nd. Swell jumps up to 6ft to 7ft on Monday with that SW groundswell pushing through, period around 18 seconds. That's proper groundswell energy, and the combined energy is strong, climbing to 2069 in the morning and peaking at 2660 in the afternoon. Winds are offshore or cross-offshore, holding it together. This is when Hideaways starts to show its teeth. It's getting on for bigger surf – the 7ft sets on Monday afternoon mean it's not a beginner's wave anymore, but for the intermediates, this is going to be a lot of fun.

Tuesday the 1st keeps that energy up. 8ft waves in the morning with a 17-second period and the energy at a strong 3119. The wind is offshore again, making for excellent conditions. This is the standout period for size and power. After this, the swell slowly starts to back off, but it stays rideable.

Thursday the 3rd is a bit of a mixed bag. The morning has some cross-onshore wind, dropping quality, but the afternoon cleans back up with a cross-offshore breeze. Swell holds at 5ft.

We go through a bit of a lull from Friday the 4th through to Sunday the 7th. Wave heights drop to the 4ft to 5ft range. It's not big, but it's still clean, especially with the morning offshores. The energy dips down to the 500-800 range, so it's weak for Hideaways, but there are still a few fun ones if you're keen to get wet. It's a quiet period.

Then, along comes Tuesday the 8th. This is another true standout. The swell kicks back up to 6ft in the morning and 7ft by the afternoon, with a period of 17-18 seconds. The energy jumps back up to a strong 2336 and 2601. The wind is light and offshore in the morning, then goes glassy in the afternoon with just 3 mph wind. That's about as perfect as it gets for a reef like this. This is a day to make time for.

Wednesday the 9th starts with a glassy flat spell at 3ft, but the afternoon picks up to 3ft. It's the calm before the next pulse.

Now, looking further out, things get interesting again but a little less certain. Thursday the 10th afternoon sees a spike back up to 6ft with a 17-second period and strong energy at 2196. Then Friday the 11th is looking really good – 7ft waves with clean offshore winds all day and energy in the 2100-2400 range. Considering this is in the second week, it's promising, but keep an eye on it.

Saturday the 12th holds on with 6-6ft surf, before it eases back again on Sunday the 13th, which has a bit of a cross-onshore morning before a cleaner afternoon.

The window closes out on Monday the 14th with another solid push of 5ft swell and good energy (1916 in the afternoon). So, the takeaway here: grab Monday 31st and Tuesday 8th as your prime days, with that long-range look at the 10th and 11th as a promising end to the run. Remember, those long-period groundswells can be a bit tricky on a reef setup, but at Hideaways, they usually mean business.

Keep your eyes on the horizon.

Rusty

Read more