Playgrounds (North) · Indonesia
Surfing Hideaways
A left reef in Playgrounds (North), Indonesia, for advanced and pro surfers.
Hideaways is a hollow left in the Playgrounds area of the Mentawai Islands. It comes out of deep water, hits a shallow section of reef and throws a barrel towards the channel.
It's one of the few waves here that handles south winds, so it works when other spots are blown out. At low tide it gets very shallow, so mid tide is safer. It's for intermediate surfers and above who are comfortable on reef.
Charters and resorts in Playgrounds reach it by small boat. Take a step-up when the swell is big.
When to surf
Hideaways
Hideaways is at its best from April to October. Conditions it likes: SW swell, SE wind.
April to May: Good
Fewer boats and good swell
June to August: Prime
Peak season: maximum swell, maximum boats, book long ahead
September to October: Prime
Still good swell, fewer boats
November to March: Quiet
Small season: playful sizes, big discounts, empty lineups
The year across Mentawai Islands
Waves near Hideaways
Kandui Left
6 kmPlaygrounds (North) · Left Reef · Pro
Nipussi
6 kmPlaygrounds (North) · Right Reef · Intermediate / Advanced
Beng Bengs
6 kmPlaygrounds (North) · Left Reef · Intermediate / Advanced
Straight-line distances. By road it is usually further.
Getting there
Where to stay: Everything here is a full-board package including speedboat transfers from the Padang ferry, there are no walk-in rooms. Land camps beat charter boats on price and give you the same waves. For June-August book 6-12 months out; shoulder season (March-May, Sept-Nov) has waves and space. Known places: Kandui Resort and the more upmarket Kandui Villas are both on Karangmajat island, in the middle of the Playgrounds waves.
Transport, costs, where to stay and the rest of the waves in the area are in the Playgrounds (North) guide.
Playgrounds (North) surf guideSurf it often and something here is wrong? Tell us and we will fix it.