Surfing Village

For any serious surfer, traveling to a far-flung wave-rich locale for an extended amount of time to absorb the culture and test their skill in waves of consequence is one of the ultimate rights of passage. For many, it’s the Hawaiian islands that first beckon as the days get shorter and the wintertime northwest swells begin to light up the Pacific. For others, it’s a summertime surf safari in Southern Mexico, where the sand-bottom point breaks and heaving beach breaks get thicker than the post-surf tacos. Out of all of these places, there is only one location that resigns supreme in the realm of coming-of-age surf trip destinations…Indonesia.

Surfing in Indonesia came into the public purvey after 1971’s classic surf film, “Morning of the Earth”, by Alby Falzon and David Elfick. It showcased Stephen Cooney and Rusty Miler taming the hollow waves off Bali’s Bukit Peninsula on their sleek single fins. From that moment, visiting surfers found a veritable paradise on the spiritual Indian Ocean isle—thrilling and consequential surf, delicious food, cheap lodging, and an exotic culture completely unlike the ones they knew. It was a place someone could go to escape completely, so much so that many ultimately drowned in Bali’s richness, lost to time forever.

By around the 1990’s, there were many expat surfers from all over the world, including many from Santa Cruz. It was there that they put down permanent roots, oftentimes marrying locals and raising their children in the tropical paradise. As the surfing population expanded, many surfers grew tired of the crowded lineups and began expanding their horizons, visiting and pioneering surf breaks in neighboring islands such as Lombok and Sumbawa. 

In West Sumatra, this played with the “boat trip” phenomenon, which saw surfers hiring captains and guides out of the port city of Padang to ferry them out to places such as they Mentawai Islands, where surfers and crew would reliably score perfect waves at breaks such as Macaroni’s and Lance’s Right all day, sleeping onboard their vessels at night. Having a portable wave finder escort you in such a wave region became a dependable choice for lovers of scoring insane surf, yet they didn’t come cheap. 

Surfers desiring a more Earth-bound Indonesian West Sumatran surf experience didn’t have to wait long for “surf camps” to spring up in the Mentawai’s, most notably at breaks such as Lance’s Right and Kandi. Here, surfers could really get to know a particular set of surf breaks, more often than not located just a short walk or paddle-out from their bedroom, with all the comforts of dry land.

There’s another dreamy set up just northwest of the Mentawai’s that’s been also capturing the attention of wave hungry adventurers, including a few local surfers. It’s name is the Telo Islands and it really starts cooking from April-October, with it’s many reef breaks benefitting from southeast swells that roll in from the Roaring Forties and Howling Fifties across the Indian Ocean. It includes a number of world-class reef breaks, and even a phenomenal beach break or two that can challenge even the most experienced of surfers.

One of such rippers is local surfer Theo Rose, who was hired as by a Telo Islands surf camp named Surfing Village, located just a few paces from the epic surf at breaks such as Pasti and Naga’s. He was introduced to Surfing Village on a trip with his old man back in 2018, where he made connections that would lead him to where he is today. He basically helps make sure that everything is running smoothly at the camp so the guests have the most positive experience possible.

Spending so much time immersed in such a lifestyle, while rewarding, can get a little lonely, so Rose started a habit of inviting close friends over his way for extended stints working as guides at the high-end surf camp. There, they help out with all the day-to-day operations and help guide and familiarize guests with the intricacies of the 18+ completely different, world-class waves on tap. While, in the process, of course, surfing their brains out while they gorge out on hefty servings of perfect barrels and rippable walls. 

When I first heard about Rose’s operation in the Telos, I was fascinated, and a little bit jealous, to tell the truth. What a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! To find out more, I decided to interview Rose, as well as his Santa Cruz hires Quinn Johnson, Zealand Hunter, and Max Nunes. Here’s what they had to say about their magical adventures working summers at the Surfing Village camp.

Theo Rose, Manager, Surfing Village

First question, where is the Telos Islands? What are the waves like there? The people? How would you describe the climate and the natural surroundings?

The Telos are a small Island chain located directly on top of the equator, between the Mentawaii Islands and Nias, off the coast of North Sumatra. The waves are sick, generally a bit mellower than the Ments, but if you’ve seen any of Zealand’s footage, it pumps. The natural surroundings are beautiful and untouched, part of the beauty of our area is how difficult it can be to access, so any type of development is a long way away.

When was your first visit to the Telos? What were your first impressions and what made you return from there on?

I first visited Surfing Village as a guest in 2018 with my dad. I just remember being blown away at how cool the setup is. It’s this little slice of the jungle carved out with these wooden buildings that kind of feel like a jungle-gym. And then meeting the owners and surf guides, a bunch of dread-headed rastafari Brazilians, they’re just the coolest people I’ve ever met.

How did you get the job at Surfing Village? Who owns it and how did you meet them?

I scored the job at Surfing Village through a connection I had made in Bali as a grom. I was 14, surfing Bingin with this Australian guy, who told me he was going out to the Telos to work at a camp. I thought that sounded like the sickest thing ever, so I set doing something similar as a goal of mine. 

Years later, my Dad and I randomly choose to check out Surfing Village for our annual trip, and who’s standing at the doorstep when we arrive at Surfing Village but that same Australian dude. I was 22 at the time, about to finish college, and pretty much hassled him to hire me until he and the owners decided to hire me to replace him as manager. Thanks Cam! 

Surfing Village is owned by these two Brazilian brothers, Paulo and Nardelli, and a Brazilian woman named Sandra. They’re truly great people, I owe so much to them. They’re my Indonesian family. Paulo’s story of finding the waves and building Surfing Village is so inspiring and listens like a fiction novel. He actually just told his story for the first time, check it out on “The Boardroom Show” Youtube channel, you won’t regret it.

What’s a typical day at the camp look like for workers and guests? Other than surfing, what other ways do you guys kill time? How’s the food?

A day at Surfing Village pretty much looks the same for everybody. We’re up early making a plan for where we want to surf for the morning. We have two speedboats and three surf guides ready to take the guests surfing 24/7. We’ve got such a crazy variety of waves in such a small area, the guides basically open up the wave “menu” and come to a decision with the guests where we should check out. We surf all morning, have lunch, surf all afternoon, then come in, talk story, and play pool all night. It’s so much fun.

How are the waves there? How many breaks are nearby, and are the accessible by land, or just boat? What kinds of different wave set-ups do you guys have going on there?

The waves are proper sick. Within 20 minutes of our camp, there’s about 20 different waves, ten of which can be world class. There’s three right-handers in front of Surfing Village. Five minutes after seeing a good one from your bungalow, you can be in the water, dry hair. It’s really important to have waves directly in front of a surf camp; you want to be able to walk out on your own schedule and go surf when the waves are good. The main wave in front of Surfing Village is the best in the Telos. It’s a long right with three tube sections, and we get to sit on it all day. Beyond that, there’s about 15 other waves we regularly surf, accessible by speedboat. We have rippable rights, hollow lefts, slabbing rights, deep water lefts, and one legit secret spot we just found last season. Oh yeah, and a beachbreak that stacks up against any beachbreak in the world.

Describe your best all-time session at the camp. What made the session so special? Is there any one particular wave that stands out to you.

All time best session was definitely one at the wave directly in front of Surfing Village last June. It came at the end of the psycho June flurry that Indo had this year, like four once-in-a-season swells back to back. It was good all day, but the last two hours before dark, the wind swung light offshore and the waves were so freaking good. It was just four or five of us out there, just our staff at Surfing Village, the guests were all surfed out. We were just yelling each other into some of the best waves of our lives, you’d kick out of one and see the homie behind you standing in another one. 

It ended with Zealand getting the one he’s been looking for for two seasons– a proper 8ft bomb that nobody else wanted anything to do with. Goes to show, if you get off the beaten path a bit, you can still score 90’s style Indo perfection with just your friends. Sessions like that are so special.

How did this Santa Cruz connection come to life at the Camp? Was that your call? How rad has it been to get some of your homies from back home to work with you at such a special place? What locals have come to work there with you? Anyother SC surfers come as guests?Who’s the most productive worker? Laziest?

Ever since I’d started at Surfing Village, all the homies have understandably asked me to hook them up with jobs. Two seasons ago, a couple of our surf guides couldn’t make it out for the season, leaving us short staffed. So when I saw the opportunity to get my friends out there, I jumped at it. 

Part of my job is managing and scheduling our surf guides, so I sent out some texts and made some hires. It’s such a pleasure having Zealand, Quinn, and Max out there, they do a great job. Zealand’s so on it with the swells and winds, he’s really talented at taking the equation of the day’s conditions and putting our guests on the right spot. 

Quinn’s super helpful with anything we need outside of his surf-guiding duties, he’ll get his hands dirty in the generator room, take the guests diving, help with dinner, really anything. And Max is so good with people, all of our guests just love hanging out with him. He’s great with people and really understands hospitality. Plus it’s not bad having an enforcer around camp. I’m definitely the laziest of the SC crew, I clock more hammock time than all three of them combined.

How many tubes do you think you’ve seen Zealand get spit out of there by now? That guy is an animal!

I don’t want to pump the kid’s tires too much, but Zealand’s surfing the last two summers was honestly jaw-dropping. He’s put in a lot of time in the tube and it shows. It’s really cool having a tube-rider of his caliber out there to show us what’s possible. There’s this slab near us that breaks about ten feet off of dry reef that he’s pretty much pioneered. That wave scares the shit out of me, it’s so heavy and so shallow. He just does laps out there like a summer day at Sewers.

Are you splitting your time between here and there or are you just full-time Indo guy now? If not, could you ever see yourself spending the rest of your days out there in the Indian Ocean at some point?

Since I started at Surfing Village in 2019, I’ve split time between home and Indo. Surfing Village is only open April-October, so it gives me a few months to come home over winter and spend time with friends and family. At this point I’m kind of taking it year-by-year, but I don’t see myself leaving Surfing Village anytime soon. Too many barrels, too many good times!

How is it being so far removed from civilization at a camp like that (I’m assuming)? How does it complicate matters not being able to do things like hop on your E-Bike and grab toothpaste from CVS or get that wart growing on your butt looked at by a reliable healthcare worker? Any particular stories or sketchy situations arise during your time “livin’ on the edge” in Indo?

Yeah it’s pretty out there! Our staff at Surfing Village, who’s become my second family, makes the isolation easier to deal with. We’re always ordering stuff we need from the mainland, and if it doesn’t come on the boat, it’s not coming for 11 more days. To me, that’s part of the adventure. We’ve built this oasis in the middle of nowhere where our guests and staff can live in luxury and surf empty waves. As far as sketchy stories, yeah there’s quite a few haha. Centipedes, king cobras, bows and arrows, guests missing in the jungle, gasoline bombs, it’s all part of the fun.

Zealand Hunter

I first found out about Surfing Village from my buddy Theo, who’s the manager out there. They needed a few guys last minute last year to fill the spots, so Theo hit me up, literally a week before they needed me. Since I didn’t really have anything else going on I just pulled the trigger and went out there. It turned into a really cool gig and now I’ll have a lifetime hook up with them. Last year was my first trip to Indo and I ended up spending three months out there, mostly at that camp. This summer was my second year.

Aside from the Telo’s, I’ve only been to Krui, Nias, and Bali. The biggest difference with the Telo’s was definitely the crowd. All the other places were really crowded and you’re constantly hassling with people from all over the world. At Surfing Village it’s not like that, probably because you’re out there with limited options, limiting the crowds who come in. But the quality of the waves is fricken amazing!

I’ve never personally been on a boat trip, but from what I could guess, is that you probably have a lot more freedom on a land camp with what you do throughout the day when you’re not surfing. Like getting to chill, hand out, eat at the restaurant, and walk around the area. Plus, we still have two boats at the camp who are able to take you out to find different waves within a twenty or thirty minute boat ride. 

With the land camp, you’re able to cruise at a home base, knowing that you’re going to be staying within that area without having so much travel and looking around. You basically dial into that one zone, knowing you’re going to get good waves while you’re staying there. Staying on a boat, you’re going to be doing a lot more driving and looking around, while being stuck in close quarters with the twelve other people you’re with, no matter what.

For me, personally, I loved it when it got kinda big, because there are some waves close by that are really perfect. Big, slabby barrels over dry reef, and that’s just what I live for. The Telos has that when it’s big, but on any given day there are tons of waves in the chest-to-head-high range that are fun and cruise for anyone to surf. It’s just a really well rounded place that still has plenty of waves for someone like me when it’s really good!

Max Nunes

My favorite part about Surfing Village has to be how clean and perfect the landscape and how comfortable the hand crafted bungalows and restaurant that Paulo (the owner) built are. Every day, you just can wake up, stroll over to the restaurant, grab some coffee, and have one of the kitchen girls make you some breakfast while everyone figures out where the spot’s going to be for the morning surf. When you come in, it’s already lunchtime. The food is insane by the way—local ingredients and fresh fish, buffet style— all you can eat. 

Take a 30 min power nap or choke down 5 Sampoerna’s (local cigarettes), then it’s back out there, somewhere nearby for the afternoon sesh. Then, you come in by dusk and listen to music, play a couple games in the super intense pool tournaments, choke some more Sampoerna’s down, have one too many beers and then stumble to sleep, surf-satisfied and psyched for the coming morning. 

There’s so many insane waves around there, really close by. Lefts, rights, tubes, and tons of  ripable zones. The three waves directly out front of the camp is where it’s at though. There perfect rights, the best being Pasti, a rifling right barrel with three tube sections. The owner Paulo, a Brazilian rastafi guy with dreads, is a character you just have to meet for yourself .Watch out for his magic tricks!

Quinn Johnson

I first came to Surfing Village in the summer of 2023, thanks to Theo Rose. He manages the camp and is the reason why there’s a group of Santa Cruz boys working at a surf camp in the Telos. Much thanks to Theo for putting the boys onto this place, we all owe him big time.

It’s hard to put into words how incredible of a place Surfing Village really is. From the waves to the people, and everything in between, the place is a true gem. The owner, Paulo, has worked so hard to build the place into what it is today, and his hard work and dedication really shows throughout the place.

We have a bunch of amazing locals working at the camp, it is really cool to learn from them and observe their lifestyle. They are some of the happiest people I have ever encountered in my life.

The food is top notch, from chicken parmesan to local fish curry and marinated bbq chicken, every meal at SV does not disappoint. Much thanks to Locky, our kitchen manager and ambassador of good times. He has dialed in the menu with the help of a bunch of awesome local ladies who really know how to cook.

There are so many different waves around SV, both rights and lefts. World class breaks–reefs with A-frame slabs, and even an insane beach break. We are still finding new waves year by year that have a lot of potential. The wave right out front of SV is pretty unbeatable on its day. Long and hollow with multiple barrel sections.

To book your stay at Surfing Village in the Telos Islands, visit their webpage, www.surfing-village.com

Or find their Instagram page, @surfingvillage

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