Wish You Were Here: Telo Islands, Sumatra, Indonesia
by Owen James Burke
Photo: Surfline/Mick Curley
Indonesia’s over 17,000 islands are surrounded by enough waves and water for a lifetime of exploration, but places like Bali, which bore waves unsorted and landscapes unbuilt, are now sprouting hotels and condominiums at rates that are unfathomable to many western civilization dropouts who laid out digs on what were once still life-painting-like pastoral fields decades ago. Now there’s Hard Rock Cafe.
Sob all you like, but have a look around the corner at the Telo Islands, which lie just north of the fabled Mentawais off the coast of Sumatra, and a million miles (or so it might seem) from the overstuffed double bacon cheeseburgers, overflowing nightclubs and, more importantly for the surfer, over-flooded lineups, of Kuta on Bali.
Photo: Mick Curley/Surfline
It’s a bit of a conundrum for me to post these pictures; on the one hand, this is a beautiful set of islands worth it for all to see, and on another, I’m hesitant to share a place which I want all for myself.
Then again, they’re already on Surfline. Head over and see a few more of Aussie transplant Mick Curley’s shots of the area — OB
