Thursday, November 5, 2015

Surfing in Pantai Air Manis (beach) in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia

There are a few places available for surfers in Padang, but if you are a traveller, you’re probably heading to Pantai Air Manis (about 10Kms south of the city).



There are several ways to get to pantai air manis. See this post for details.

Entry to Air Manis is 5,000 rupiahs (pls don’t forget to ask for ticket upon payment just to be sure that the money goes to the local community indeed). For those coming with a motorbike, they charge an additional 5,000 rupiahs for parking irregardless of where you park inside the beach.

At the beach there are several warungs that serve food (same usual food as in the streets: nasi, mie goreng, etc) at prices just about the city prices. I normally stay at Ade’s Guest House (3rd to the right from the entry in Malinkundang; contact no is +62 821 70017779; pls tell him you got the number from Ian, the Filipino).


Surfboard rental is 20,000 rupiahs per day. Most of the surfboards on rental are fish boards. For beginners, I’ve only seen, so far, probably only 3 long boards total in the whole beach; 2 soft tops and 1 hard top (and hardly functional too because of too much cracks).
There are also rooms on rental at P140,000 inclusive of breakfast at Ade’s guest house. Room is ok for the price.

I rarely see instructors at the beach. Besides, just keep calm and attempt to talk to the local players, and they will be willing to show you the do’s and don’ts. Just be patient with the communication though as they rarely speak english. Always end every statement with a smile.

Best time to surf is in the morning, and then from 3pm to sun down (usually 6pm). If possible, visit on weekdays, and avoid weekends especially on sundays. I would say half of the population of padang might be in this beach on this day, half of which are probably taking endless selfies, and young boys aged 5 driving 4x4s ATVs on their own. 

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