Life in the Mentawais Looks Decidedly Chill During COVID-19
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In these tumultuous times, there are some lucky spots on the planet that have remained largely unaffected. Among those are the Mentawai Islands, normally a surfing hotspot which have turned into a ghost town after a complete lockdown was put in place. While tourism might be a driving economic force, locals and the lucky few foreigners who are now stuck there have been experiencing the islands in ways nobody has in years.
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The charter boats are dry docked, the surf resorts are all closed... no one can enter Mentawai. Indigenous natives have abandoned their satellite huts on the islands that they live in while coconut harvesting, and returned to the jungle. The islands are more alive with nature than ever before. We see more birds, more fish, more turtles, more snakes, more monitor lizards, and the jungle is reclaiming itself. The empty waves roll through every day, perfect as ever, as if victorious unridden. It's a magnetism only a surfer knows. We sense a new energy is coming to Mentawai. With 5 of us foreigners left at Mentawai Surf Retreat, all from different parts of the world, we feel both privileged and completely isolated.
