TRAVELLER Adventure ahoy
OUR REGION
Ratu Motu cruises West Sumatra and West Papua, visiting unexplored islands, beaches and reef breaks while navigating the archipelago’s tens of thousands of islands and atolls.
P
addling out to a reef break in a far-flung part of Indonesia was never going to be part of my reality. Yes, surfing has become an addiction – but only in middle age.
Tropical waves will always be beyond my beach-bashing ability, so I thought. But here I am with a few other beginners doing exactly that. And it’s all thanks to
Alan Green, the founder of surf wear company Quiksilver. I’m travelling on his charter boat, Ratu Motu, which has opened up surfing’s hallowed ground to ocean-loving tourists and gumby surfers like me. Albeit, we gumby surfers only paddle out in far less-intimidating conditions than the more experienced surfers on board. Sure, we are still tossed and tumbled, but under the watchful eyes of staff, and with the knowledge that simply by waving our surfboard tips in the air, we can signal a pick up by tender or surf ski. If close enough to Ratu Motu, we can paddle back any time we like for hot tea, or something stronger. And therein lies only a fraction of the seductiveness of this sublime trip aboard one of the world’s mostrenowned luxury cruisers. Ratu Motu hails itself as Indonesia’s best charter boat, a claim that no one seems to challenge. The 40-metre power yacht has a 20-guest capacity, with eight double berths and ensuites, plus two bunk-style cabins. It cruises West Sumatra and West Papua, visiting unexplored islands, beaches and reef breaks while navigating the archipelago’s tens of thousands of islands and atolls.
Making a splash ... passengers take the drop from Ratu Motu into the warm Pacific water; previous page, a peaceful snorkelling moment.
48 Paradise – Air Niugini’s in-flight magazine
Gourmet food, fresh fish (often caught by guests casting lines and sipping Bintang beers during afternoon expeditions on the tenders) and a full array of gentle water sports are now par for the course on Ratu Motu. Instead of camera crews capturing worldchampion surfers on cranking 10-foot waves, people like our group of friends and family partake in less intimidating pursuits such as kayaking, paddle boarding, splashing about on body boards and zooming around on Ratu Motu’s two jet skis. There is also a full set of scuba-diving gear and the always-popular option of snorkelling in crystal-clear water above a riot of colourful coral. When all the activity becomes too much, the large sun lounges on the forward upper deck get a good workout. So do the decks of cards and board games in the cool of the air-conditioned lounge below. The deeper we motor into Indonesia, a favorite pastime becomes examining maps of Halmahera, fuelling much debate over which tiny dot of an island, and exactly which bump of said tiny dot, we surfed off only a moment ago. The crescendo of the trip, however, has yet to come. After a week of tooling around Halmahera’s coast dropping off on to whichever island or