Want A Free Trip To Kandui With Some Custom Boards In The Mix?

Ed note: Take the survey below for how to win a trip for 2 to Kandui Resort during Goofy-Season — plus two surfboards to bring along (yours to ride and keep).

Stab Premium Members get 3x Entries

Take Stab’s 2027 Audience Survey

When Poseidon chiseled the limestone and placed coral heads in the arrangement that became Kandui Left, he no doubt had YouTube’s surfing algorithm in mind. 

If you’ve ever wandered through YouTube’s digital alleyways wondering what surf trip you might fantasize about next, chances are high that Kandui Resort’s bright and lucid thumbnails have convinced your monkey brain synapses to click, eyes glassy, mouth drooling.

Dubbed No Kandui for its near impossible pace, the lefthander that whistles along the north end of Karangmajat island is as hypnotic as it is shallow, as alluring as it is treacherous. It’s the zenith of what an Indonesian reef pass can be, and it holds whatever swell you throw at it. 

Alongside a certain slender Australian, it’s also responsible for the sale of a quarter million Hypto Kryptos.

The only downside? It’s nowhere near as consistent as the other waves in the Playgrounds zone. Unkind swell angle, period, and wind direction often lead to it being a sideshore, shallow closeout.

NoKandui indeed. 

Wanna score it? Well, after spending nearly two decades obsessing over the mythic lefthander, Justis St John — a tube-savvy goof himself and Kandui Resort co-owner — has dubbed July to October the Mentawaii ‘goofy season.’

We’re giving away a free trip for two to Kandui Resrot during this window, along with two free surfboards and some other goodies. Scroll to the bottom to enter. 

Last year, Pyzel team rider and understated tube savant Benji Brand spent goofy season out at the resort. What does he have to show for it? 

“I was by myself for a couple of sessions out at Kandui Left,” he tells me. “I think there were two sessions where I was literally in the water by myself, and there’d be like 1 or 2 wave sets that were barreling the whole way down the reef and you could be on them every time. It was really, really special.”

Previously, I was under the impression that the wave was a closeout at any size under double-overhead.

As presumptuous surf journalists often are, I was wrong.

“I think it just depends on the angle,” says Benji. “That swell was a little more south and a little shorter period. When it’s more south, it’s not as sectiony. It definitely wasn’t a big swell, we’d pull up and you wouldn’t see a wave break for like 20 minutes. It looked flat, and then there’d be a set every half hour or so. That’s sick if you’re by yourself. You’re on every set.”

Sick is an understatement, as the video (and Benji’s tuberiding) illustrate.

After being made a five board Pyzel quiver for the trip, Benji spent the majority of his sessions at Kandui Left on a Pyzel Wildcat.

“The Wildcat is just a straight-up twin pin with channels,” says Benji. “The channels really give you stability. That one is great in the barrel. It held super good on the drop and carried a lot of speed. I really enjoy the freedom and speed you get on a twin fin… you can get a little bored of riding a thruster and the extra glide is amazing. If the waves were windy or choppy or if there were some kind of imperfection, I’d probably be riding a thruster. But when it’s that perfect and glassy and beautiful, you can kinda get a special spark and speed and projection on those twinnies.”

Benji is 5’9 and he rides a 5’6 Wildcat. 

As you’ll see in the footage, he spends a lot of time managing the twin fin speed with his trademarked forward-fold two-hand stall.

As a goof with a habit of outrunning the tube, I asked him for some advice. 

“I think when you’re stalling with two arms, it’s about keeping your body super compact and your legs really strong,” he says. “It really forces you to engage your core when you’re throwing another arm in there. You have to almost force it, but not quite. It’s mostly about staying strong in your legs and flexing your inner core to be able to match the power of the wave. You’re actually kinda wrestling with the wave, and the wave is really strong, so you’re trying to match its strength.

“I would say I probably have more weight on my front foot when I’m double arm stalling, and I’m more even footed when I’m one arm stalling,” he finishes.

As for managing twin fins in powerful waves?

“It’s just a different feeling when you ride a board that’s really sensitive like a twinnie in powerful waves. It’s about slowing yourself down and not pushing as hard and just putting the board where you want it to go. Very minor directional changes.”

“I like not having to push so hard because my hips get sore on thrusters,” he laughs. “My joints just get strained. You have to be super fit and strong to ride thrusters in powerful waves. The twinnie does the work for you.”

What other boards did Pyzel make him for his quiver? Benji Brand

• Tiger Twin at 5’5 x 19.25 x 2.44 x 28L
• Pyzalien 2 Swallow Tail at 5’7 x 18.75 x 2.38 x 26.8L
• Radius Prime Round Tail at 5’10 x 18.63 x 2.42 x 27.1L
• Ghost Round Tail at 5’10 x 18.63 x 2.51 x 27.5L and at 6’1 x 18.63 x 2.5 x 28L

Kandui Resort Giveaway

Want a chance to have an experience similar to Benji’s? All you’ve gotta do is complete our annual audience survey — it takes about 20 minutes and covers just about everything in your surfing life. 

Once the survey window closes (on September 1), we’ll pick one winner, and they get to pick a plus-one to join them at Kandui Resort.

The catch? Premium Members who take the survey are automatically given 3x entries (3x the chance to win.)

Goofy-Foot Giveaway for 2

• Trip for 2 to Kandui during Goofy-Season (July-Oct): $9,300 US ($4,650 US x 2pp)
• 2 Free surfboards: $1,430 US ($715 US x 2 boards)
• 2 Free Photo/Video Packages: $900 US ($450 US x 2pp)
• 2 Free Roundtrip Transfer from Sumatra mainland (Padang) to Kandui Resort*: $1,050 US ($525 US x 2pp)

Total Value $12,680 US
*all flights to and from Padang must be covered by the winner(s). 

Click here to sign up for Premium, before clicking here to take the 2027 Stab Audience Survey.

Take Stab’s 2027 Audience Survey