Watch: ‘Left, Right, Goodnight’ Starring Hughie Vaughan, Eithan Osborne, Craig Anderson + Mikey Wright

In partnership with Surf Abu Dhabi.

If it weren’t for surfing, you would probably know very little about Medan, Padang or Pekanbaru, three Indonesian cities that serve as transit points for surfers bound for the Mentawai Islands and beyond. Also thanks to surfing, you likely know just enough about them to have little interest in staying longer than necessary.

Surfing has always had a peculiar relationship with geography. By land, sea and sky, surfers will travel to find the right arrangement of sand, wind and swell. In no other sport are its participants so governed by the vagaries of the ocean. Uncertainty is the price of admission and, depending on your disposition, also a considerable part of the appeal.

But according to several Mentawai charter operators and resort owners, advance bookings for the 2027 season have fallen for the first time in years. The prospect of finding quality waves without a crowd, once a reasonable expectation in the islands, has become increasingly frothy.

And there’s no better hedge against froth than a guarantee. Welcome to surfing’s guaranteed-wave kingdom: Surf Abu Dhabi.

Located an hour from the airport, Surf Abu Dhabi boasts immaculate facilities, five-star accommodation and a degree of luxury that earlier generations of travelling surfers would likely call you a pussy for indulging in, but would trade their mosquito-netted Shakti mattresses for in a heartbeat.

For anyone passing between Australia, Europe and Asia, the proposition is simple enough. Rather than spend an extended layover wandering an airport terminal buying overpriced sandwiches, you could conceivably interrupt the journey with several days of excellent surf, then continue on your way.

It’s about as good and clean as fun gets, basically. Way cheekier than airport beers, and you’ll also sleep like a baby because riding a wave for 670 metres will turn even the most Michel Bourez-looking quads to jelly.

The central difficulty with wave pools is obvious. Their greatest virtue, consistency, is also their most conspicuous artistic limitation. Once you’ve seen a perfectly formed barrel peel down the same stretch of artificial reef a hundred times, the spectacle begins to lose something.

So, given the considerable fatigue surrounding wave pools, we tasked four surfers with distinctly different approaches – Mikey (muscle), Craig (elegance), Eithan (inventiveness) and Hughie (execution) to do the unthinkable: show us something we haven’t seen 100 times before.

And, based on Phantom lensman Chris Bryan’s report, they did just that.

“Initially I was a little confused why four air surfers were going to a pool without a cupping section that bends back at you. But it ended up being perfect for big alleyoops and those things Eithan was doing – body varials or whatever. The stuff Hughie was doing frontside and backside was beyond comprehension.”

For Eithan and Hughie, pre-Quik Fest debauchery, it was a pit stop. For Mikey and Ando, it was one of those rare surf trips where bringing the kids along doesn’t tear you in two. Dare I say, the wives and groms were equally chuffed staying in The Edition’s wellness bar, speakeasy and all-day-breakfast, while the boys surfed from left-right and back again.

In fact, Chris said his only regret was not being in the water when Ando and Mikey got barrelled with their wives on softtops. “I just wish I was able to get their facial expressions as they went past. Every live wave shows up on the big screen, and you could see how stoked they were. Pretty sick place to bring your wife and kids. The restaurant food is incredible, amazing cocktails… pretty unforgettable experience.”

Is it the sort of surf trip that requires a healthy disposable income? Absolutely. Is there something slightly absurd about travelling to the Arabian desert to ride waves made by a machine? No doubt. But you would’ve quit surfing long ago had you been rational about your allocation of time and money. We’ve crossed oceans in dodgy Indo canoes for less. 

At least you know what you’re getting.