Kandui Villas

Camp Size: 30+
Accommodation:  12 private A/C bungalows
Daily Meals: Included
Daily Transport: Daily boat rides included
Located in front of surf break: Yes, Kandui
Destination: Mentawai Islands
Surfing Ability: Beginner to advanced
Budget: 5/5
Surf School: No
Surfboard Rental: Yes
Yoga: Yoga room, no classes
Ideal for: Large groups, couples & families



Located in the Mentawai Islands in the heart of the Playgrounds surf zone, Kandui Villas stands alone as the most refined and comfortable resort ever built in the region & is arguably the world’s premier luxury surf resort.

The resort has taken the Mentawai experience to a whole new level with the extravagance of the highest levels despite being tucked away from western civilization.  The amenities are second to none and include an infinity pool, gym, spa, spacious luxury accommodation, gourmet food as well as unrivalled service and facilities.

With 20+ world class waves within a short speedboat ride from the resort, including the world renowned Kandui Left (and baby Kandui) right on your doorstep, you’re well positioned to score the waves of your life.

Ideal for intermediate and advanced surfers, the resort is particularly good for groups, families or couples looking for the ultimate luxury surf trip.

9 x private uma (sleeps 1-4 guests in each)

1 x private “triple” uma (sleeps up to 12)

Kandui Villas can accommodate more than 30 guests within its 9 luxury “umas” and 1 “triple” uma. Each includes air conditioning and has two king-sized beds downstairs, and one king sized bed (or two single sized beds) – upstairs, in a second-story loft.

Kandui Villas is a compound of nine luxury uma’s – what the Fijians call bure – and one triple uma – which is three regular-sized luxury umas connected together, for a total of 12 umas. Each one is quite large at 7.5 meter wide x 10.5 meters long and contains two king-size beds downstairs, and one king size or two single size beds in a spacious, second-story loft.

Every uma is hand carved throughout with a different Mentawai animal, or jungle theme, and all the furniture is made of local hardwoods. Each unit comes with two air-conditioning units, allowing guests to adjust for their personal comfort level. The back one-third of each uma is built on a massive cistern which holds close to 10,000 gallons of water.

The bathroom and shower facilities are stylishly appointed, clean and comfortable, with stone floors laid by craftsmen from Bali. Each of the 12 umas are configured with three king-sized beds, or two king-sized, and two double beds, making them very versatile with room for 1 to 4 people – perfect for singles, couples, groups of friends, or families.

Each uma includes;

- Private beach access
- Ocean view
- Air-conditioning with mosquito nets
- Sleeps 1-4 guests
- Large private tropical landscaped
  garden/yard with Japanese grass
- Mini-bar
- Personal Safe
- Hot water
- Hair dryer
- Bathroom amenities
- Shaded surfboard rack

The Bar and Palapa building is located next to the Games Room and directly overlooks the swimming pool.

The area serves as the real heart of the resort. Overlooking the infinity pool – it really is the perfect place to have a drink, share stories of the days surf sessions, or do absolutely nothing. Guests can enjoy their favourite cold beer, spirits, mixed drinks, as well as wine, and even champagne. The open plan layout comes complete with large flat screen satellite TV, big couches and chill out areas, cool tunes and a separate bar snack & drinks menu.

There’s also a ping pong table & pool table across in the games room.

Includes:

- Flat screen satellite TV
- Big couches and chill out areas
- Separate bar snack & drinks menu
- Ping pong table (games room)
- Pool table games room)

The Kandui Villas impressive restaurant stands two stories high & is located directly next to the swimming pool. Guests will benefit from gourmet fresh food during their stay with a wide variety of healthy meal options always available.

Guests can start their day with a “made to order” breakfast before or after their morning surf. Daily cuisine is plentiful and varied and includes local & freshly caught seafood as well as Italian, Japanese, Mexican, Thai, Chinese, American, and of course Indonesian. The resort is also proud to serve in-house organically-grown fruit & vegetables each day.

Included in the price:

- 3 gourmet meals per day
- Drinks with meals
- Snacks
- Welcome drinks

Not included:

Alcoholic beverages and soft drinks/juice boxes outside of meals

Kandui Villas "Games Room" (yes that's Kelly playing pool and probably winning)

Included in your package:

- Daily Boat rides to the surf (with "Kandui Island" or "All Access" packages)
- 3 gourmet meals per day, drinks with meals, snacks, welcome drinks
- Large 25m infinity pool
- Flat screen satellite TV
- Sun Loungers, couches & chill out areas
- Games room with ping pong table & pool table
- 7 x SUP’s & 2 x Kayaks
- Snorkeling gear
- Beach volley ball, board games & DVD movie library
- Private gym includes two tread mills, an exercise bike, free weights, a multi-exercise machine, a multi-exercise cable machine, and exercise bike, pull up bar, jump ropes, an inversion table, exercise balls, and yoga mats.
- Traditional Mentawai Shaman Ceremony (For groups of 10 or more people)

Available with extra charge:

- WiFi (the fastest Internet connection in the Mentawai islands, with WiFi around the entire pool area, and Internet via cable in all of the umas)
- Spa treatments
- 15 x Resin 8 surfboards 150,000 IDR per - hour or 400,000 IDR per day
- Separate bar snack & drinks menu
- Nanny service is available by special request

Photography services

Kandui Villas offers a team of 3 professional photographers offering their photography services, to capture high resolution photo’s of surfing, from land, water, boat, and sky.

Price: USD 250 individual photo package including flash drive

Videography services

Kandui Villas also offers professional HD personalised video services, to film and document your surfing & lifestyle throughout your stay.

Price: USD 350 individual video edit including flash drive

Not included:

- USD 75 Mentawai surfing tax (IDR 1,000,000)
- Transfers from Padang – Kandui – Padang
- Alcoholic drinks

Kandui Villas has an impressive inventory of boats for accessing the 20+ waves. These include two, five-meter plastic dinghies, one 5.2 meter Kahajaya center-consul speed boat and four, 45-50 foot longboats for accessing the all the breaks that are not located around Kandui Island and are used for the ALL Access packages.

Each boats is launched from one of four cement docks. Three of the docks are built in a mangrove lagoon located behind each section of the resort making for easy transitions to and from the resort. The fourth dock is a jetty located on the front beach side of the resort, in a keyhole channel between Kandui Left and Baby Kandui.

The long boats are 45-50 feet long, and five to six feet wide. Because of the long boats’ sleek design, they cut through the chop better than any boats around, giving a smooth, comfortable and stable ride even through rough seas. Their construction is also very strong, using an entire tree the length of the boat for the body. The long boats all use three x 40 HP outboards, and go 20+ knots. They have canopies, comfortable padded seats, and all the safety gear, including life jackets, flares, GPS, EPIRB, and satellite phone contained in a Pelican case. Each boat brings a drinking water dispenser, and cooler with snacks, and drinks.

The resort offers traditional Indonesian therapeutic massage to relax and sooth away sore muscles from travel, surf and everyday stress.

The massage oil used is homemade raw coconut oil, that's shredded and pressed lovingly by their very own Indonesian staff. 

Price USD 40 per hour

*Please note that all Spa rates exclude government tax and 21% service charge

Surfboards

Guests of the resort will have 15 high performance resin 8 surf boards at their disposal. Avoid the hassle of dragging your prized possessions half way around the world, guests can also dodge the inherent surfboard handling costs that can soon mount up over multiple flights. 

The Resin 8 boards are duplicates of master shapes by Wade Tokoro, and Sam Egan with sizes 5’11” 6’0″, 6’1″, 6’4″, 6’5″, 6’6″, 6’7″ 6’8″, 6’11”, up to 7’2″. Resin 8 surf boards are arguably the best epoxy surf boards ever made, are high performance, and durable, so they are the perfect boards for nearly everyone.

The resin 8 rental price is 150,000 rp per hour, or 400,000 rp per day (approx. USD 25 / day)

SUP's & Kayaks (free of charge)

Guests also have access to 7 Stand Up Paddles Boards & 2 Kayaks that can be used free of charge. The SUP’s are 10′, 10’2″, 11’6″, and 3 x 12 foot cruiser boards perfectly suited for paddling around the waters of our tropical paradise.

Contact us via email for an up to date list of the boards available - [email protected]

Below you will find a break down of what you can expect month by month in terms of size and quality throughout the year:

January & February

Its also one of the least crowded times to visit the region. Expect to surf head high Burgerworld which needs a small swell to break properly, or head high Nipussi which is another wave magnet, and even Bank Vaults. The waves around Kandui Island are likely to be on the small side. A very small south swell & you'll be surfing alone at A-Frames, 4 Bobs & Pistols. Wind conditions are generally very light & variable with calm & sunny weather.

March

Similar to January and February but with a little more consistency with some bigger days thrown in the mix. Still uncrowded.

April

Regarded as the start of the season, expect head high surf all the way up to triple over head although largely very user friendly conditions. Expect light northerly winds in the morning followed by variable winds after midday. Crowds are typically pretty light but increase throughout the month. 

May

This month often produces the biggest "south" swells of the year with the cleanest conditions for waves like Rifles, its a month that attracts good surfers looking for big barrels hoping to score Rifles on a really good day.

June

Similar to May but with a slight shift to more south easterly winds. But still generally light & variable. 

July

Bigger in size still, with very consistent swell, its rarely less than head high. Thunderstorms are more prevalent which combined with the abundance of swell means that many breaks can "turn on" with a passing storm. Winds tend be variable & it is a month where guests really count on having excellent surf guides to out smart the other camps and visiting charter boats! 

August 

Plenty of swell and as big as any month. Less thunderstorms and a shift to more southeast winds (think lefts). Large south west swells dominate

September 

More thunderstorm activity, similar to July, although there are still beautiful sunny days. Storms come and go. The swell cycle continues and the surf is still rarely less than head high. The crowds are thinning out a little compared to May to August.

October

October can still be a great month but certainly can have more patchy periods of smaller surf. Visiting guests tend to prefer smaller conditions around the head high mark with the odd bigger day. Crowds usually thin out throughout the month and into November.

November - February

At anytime from November until February there are windows of truly amazing surf and weather, but the once endless cycle of swell takes a well earned rest. Surfers that visit during this time can still expect really fun surf, in the shoulder to head high range. Many of the surf camps in the area close. Crowds are minimal.

The above map gives you some perspective of the waves surrounding Kandui Island.

Daily rates that include the "Kandui Island" surf package are as follows:

Surfer: USD 265 pp / day
Couple: USD 212 pp / day

Guests can upgrade to the "All Access" pass for USD 80 per person per day

Guests have the choice of choosing to surf the waves surrounding "Kandui Island" or an "All Access" package that gives access to all the regions waves.

"Kandui Island" packages include dinghy transfers to the surrounding waves:

Kandui (in front of the resort)
Baby Kandui (in front of the resort)
Rifles - 10 mins away
Four Bobs - 5 mins away
Playgrounds left - 5 mins away
Playgrounds right - 5 mins away
Malibu right - 7 mins away
A-frames - 7 mins away
Pistols - 10 mins away

Detailed information for all the surf breaks can be found in the destination's section of the site within the Playgrounds, Mentawai pages.

Full details: Playgrounds Surf Breaks

Daily rates that include the "All Access" surf package are as follows:

Surfer: USD 315 pp
Couple (one surfer): USD 245 pp
Couple (two surfers): USD 270 pp

"All Access" Packages include surf transfers by long boat to all of the other waves located on the neighboring islands as well as Kandui Island (aka karangmajat island).

These also include:

1. Hideaways
2. Nipussy
3. Bank Vaults
4. Pit Stops
5. E-Bay
6. Beng Beng
7. Good Times
8. Burgerworld
9. McDonald's
10. Dog Reef

Guests need to fly into Padang Airport (PDG), West Sumatra 

We recommend using https://www.skyscanner.net/ and flying into either Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - or Jakarta, Indonesia.  From KL, there is usually one morning flight (1hr) with Air Asia as well as a lunchtime flight to Padang.  From Jakarta, there are over a dozen flights each day that fly into Padang,  from airlines such as Garuda Airlines, Sriwijaya, Citilink & Lion Air. We recommend http://www.traveloka.com/

Note: Visa On Arrival: A FREE 30 day Visa On Arrival is now available for the following countries: Australia, USA, Brazil, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada, Peru, Costa Rica, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, England, France, Switzerland, Sweden and Germany. To see the full list visit this link: http://www.topbali.com/indonesia-free-visa-entry/

Padang Airport to Kandui Villas

"Direct Transfers"

The safest, most reliable way of travelling between the mainland and the Mentawai islands. During the high season time frame Kandui Villas will be offering direct round trip transportation to Kandui Villas via their 53′ high speed luxury Marathon transporter speed boat which can make the 84 nautical mile crossing in just under 3 hours. This schedule maximizes your time on the island as well as in the surf, and minimizes the time you have to spend in Padang, so that only 1 over night stay upon arrival to Padang is required, but no overnight in Padang is required at the end of your trip on your way home. 



The resort has adopted a 10 day/10 night or 11 day/11 night schedule with "set travel days".

Padang to Resort: Saturdays & Tuesdays: depart 7:30am & arrive Kandui 10:30am (*direct* transfer)
Resort to Padang: Saturdays & Tuesdays: depart 1:30pm & arrive Padang 4:30pm (*direct* transfer)

At the end of your trip, guests will arrive back into Padang around 4:30pm. Please do not book any outbound flights before 7:00pm.

- USD 275 pp (“each way”)
- USD 135 pp (“each way”) for children ages 4 - 10
- FREE for children 3 and under.

* It is also possible to accommodate guests wanting to travel on alternative dates. Please contact us for further details: [email protected]

* If you are visiting Kandui Villas during our Shoulder Season (October – March), guests will use the Mentawai Fast Ferry. Dates & times may vary.  Please contact us prior to booking your airfare.

Transfer package includes:

- Meet and greet at Padang Airport
- Taxis - Airport to Hotel - 1hr
- Taxis - Hotel to Port - approx. 5 to 10 minutes
- Speedboat Transfer: 3 to 4 hr crossing (direct to Kandui Resort & direct back to Padang)

Padang Hotel (extra cost)

Guests are required to spend their first night in Padang. There are a number of very affordable hotels to choose from. We suggest staying at either of the following options:

Mercure Hotel - www.mercurepadang.com or Oxville Hotel - http://oxvillehotel.com (both are in the hotel district, about a 5 or 10 minute taxi ride to the port)

Please note it is also possible to travel on different dates using a combination of the Mentawai fast ferry to Siberut and longboat to Kandui Villas. Please contact us for more details and pricing.

"Direct" transfer schedule 2023

Jan 3 - 14
Jan 14 - 24
Jan 24 - Feb 4
Feb 4 - 14
Feb 14 - 25
Feb 25 - Mar 7
Mar 7 - 18
Mar 18 - 28
Mar 28 - Apr 8
Apr 8 - 18
Apr 18- 29
April 29 - May 9
May 9 - 20
May 20 - 30
May 30 - June 10
June 10 - 20
June 20 - July 1
July 1 - 11
July 11 - 22
July 22 - Aug 1
Aug 1 - 12
Aug 12 - 22
Aug 22 - Sept 2
Sept 2 - 12
Sept 12 - 23
Sept 23 - Oct 3
Oct 3 - 14
Oct 14 - 24
Oct 24 - Nov 4
Nov 4 - 14
Nov 14 - 25
Nov 25 - Dec 5
Dec 5 - 16
Dec 16- 26
Dec 26 - Jan 5

Important: Transportation rates for the direct speedboat transfers Padang-Kandui-Padang are available for min 10 pax and up for $550 USD round trip per person, $275 for children ages 4 - 10, and Free for children 3 and under. Kandui Villas reserves the right to switch the means of transportation and route at any time and for any reason if one of the transport speedboats is not available on a certain date.

Transportation on off schedule and or for groups less than 10 pax will be arranged with Mentawai Fast ferry on Monday, Tuesday ,Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Transportation with Mentawai Fast Ferry ;

For Padang-Mentawai-Padang transportation Kandui Villas utilizes the Mentawai Fast Ferry, and the schedule to Siberut is Tuesday and Saturday. The round trip fast ferry and ground transfer charges are $150 USD per person.

Kandui Villas will use "Long Boats" for transfers to and from Siberut to Kandui Villas.

Long Boats

Medium size long boat with double 40 hp engines (up to 6 surfing pax with baggage) is $260 each way, $520 USD return.

Large size long boat with triple 40hp engines (up to 8 surfing pax with baggage) is $360 each way, $720 USD return.

The fast ferry departs from Padang at 7 am on Tuesday, and Saturday morning and arrives in Siberut with the return trip departing at 3 pm in the afternoon to return to Padang. This schedule will require an overnight stay in Padang on both the arrival and departure legs of this trip.

There will also be the additional cost of one-way surfboard bag fees to be paid by guests themselves at the ferry departure location based upon the categories below, with excess baggage over 20 kg/person at Rp. 6,000/kg per trip.

Surfboard Charge Categories on Mentawai Fast Ferry:

Body Board Bag 1 - 12 kg – Rp. 180,000 / bag
Body Board Bag 13 - 25 kg – Rp. 360,000 / bag
Small Boardbag 1 - 15 kg – Rp. 230,000 / bag
Medium Boardbag 16 - 25 kg – Rp. 460,000 / bag
Large Boardbag Over 26 kg – Rp. 690,000 / bag

Before booking a trip to Kandui Villas, make sure to check our "Know before you go" section which is a handy page of what to expect as well as a detailed inventory of what to bring.

For those that are unsure what's better a surf charter boat or surf camp, or for those looking for a comprehensive list of all the surf camps in the Northern Mentawai, then check out our blogs below.

All guests travelling to any surf camp or charter boat in Sumatra will require Travel Insurance. Surf Camp Sumatra recommends using World Nomads for any trip to Sumatra. Simply use the below form to get a quote.