DREAM BOAT - BANYAKS

The Dream is a 26m boat with a 300HP Nissan V8 engine, cruising at up to 10 knots and fitted with a liferaft and all safety and navigation equipment. The Dream can sleep 7-10 passengers, in four twin bedrooms plus a VIP room with a king-size bed for couples, along with a four-person room with bunks. Both sleeping and living areas are air-conditioned, and there is a large second floor terrace where you can watch the waves. There are two bathrooms on board. For added entertainment you have a TV, DVD, and X-Box. Fishing, snorkelling and spearfishing equipment is also available. Your hosts Nico and Pierre are experienced French surfers who have spent many years in the region and built the boat themselves. They also cook excellent European cuisine, to complement meals from the Indonesian chef.

UNLIMITED SURFING in Ocean and UNLIMITED BEER on board

In a short period of time The Dream have established themselves as a great quality, value-for-money charter

Charters on The Dream are a standard 10 surfing days / 11 nights ex-Sibolga, with all meals, snacks and non-alcoholic beverages included

The Surf

The Banyak Islands receive most of our swells from the low pressure systems traveling across the Southern Indian Ocean between South Africa and Australia. Those of you with experience of the lower parts of Australia, Sth Africa or New Zealand will know the intensity and frequency of these storms. They are seasonal, most frequent and intense from April to October in our peak season, but they also pulse through at other times, usually slightly smaller and less frequent.

November-April often produces swells with more west in them, which is better for the Tuangku/Bay of Plenty breaks, and some unpredictable west swells come at this time from monsoon conditions in the northern hemisphere that we do not get in peak season, but these also produce good surfing. In 2011, the largest swell in June came from the WSW, so it’s not a hard and fast rule. Swell direction is important for the Banyak breaks, in more south swells the Bangkaru breaks such as Treasure Island and Cobras can be six feet while the Bay is almost flat; while the Bangkaru breaks do not like swells with a lot of west in them. Local knowledge is important out here.

What makes the Banyaks a great off-peak destination is that winds are always variable because we are so close to the equator. There just isn’t much wind around and it is hard to predict it in any seasonal way, though there are perhaps more storms in the Oct-Feb time. But unlike Bali and similar latitudes there are no trade winds. This is good because it is very rare to have non-surfing days due to wind. Offshore conditions can be had in any wind except the rare S/SW, even then it is unusual for them to hang around for more than a day.

On any particular charter we are in the hands of mother nature, but don’t limit yourself to the middle of the year to plan your surfing trip to the Banyaks. We’ve had some epic barrels to ourselves in January/February and November that have been some of the most memorable trips of the year.

Our guests usually ride a standard shortboard as waves are often in the head-high to double overhead range. Bring a spare in case you break one (no surf shops nearby!), and something for a bigger day, just in case.