Overview

The D'Bora is an 80-foot timber vessel running affordable quality surf charters in the Mentawai Islands. Her owners, Charlie Josal, Tom Plummer and Joey Melroy have teamed to create this unique vessel with all the modern amenities, but a decidedly local Indonesian architecture and flair. With many years combined experience in the Mentawais, they've pooled the best possible crew with Joey acting as onboard manager and surf guide traversing the length and breadth of the Mentawai Islands to get you your fill of waves, and then some.

D’Bora runs 12-night charters unless otherwise stated. The vessel will depart with a minimum of 6 guests.

Captain & Crew:

With over 25 years combined experience in the Mentawai, they’ve pooled the best possible crew with onboard Western skipper and will traverse the length and breadth of the Mentawai Islands to get you your fill of waves, and then some.

Captain Tanuir. Has worked in the surf charter industry for more than 12 years and before that spent many years driving cargo and other boats up and down Mentawai. He joined D'Bora in 2009 and is the man who will be driving through the night or up before dawn to make sure you are on the spot for a full day of waves.

Amae - Guest Service. Amae has been with D'Bora from Day 1 and is the kid with the sweet smile who's always hand to assist with any request his guests might have. He also runs the onboard ding and snap repair service.

Eka - Dinghy driver and 1^st Mate. Eka has been going to sea since he was 13. Besides running you out to the lineup and promptly picking you up when your session is over, Eka also has an eye for precision when it’s time to take photos of you & your crew. However his specialty is catching fish and there is no better pre-dinner snack than a plate of fresh tuna sashimi.

Joey - San Diego born skipper, photographer and partner in D'Bora signed on in 2008. "The best waves with the fewest people" is his motto. Whether it be surfing the more isolated corners of the islands or hitting a swell head on at the more popular breaks, he is adept at finding every guest what they are looking for in a Mentawai boat trip. He also has an American Red Cross certification for first aid. Joey keeps this vessel running at a very high standard.

Ruli - Cook. Ruli has extensive Mentawai resort experience and decided to take on the challenge of a floating kitchen a couple of years ago. He is quick to understand the tastes of charter guests and cooks a fresh and nutritious balance of Asian and Western meals.

Nanang - Engineer. The quiet achiever onboard D'Bora who spends a good portion of the charter working away in the bowels of the boat, Nanang is Javanese and joined D'Bora in 2010. He has previously worked on cargo boats traversing the length and breadth of Indo.

Accommodation

Inclusions

• Return airport transfers.
• Air-conditioned accommodation in either private cabin or dorm.
• 3 hearty meals per day and snacks in between.
• 3 beers per day.
• Juice, drinking water, soft-drinks and hot drinks.
• Use of snorkelling and fishing equipment.
• Zone permits and local donations.
• Mentawai Tax.
  

Pricing & Packages

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DEPARTURE	Return	Duration	Spots	Price	Notes	Availability
22 Jun 2013	04 Jul 2013	12 Nights	4	1527	Save $730 per person!	Enquire Now
06 Jul 2013	18 Jul 2013	12 Nights	0	0		Sold Out
20 Jul 2013	01 Aug 2013	12 Nights	4	1700	Save $475 per person!	Enquire Now
10 Aug 2013	22 Aug 2013	12 Nights	0	0		Sold Out
24 Aug 2013	05 Sep 2013	12 Nights	0	0		Sold Out
07 Sep 2013	19 Sep 2013	12 Nights	0	0		Sold Out
21 Sep 2013	03 Oct 2013	12 Nights	1	2023		Enquire Now
05 Oct 2013	17 Oct 2013	12 Nights	9	1820		Enquire Now
19 Oct 2013	31 Oct 2013	12 Nights	0	0		Sold Out
08 Nov 2013	16 Nov 2013	8 Nights	10	2581	Legends Trip - Barton Lynch	Enquire Now
17 Nov 2013	29 Nov 2013	12 Nights	10	1530	Late Season Discount	Enquire Now
30 Nov 2013	12 Dec 2013	12 Nights	10	1530	Late Season Discount	Enquire Now
05 Jan 2014	17 Jan 2014	12 Nights	0	0		Sold Out
25 Jan 2014	06 Feb 2014	12 Nights	10	1683		Enquire Now
08 Feb 2014	20 Feb 2014	12 Nights	0	0		Sold Out
22 Feb 2014	06 Mar 2014	12 Nights	10	1683		Enquire Now
08 Mar 2014	20 Mar 2014	12 Nights	10	1870		Enquire Now
22 Mar 2014	03 Apr 2014	12 Nights	0	0		Sold Out
05 Apr 2014	17 Apr 2014	12 Nights	0	0		Sold Out
20 Apr 2014	02 May 2014	12 Nights	0	0		Sold Out
03 May 2014	15 May 2014	12 Nights	0	0		Sold Out
17 May 2014	29 May 2014	12 Nights	0	0		Sold Out
31 May 2014	12 Jun 2014	12 Nights	10	1870		Enquire Now
14 Jun 2014	26 Jun 2014	12 Nights	0	0		Sold Out
28 Jun 2014	10 Jul 2014	12 Nights	10	1870		Enquire Now
12 Jul 2014	24 Jul 2014	12 Nights	0	0		Sold Out
02 Aug 2014	14 Aug 2014	12 Nights	10	1870		Enquire Now
16 Aug 2014	28 Aug 2014	12 Nights	0	0		Sold Out
30 Aug 2014	11 Sep 2014	12 Nights	10	1870		Enquire Now
13 Sep 2014	25 Sep 2014	12 Nights	10	1870		Enquire Now
27 Sep 2014	09 Oct 2014	12 Nights	10	1870		Enquire Now
11 Oct 2014	23 Oct 2014	12 Nights	10	1870		Enquire Now
25 Oct 2014	06 Nov 2014	12 Nights	10	1870		Enquire Now

Schedule last updated: 11 June 2013

Disclaimer - This surf trip is an independent surf operator and is not part of or in partnership with The Perfect Wave Travel Co. The Perfect Wave acts as an agent only. We sell various travel related products on behalf of numerous transport, accommodation and other service providers, such as airlines, land based accommodation and boat charter operators. The Perfect Waves' obligation is to make travel bookings on your behalf and to arrange relevant contracts between you and travel service providers. The Perfect Wave has no responsibility for these services nor do we make or give any warranty of representation regarding their standards. All bookings are made subject to the terms and conditions and limitations of liability imposed by these service providers.

Testimonials

We'd love to hear your feedback! Please click here to enter your testimonial of your holiday and your experience with The Perfect Wave.

Alex

Great crew, great waves, great times! Can't wait to do it again!

Experience Begun: October 2012

Created on: Thursday 29 November 2012

Rod

Hi Rhonda, Mentawais was absolutely awesome. Best time of my life by far!!! Thanks for everything and organising it all for us deafies. Could you forward me Scott and Dan email address from the East Coast of the USA. I want to collect everyone favourite photos and put them on the Deaf Boardriders Australia Facebook site. Attached is a shot of me at HT by Joey. He was a cool mellow guy and a great guide!! Rodney

Experience Begun: May 2012

Created on: Friday 08 June 2012

Daniel

Hey Rhonda, I had a great time with my trip. I love their boat crew, they are very friendly and helpful with everything. Surf guide/Photographer/Manager of D'Bora.. Joey treated us really well. His photos of us are awesome. He knows what he's doing with us... balanced with everyone else like for example... he would take us to the left spots or advanced spot for the beginning of our trip then he realized that most of us on the boat are regulars and some of em are intermediate level... so he took us to all different spots that would suit for all of us. I love all advanced spots...but other spots r fun too, sometimes he would take me to other spot around the corner while everyone else is surfing at the spot that they wanted to. He thought about every individual/person. He kept ask us all day if we re good?, hungry? thirsty? any questions? I'm impressed with him. NO REGRET with him! FOOD IS INCREDIBLE n DELICIOUS. That money is worth for every MEALS!!! He made like $20-$30 worth of meal for dinner everyday like I would usually see on the menu in restaurants. I meant it... WOW! I wish I could bring the CHEF home with me. ha! The rest of the CREW has been great to us, especially with gestures in sign languages. Everyone on the boat love em. They can be really funny sometimes. The boat is really nice, old school style with some characters in it. NO problems with bed, bathroom, dining area, bar area, living room, etc... I'm stoked what I' ve been going thru with this TRIP. EVERYTHING IS PERFECT! If I plan to go back... I would go with D'BORA again. I wouldn't care about all other luxury/speed boats. THIS BOAT HAS A GREAT CREW and FOOD!! That's all I can say. Hope that's enough for you to hear about it. :) I will reach thru you if I plan to go back again. Thanks for everything!! :) Daniel

Experience Begun: May 2012

Created on: Tuesday 05 June 2012

Tom

The cook on board was a bloody legend! To cook that well in a space that small for ten hungry blokes is no mean feat, he deserves an medal! Joey, our guide made the trip helping us score perfect waves and with few people on them. The addition of Joel (saltmotion) was awesome, with the trip over I now have the photos of myself in the some of the best waves I have ever had. I would recommend a surf trip with Joel again and would in fact look to book onto any trip he is on, or any other surf photographer as a good as him? He put the photos first and his own surfing second - which I was impressed with. Awesome boat, top class food with the freshest best sushi/sashimi (20 mins ocean to plate) - courtesy of the rods out the back! Topped off with world class surf photography for the photo album by Saltmotion, it doesn't get much better!

Experience Begun: September 2011

Created on: Tuesday 08 November 2011

Mitch

Let me just start by saying we had an amazing trip, a few freindships were forged for life. Many laughs were had. Our trip was an interesting one because the crew onboard differed considerably in skill level. This made it interesting for our surf guide Joey, he had to cater to guys who wanted the biggest barrels of the day and also guys who wanted to surf more mellow waves; and he pulled it off perfectly. The days of the biggest swells we were at the gnarlier waves getting barreled off our head in perfect glass conditions-and NO OTHER BOATS to be seen! On the smaller days we attacked the more mellow spots and the whole crew got to tear apart the waves. Even with the consistent southerly weather Joey had us on the best spots for each day with the least crowds. The crew were amazing and always there to help out. Even though Im non-famous, I felt a little bit famous for 2 weeks.

Experience Begun: September 2011

Created on: Friday 21 October 2011

Woody

What a great trip! We lucked in and had a well balanced group of personalities- and we got three separate swells. It was an awesome time. Big thanks to Joel (saltmotion.com) for his hard work, and also to the D'Bora crew!

Experience Begun: September 2011

Created on: Wednesday 12 October 2011

Brando

This Indo trip is one that I will never forget! It was complete with everything I could have asked for. Constant entertainment, comedy, the fish were biting, and most of all we scored epic waves!! What a great crew and experience! Special thanks to Joel (saltmotion photography) for capturing all of the moments on film, it was the icing on the cake. Mad skills mate! Lets coordinate another one for the record books next year?? Cheers,

Experience Begun: September 2011

Created on: Wednesday 12 October 2011

Karl

Hi Josh, D'Bora was awesome, I’ve been on 4 other boats before and nothing comes close to how good D'Bora is. D'Bora has so much room, comfy seats, lots of shad. Boards are away and not under people feet. The crew and food were amazing and everything was smooth transferring through Pedang.

Experience Begun: June 2011

Created on: Tuesday 05 July 2011

Rick

It was all good and we are planning next years trip already after only being back for five days... both last years and this years trip on the D'Bora were perfect and the waves outstanding! There may be other good vessels and resorts out there but we were lucky to strike the D'Bora first up. Legend boat, crew and shore staff! The fact that there are added benifets on this vessel by meeting and helping the local Mentawai people setting up fresh water filtration units only adds to the experience of surfing the best waves in the world. One very stoked fella as I know the rest of the team are!! The Perfect Wave have been great as well! Totally professional and friendly service! We will be booking for next year real soon!

Experience Begun: May 2011

Created on: Friday 10 June 2011

Rick

Dear Rhonda, Finally recovering from the surf trip of a lifetime. I really don’t know where to start! We had pumping waves for the whole ten days including HT’s the best Joey had seen it in his time in the Mentawais Islands. Two to four surfs a day for ten days in world class waves....wow! I don’t know when it is really going to sink in! I would recommend the D’Bora team to any person or group wanting to surf the Mentawais. In my eyes they are the best!! Some of us were expecting to probably lose a bit of weight on the trip but there was no possible way about that getting restaurant quality meals made for us from the chef (Seeka) every day! Three cooked meals a day and really healthy meals at that! At first we all felt that we had to chip in and help with things around the boat like washing dishes and that sort of thing however everything was done for us including making the beds and folding up clothing around the beds in the dorm. • Captain Ali is a great captain and we all absolutely loved his dry sense of humour. • Eka provided great local knowledge (including fishing) and his experience on the tender and around the Islands picking us up from the breaks was bloody fantastic. • Amae took over fixing some dings in my board and did a terrific job and was handy with the tender’s and also had a great sense of humour. • Herman is a great engineer! I don’t know how old he is but his engineering skills at what I believe is a very young age is a credit to him. Being a skipper and engineer in a past life I was totally amazed when they allowed me to have a look in the engine room. Really clean and well organised. • Seeka is the newest crew member on the boat and should be cooking at the Hilton or something. Hardly left the galley all day and provided the best healthiest meals ever. • And finally Joey.....he is absolutely on the money when it comes to finding the waves. We basically told him to take us where the waves are and he did that (exceeded expectations). Joeys passion for the local people shines through and I felt very privileged that he asked us if we wanted to assist him setting up a water filtration system at a health clinic at a village just around the corner from Lances Left on our last day. Vinnie and myself took up the offer and these memories will stay with me forever. Joey and Tom are absolute legends for what they are doing to help the local people of the Mentawais! Meeting other people in the network of friends and associates of the D’Bora the trip on this boat is something really special. I thank you so much for placing our group on this boat after the trouble the other boat had. It sounds as though we may have had a nightmare trip on that one! On a bit of a down note, I would not recommend anyone fly Air Asia. The way they cancelled the flight on us out of Padang on the way home was absolute bullshit. I am sure that these things do happen from time to time but after being totally burnt out after ten days of surfing and having the best trip ever it was a very long day of travelling. Speaking for myself, and I am sure the other feel the same way, I am very grateful of all your assistance in making our trip truly the best holiday I have ever had. I personally hope to get back on the D’Bora within the next two years and will definitely go through the Perfect Wave Travel Co. I will be telling anyone interested in a surf trip that the Mentawais Islands is the place to go and that the Perfect Wave and the D’Bora is the only way to go! Kindest Regards, Rick

Experience Begun: April 2010

Created on: Thursday 19 August 2010

Ollie

Hi Rhonda, Just got back on Saturday from the Mentawai's trip. We had a fantastic time and scored some awesome waves. The D'Bora is amazing - huge, clean and very spacious with heaps of outdoor deck space and much of it being shaded which is ideal. The crew were especially good and apart from the classic waves, they absolutely made the trip! The cook (Yani) fed us very well with her delicious meals, captain Ali always had us motoring smoothly, and the rest of the guys (Amae, Herman, Jensen, & Eka) were fantastic also. Time after time going out of their way to run us out to the breaks, and kept everything very tidy and constantly smiling. Joey, our surf guide was brilliant. He always had us on the spot, and took some awesome shots of us out in the water (see attachments). He's very friendly and always up for rounds of cards and beers in the arvos and after dinner. Each night he opened the discussion about the possible options for our next day of surfing, depending on tomorrows forecast winds, swell, and crowds, etc. He could've easily not have done so, kept quiet and taken us to whatever spot he choose and was easiest for him on the schedule but he didn't. Even still, he probably would've been right anyway because he is extremely knowledgeable about the Mentawai's, but it was good to know our options. An awesome guy, and we all plan to keep in touch with him in future. All in all, it was a fantastic trip Rhonda. I'll let the photos speak for themselves about the waves we got. Thanks heaps for sorting everything out for us, it was an absolute breeze getting there and back with all the info and bookings you made for us. The only thing we might do different next time is dodge the budget Air Asia trips to/and from KL. It was under our instruction to go the dirt cheap option, so not your fault at all. But yeh, maybe next time we might fork out a bit more for the easier transfers. Thanks again Rhonda. We'll be back to book with you again for sure, and no doubt it'll be on the mighty D'Bora. I'm already day dreaming about the trip during my first lecture's back at uni, haha.. Cheers, Ollie – Beauty Point, NSW July09

Experience Begun: July 2009

Created on: Friday 12 February 2010