From Kupang it was just a quick overnight sail to our next stop, Rote Island. We’d all been very excited about this stop. Finally, some surf (and lots of restaurants). There were a lot of big surf breaks we couldn’t go near, as well as plenty of smaller breaks, too.

Watching T-Land break from behind as we approach the pass through the reefs. The boats sitting there were all surf taxis.

We situated ourselves in the pass, with big reef break waves breaking on both sides of us. It was a bit unnerving at first, but after watching a tide change it was clear that we were in a safe zone. It was surprisingly free of swell down the middle as well.

The wave on this side was exclusively the domain of tow in surfers.

On the other side, T-Land was curling nicely even in that day’s small swell.

Still quite a bit of tide to contend with when going ashore. Where to leave the dinghy amongst the local boats, and at what depth, always took a little calculating.

Some seaweed laid out to dry. Locals would be walking the shallows at low tide picking through the weeds and filling up bags to bring back ashore to dry. Took me awhile, but I eventually figured out they are after carrageenan, which explains for me why the pickers would watch the surf intently and then scramble to grab the red thicker bits as opposed to the leafy seaweed. All around the islands were small underwater seaweed “farms” that they would wade out and pick through at low tide, as well.

From shore it looks like the waves will go right in our back door.

There’s a learning curve if you want to use the toilet like an Indonesian.

There was always plenty of activity at low tide. Fresh bottom paint for this guy.

This tiny place quickly became a favorite both for their Indonesian food as well as their amazing pizzas (it’s all about the crust). In addition, they blessed us with huge home-baked sourdough loaves fresh every day.