Telo Island Surf House

Andreas and his family and crew just can't do enough for you. 2nd time I have stayed with him and I loved the experience both times. This time I brought friends along and we loved it - the location, the surf and the whole deal was fantastic.

Stayed at Telos Surf House early October. Booked for 2 weeks, left after 1! When it rained our room leaked, beds had bedbugs, our room was right next to the toilet and the tap dripped all night. When these things were mentioned to Andrea’s, he just laughed!! Hygiene was very poor with no where to wash your hands after going to the toilet. Some guests got sick. The property is in urgent need of maintenance. Surf break out the front would have been great except for all the Charter Boats turning up every day. Sometimes up to 30 surfers out! Andreas and the boat Captain had no idea of where the surf would be ok in different conditions. The Captain was continuously asking to be tipped! Overall we were very disappointed and would not recommend! ☹️

Five of us spent 2 weeks at the Telo Island Surf House with Andreas and his family. If you are considering going to the Telos and have read all the choices and the surf house sounds like you, that is exactly what you get. It is budget but it is perfectly explained on the website. Plenty of food, and the freshly caught fish is awesome. The beers were cold after a day surfing, and the waves we got were amazing and they just kept coming day after day after day. They are super lovely people and nothing was a problem. We also had a variety of surfers and the choice of waves 30-35 mins away was perfect, but having the left right out front was spot on. Still, on the day that we had every boat in the Telos here, we asked Andreas if we could go somewhere else and we got Coconuts pumping to ourselves. Boom!

What a lovely time we had! The place is just amazing. In front of a really amazing wave. Big thanks to Andreas and his sister Olive for taking such good care of us! I am really happy we made it here and will for sure come back!

Absolutely loved the Telos Surf House! All bookings and communications were prompt and always kept us up to date with everything relating to our trip. Having stayed at some of the other upmarket resorts in the area , this was a far better experience. Sure, the accommodation is basic, but really ,what more do you need on a surf trip?? It was a great experience getting there, as a lot of the travel is through areas where there are not a great deal of tourists, Absolutely loved being on the island and watching the locals go about their daily routine, This is something that you do not get to experience in the fancy resorts, Andreas and his family were incredibly hospitable and nothing was a problem for them when looking after us. It was great when they came and sat on balcony etc and chatted. Having ,in my opinion, the best and most consistent wave in north Telos out the front of the house is amazing as you can sit and wait for crowds to go or head out before they arrive, We had several sessions alone. So good! Thanks Andreas and Mick, this is a truly special place and we appreciate you letting us share it. Scott King

If you want to surf the Telos stay here! Andrea’s and his wife (who just became known as Mumma) will do anything to help you out if they can. I got my room changed as I have a sleep difficulties with PTSD. Downstairs rocked! The generator will go off sometime before midnight and then your 240V wall fan will stop working. I took my own battery fan and everybody in the house was sooo jealous. If you are there with a big beer drinking crew the beer may get warmer as the days go on as there is only so much Bintang Andreas’ little freezer can chill as it’s only running when the genny is on for 7 hours or so. No biggy, take the boat over to the fish market and grab a white fish box and some ice! The breakfast can be strange sweet donuts quite often. Ask Mumma for eggs every day and you will get eggs. Dinner was often the local strong flavoured little fish that Indonesian people tend to over cook for safety. Interestingly when we mentioned that the fish was a bit tough it came out less often and we got more of the awesome fried chicken! When I caught a decent trevally I asked Mumma if I could cook it myself. Of course! Lots of ladies popped into Mumma’s stinking hot kitchen to watch two white guys cooking! Lots of beers and laughter that night. So much fun we did it again when we bought some little coral trout from the fish market. Regarding the surf. My trip coincided with a bad run of southerly winds which made our little left hander out the front the only option in the whole Telos. As a result every resort had to bring their customers to ‘our’ spot and there were lots of boats and surfers there all day. But….. they werent there ALL day. I could paddle out in the dark and get it to myself for an hour or so before first boat arrived. Same in the arvo. They had to leave before dark to dock there boats at home with some light left. So if your stuck in the Telos with a bad wind would you rather be paying $45 per day and come and go as you like or sit on a boat all day while paying between $600 to $1000 per day and have sandwiches for lunch on the boat? Bear in mind to that this wind also shut down a lot of spots in the Ments and most of the mainland Sumatra breaks. Oh yeah regarding booking a $45 per day surf homestay to yourself for your honeymoon like the negative post on here, don’t do that.

Thank you Andreas for a wonderful (too short) stay at your surf house. We are endlessly grateful for your kindness, care, and help. We are also thankful for Olive and all the women cooking for us! If you’re thinking about coming to Telo, come here and bring lots of dog treats for the pups on the island!

BOOKING Booking with Mick (in Australia) was easy and his advice was invaluable. However, there's a disconnect between what Mick’s willing to promise and what Andreas (the Indonesian owner) is prepared to deliver. For our honeymoon, we booked the “whole house” for 7 weeks. We left after 4. Our refund request was refused costing us thousands of dollars. PRIVACY Privacy was an issue. The extended family came and went day and night; showering, using the toilet, doing laundry, napping in the empty rooms, helping themselves to tea, coffee and to the fruit and chocolate (occasionally) provided for us. This effectively ruined the "honeymoon" aspect of our holiday. Unlike the family, we weren’t given the house access code, so we were occasionally locked out of the house. We were often locked out of the only bathroom by someone who didn’t answer our knocks. I wonder what he was doing in there with his phone? Getting luckier than us, I presume. It took us almost a week to realise that Andreas' younger brother was secretly living downstairs and creeping about. Our pleas for privacy and demands that we’d booked the “whole house” fell on deaf ears. Nothing changed. At one stage, we found the house empty and locked it from the inside. Alone at last! 15 minutes later, the entire village was banging at the door demanding access. The builders showed up on Christmas Eve to renovate the rooms underneath our bedroom! If it's privacy you're after, this isn’t the place for you. Although the house is a stand-alone dwelling and the family lives in a house nearby, it's basically a homestay arrangement. FOOD The store-bought iced doughnuts sprinkled with 100s and 1000s were a bit ordinary as breakfast offerings go, especially since they looked like the kids had fondled and rejected them first. The food was limited in variety, heavy on meat, low on vegetables and far too often dinner consisted of cup noodles, rice, and a couple of boiled eggs. Fish was purchased from fish farms on Telo Main Island rather than from the local fishermen who caught reef fish with a mask and snorkel out the front of the house. This was disappointing and our lack of contribution to the community caused palpable resentment. If you enjoy fresh fruit and vegetables and a varied diet, you'll be extremely disappointed. SURFING The left is excellent, and being able to watch it from the veranda is awesome. It's also a great place to watch all the garbage produced on the island float by. Unfortunately, this often meant we often surfed in a sea of dirty disposable diapers and assorted plastics. There are other breaks accessible by boat and Andreas will take you for a fee, but he doesn’t surf so... Fortunately, there's a book in the house that's a comprehensive and invaluable guide to every break in the area. Andreas makes phone calls while you surf and likes to finish them before he pulls up anchor, no matter how thirsty or sunburned his guests are. He often combines trips with errands while his guests wait. So, plan for long trips. FACILITIES My bedroom door locked from the inside but not the outside. Of course, that wouldn't have been an issue if our whole house booking was honoured. Interestingly, there were locks on the rooms we were locked out of. After almost a month, we asked for our sheets to be laundered. The bedroom wasn't swept at all, which I could understand if there was a lock preventing access or our privacy was being respected. Power is provided for 3-4 hours from sundown. Lights went out at 10pm, bringing an end to the slight breeze provided by the fan in the bedroom. Overnight, due to "safety concerns", window shutters and doors were locked, leaving us in a pitch-black, breezeless coffin. There's no WIFI but there’s 4G reception. BINTANG Bintangs were fetched for my partner, rapid-fire, in the afternoon. This kept him drunk for most of our honeymoon. So, if you prefer Bintangs to conjugal visits and you’ll eat anything, you will love Telo Surf House but don't bring your wife/girlfriend and limit bookings to less than 7 days.