Indonesia
Signature
March to November
Trip Overview
Bilou Beach Villas is a boutique surf retreat set on Awera Island in the heart of the Mentawais, offering a unique surf experience built around flexibility and freedom. With a small collection of private beachfront villas, this surf camp keeps guest numbers low and lineups uncrowded. A standout feature of the Bilou concept is that each villa comes with its own private boat and local driver and guide, allowing guests to surf when and where they want rather than following fixed resort schedules.
The villas are spacious, fully equipped beach houses designed for couples, families, or small groups, featuring multiple bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, lounge areas, and wrap-around decks overlooking the beach and lagoon. While villas include kitchen facilities for those who prefer to self-cater, guests can also enjoy meals and drinks at the relaxed beachfront bar and dining area, where freshly prepared food and cold drinks are served daily.
With calm waters out front for swimming and snorkelling, and a laid-back social hub at the beach bar, Bilou offers a Mentawai surf trip that balances independence, comfort, and easy access to quality waves.
Accommodation
Bilou Beach Villas features a small collection of traditional Mentawai-style beachfront villas set directly on the sand on Awera Island. The resort has just five spacious villas, each sleeping up to four adults. Every villa includes two ensuite bedrooms plus an upstairs loft room, a fully equipped kitchen with indoor dining, a lounge area, and wrap-around decks with ocean views. Private cabanas and beach chairs sit just metres from the water, while practical touches like board racks and indoor and outdoor showers make the villas ideal for surf trips.
Communal life at Bilou centres around the relaxed beachfront bar and dining area, where guests gather for freshly prepared buffet-style dinners and sunset drinks. While villas include kitchen facilities and are stocked with deli foods on arrival, the beach bar offers an easy social hub for meals and downtime.
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Surfing
Surfing at Bilou Beach Villas is built around flexibility and independence, with each villa assigned its own private boat and local driver/guide available from sunrise to sunset. This setup allows guests to surf entirely on their own schedule rather than working around fixed boat departures or large group transfers. Whether it’s a quick dawn session or multiple surfs throughout the day, guests can simply head out whenever conditions look right. The private boat also opens the door for additional activities such as snorkelling, fishing, exploring nearby islands, or visiting the local village across the channel.
Bilou’s location on Awera Island places guests close to a wide range of Mentawai waves, with around ten breaks accessible within 2 to 25 minutes by boat. Most of the area’s key waves sit just 5 to 15 minutes away, making it easy to adapt plans around tides, swell, and wind throughout the day. Nearby options include well-known breaks such as Scarecrows, Icelands and Telescopes, and other reefs scattered around Sipora Island, offering waves suited to a range of abilities.
Sipora Island
Tikkus
An enjoyable, playful left. On a big swell, this is a good, mellow option for intermediate level surfers or longboarders.
Omak Tidur
A long, slabbing right out the front of Awera Surf Resort with intense barrel sections on good days. This wave can be super challenging, and often seems surfable when it’s not. Always wait for the green light from your surf guide before attempting this one!
Telescopes
Ridiculously perfect left, easily accessible from Bilou Beach Villas, Aloita Resort, Awera Surf Resort, Togat Nusa Retreat and Villa Mentawai. A user-friendly wave with multiple good sections for barrels or turns. Telescopes likes a SW swell with SE winds.
Iceland
Another swell magnet, this time a peak, that picks up any available swell. When Telescopes is big and pumping, Iceland can be 2-3 times bigger. A true big wave spot, this wave has been surfed at 20ft and is a great place for an adrenaline rush on your step up.
Suicides
A heavy and unpredictable left with gnarly barrels over a very shallow, live coral reef. When it links up, it’s a remarkable wave, suitable for advanced surfers only and definitely at high tide.
Promises
This is a challenging right hander suitable for advanced surfers chasing a novelty experience.
Twiggies
A good, sometimes hollow, usually uncrowded left hander, working best on a SW swell. Mostly suited for experienced surfers, as the wave can get shallow on the inside.
Hookers
A fickle wrap-around left that can be challenging. This wave needs a big swell to come to life, and is located nearby Aloita Resort.
Arikis
A relatively under-the-radar right hander that’s fast and zippy breaking over shallow reef. Arikis can offer good barrel sections and is best at higher tide.
Scarecrows
A bowling left in front of Togat Nusa Resort. Scarecrows picks up a lot of swell, and on bigger, heavier days requires a bit of paddling and a bigger board. This wave can offer a good barrel on the inside section after some big carves on the outside.
7-Palms
Shifty lefts off random peaks. This spot, rarely crowded, picks up plenty of swell but can be hard to surf.
Bintangs
This wave is a short, powerful right-hand barrel that perks up quickly over a shallow section of reef. Amazing barrel on it’s day but a very short ride. Bintangs is visible from Kingfisher Surf Resort.
Monkeys Left
A playful, usually uncrowded left that picks up plenty of swell. Monkeys is one of many waves close by to Kingfisher Surf Resort.
Bintang Beachie
This wave is located on a long stretch of beach that runs from Kingfisher Surf Resort all the way to Bintangs. On small, short period swells this beachie can offer some playful peaks, and every now and then turns out to be something special.
Lance’s Left
A fun, super consistent left, straight out the front of Kingfisher Surf Resort where guests can watch perfection from the comfort of the pool bar or private bungalow. Lances Left has a good barrel section and enough space to link together some turns before kicking out.
Cobras
You’ll find Cobras at the top section of the Lances Left reef. This wave is a cylindrical barrelling left, shallow and often challenging but sometimes a better barrel than at Lances. This spot works best on S swells.
Lance’s Right (HTs)
This famed wave is positioned directly in front of Katiet Beach Resort and HTs Surf Resort. On it’s good days Lances Right is one of the best waves in Indonesia with flawless barrelling rights. To work best, the wave likes a confusing combination of W swell and W winds. When it turns on, it’s a mesmerising 8-second barrel from the office all the way to the channel.
The Bombie
A shallow section of reef in Katiet Bay, occasionally good on a longboard and an amazing wave for foiling.
Food & Drinks
Dining at Bilou Beach Villas is designed to give guests complete flexibility around their surf schedule. Each private villa is fully stocked on arrival with a generous selection of fresh and deli foods, typically enough to cover around a week of breakfasts, snacks, and simple meals. Guests also receive a daily delivery of fresh fruit salad and ciabatta bread each morning, making it easy to fuel up before or after an early surf. With fully equipped kitchens and indoor and outdoor dining areas in every villa, guests can prepare meals and eat whenever it suits them.
For those wanting a more social dining experience, buffet dinners are served every second night at the relaxed Bilou Beach Bar. The beachfront setting becomes a natural gathering point in the evenings, where guests enjoy fresh fish, chicken or meat alongside salads and vegetables, catering to a variety of dietary preferences. Sunset drinks are a daily highlight, and the nearby Bilou deli offers additional supplies if guests want to top up their villa provisions.
Enquire NowActivities & Experiences
Bilou Beach Villas offers plenty to enjoy beyond the surf. Right in front of the villas, guests can snorkel over the reef or relax on the swim raft, a popular spot for fishing, swimming, and marine life spotting. Bilou also provides stand-up paddleboards and kayaks, allowing guests to paddle through the calm lagoon or explore the surrounding coastline at their own pace. For those wanting to stay active on land, Bilou features a half-pipe skate ramp, volleyball court, and table tennis for easygoing downtime between surf sessions.
With a private boat and driver on standby from sunrise to sunset, guests have the freedom to head out whenever they like for non-surf adventures. The surrounding islands offer excellent opportunities for snorkelling trips, fishing excursions, and exploring quiet beaches and neighbouring islands. Guests can also take boat rides through nearby mangroves or visit the local Mentawai village across the channel to experience traditional island life.
An Eco Mentawai Resort
Bilou Beach Villas operates with a strong eco-conscious approach designed to minimise its footprint while preserving the natural beauty of the Mentawai Islands. The resort runs off-grid using solar power, collects and filters rainwater for drinking, and uses natural building and cooling methods to reduce energy use.
Efforts are also made to minimise plastic waste and source produce locally where possible, while employing staff from nearby Mentawai villages to support the local community.
