HAWAIIAN STYLIN’: eFoiling to Aloita’s CLASSIC ‘Shirt Party’
The Mentawai sun was high in the sky as we fired up the Fliteboards for a unique mission: a 5km eFoil cruise from Villa Mentawai to Aloita Resort for their legendary Friday afternoon pizza-and-Hawaiian-shirt party. This wasn’t just transport, it was an accidental adventure through Indonesia’s turquoise playground.
The Fliteboard hummed underfoot, the gentle rush of carbon fibre wings slicing through glassy water like a hot knife through butter. Shutterbug Mike Wylie led the way, carving silky arcs past coral bombies with a floral shirt stashed in his drybag.
“I can already taste the mojitos!” Mike hooted, cranking the Bluetooth controller to 30 km/h. Paul Young, in a floral shirt that screamed Hawaii 5-0 retro, followed with the Fliteboard Classic, carving mini-mal moves across tiny swells. The buoyancy and “litre-age” of the Classic gave Paul the confidence to just foil in full party regalia. Falling was never an option for this Lord of the Lithium. The combination of a silent jet and dry knees was the only way for Youngy to arrive at one of the region’s finest resorts.
The route hugged the coastline, weaving through reef passes and past deserted beaches where palms leaned like wave-drunk surfers. Schools of trevally darted below, startled by the black carbon sashimi blades.
Aloita’s jetty came into view, fairy lights twinkling, pizza ovens blazing, and Hawaiian shirts everywhere. The crew docked their Fliteboards and wandered in. The night began over wood-fired margarita slices, with Mike regaling baffled Europeans with tales from the high seas in West Oz — riding Mystics off Augusta, defacing the waves off Rottnest, decapitating Kalbarri’s bombies. The enthusiasm grew with every fresh mojito or mai tai, which appeared in his sweaty palm at just the right moment by some form of magical Mentawegian osmosis.
In the Ments, where every trip’s an exploration, eFoiling to a Hawaiian party had set a new benchmark for feats of bravery, foolhardiness and Okanui-clad decadence. The trip home, of course, is a tale best told in person, to a backdrop of Bintangs and clove cigarettes.
Zara waits her turn for an efoil session on the main jetty at Aloita Resort. Paradise found.