SOUTH COAST > SOUTH SUMATRA
Meet Aidan Parsons and Luke O'Connell, two Australian chargers from Ulladulla, South Coast, New South Wales. Each winter, they make the pilgrimage to Krui, South Sumatra, chasing warm-water replicas of the waves they grew up on, heavy reef slabs, punchy peaks, and perfect barrels. This past season, they spent their days surf guiding in the remote Indonesian town, pushing travellers to their limits while testing their own. Wipeouts, laughter, scars, and stories, it’s a season that will stick with them for a lifetime.
A dreamy beach break set up
“We’d just finished watching the State of Origin the first night of the trip, had a few tins with the guests, and the next morning Aido split his face open on the reef,” laughed Luke. “Day one, 14 stitches. Welcome to Indo.” For Luke and his best mate Aido, this season was anything but ordinary, defined by heavy blue-water slabs, the inevitable beatings, and a bond forged through chasing waves by day and clinking Bintangs by night. A rite of passage every generation of Australian surfers has chased through Indonesia.
Aido had been trekking to Krui for years. The waves reminded him of home on the NSW South Coast, and fewer crowds than Bali or the Bukit. “It feels like you’re in your own little world out there,” he said. “A six-hour taxi ride through the jungle, and suddenly it’s just pumping waves everywhere. Staying at Secret Sumatra feels like family.” But this year’s trip was almost over before it began. His opening session at The Peak ended with a brutal wipeout that left him wrapped up like a mummy.
“I just fell kind of awkwardly. I’d fallen off in the same way millions of times, but this time I smashed my head in such a way that it's pretty lucky, honestly. I'm alive, but I had to get 14 stitches to the dome. I got a pretty cool scar now, unfortunately.” - Aidan Parsons
“It honestly looked worse than it was,” Aiden said, reflecting on the injury. “The needles in my face were rough, but the hardest part was sitting on the beach watching Lukey go crazy for ten days.” Even Jake Beasley, the resort’s longtime filmer, was struck by his resilience. “Aido just grinned through the blood,” Jake said. “He copped it on the chin….. literally, and kept the vibes high. Inspiring, really.”
Not exactly a massage bed...
Meanwhile, Luke spent his days surfing uncrowded lineups, guiding guests and coaching them through waves, a dream job to have whilst his hometown Ulluadulla is pounded by torrential rainfall and gloomy cold fronts. Surf guiding for Luke involved paddling into barrels and yelling encouragement from the shoulder on the paddle back out. Guests watched him take waves at Jimmy’s Right, pushing themselves with a few tips from Luke along the way. Luke downplays it, but those weeks, surfing and guiding, left a lasting impression. “It was one of the most fulfilling trips I’ve done,” he said. “That energy stays with you.”
“Some crew just want cruisey fun waves. Others want to push themselves. It was classic being able to yell at someone, give them a bit of advice, and they’d trust you with it. A few even said it made their trip.” - Luke O'Connell
“By the time Aidan got the all-clear, the swell hadn’t stopped. Ten days of flawless surf had marched through while he sat sidelined on the beach, so when he finally paddled back out, he was like a dog off the leash — hurling himself over ledges and into pits to make up for lost time. ‘I’d just been watching Lukey for days, so when I got the all-clear, I paddled back out and just wanted to throw myself into every wave I could,’ he said.”
Iconic angle of the peak, the same wave that put Aido in hospital.
As the season drew to a close, a right hand barreling slab (featured in the clip above), turned on in near perfection. A fitting send-off for Luke before he headed home. Jake Beasley remembers it well: “It felt like the perfect way to wrap it, just trading barrels all day with the guests.” From there, the boys split ways — Luke returning to face the music of work back home, while Aido kept chasing waves across Indonesia.
Like so many before them, Luke and Aidan’s season was of scars, healing, and barrels in between.. More than anything, it was another chapter in the endless journey surfers take to Indonesia — a trip that gets chased again and again, year after year. The edit is soundtracked by local up-and-coming South Coast punk band Nancy & The Jam Fancy’s, a fitting reminder of where the journey began.
That's a wrap fellas, till next year
🤝 TRUSTED by surfers for a lifetime.
🦘 Born in Australia.