Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine October 2014 | Page 141

Travel | Rote
© Aditya Saputra

a good variety of waves: some mellow
enough for the learner and many intense
enough for the water-shredding experts,
and all with names that lend themselves
effortlessly to surfer lingo, like Boa, Bommie,
Suckies and Squillers to name a popular few.
But there’s more than just surf on offer here.
Snorkelling or a spot of fishing can provide a
relaxing contrast to the thrills of surfing, and
scuba-diving also comes highly recommended.
If you’re lucky you might spot pods of manta
and dugong. More common sightings include
schools of dazzling sweetlips swimming
around big coral heads, massive bumphead
parrotfish eating chunks of rock-hard reef,
and clownfish, turtles, dolphins, wrasses,
damselfish, angelfish and groupers. And if
that’s not enough to keep you occupied, you
can plan a day trip to the tiny southerly
offshore islands just an hour’s boat ride away.
Whatever your chosen activity for the day,
the odds are that the best way to get there
is by scooter. You can rent one for a full day
for about US$7–10, excluding petrol. There’s
nothing quite like cruising empty lanes on
a scooter past smiling locals and golden surf,
sand and savannah to make one feel like
summer will never end.
There is something about Rote that
inspires the antithesis of stress and worry:
the purest kind of inner peace and relaxation.
It is something that the local Rotenese
have certainly ingrained into their tropical
lifestyle. A local musician called ‘No Stress’
has tapped into the magic of the island
and one can hear it in his heartfelt
acoustic music.
Historically the Rotenese are a deeply
creative people, drawing inspiration from
life’s simplest pleasures to forge fascinating
local legends and myths, and to weave
vibrant fabrics and write beautiful melodies.

Diving in and around Rote offers
spectacular displays of colourful
underwater life.
Most surfers get out on the
water by 7am, using bright local
motor boats that carry four to
five passengers.
Fellow surfers exchange
friendly smiles at the Anugerah
Surf & Dive Resort.
A local girl harvests seaweed
with that familiar Rote smile.

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