Background

Aloita initially began when Mentawai veterans Chris “Scuzz” Scurrah, Tom Plummer, and Sebastiano Gulinello teamed with a group of European investors to create something a little different in the Mentawais.  The investors had a strong background in diving and were initially thinking of developing in the Maldives, but wanted something a little less busy and a little more pure.  As diving was practically in its infancy in the Mentawais, they saw the potential of this wonderful area but knew that it’d be huge mistake to not focus on surfing as well.  So, the team pooled forces on this duel focus and began searching for the ideal location that would be perfectly situated for both surfing and diving.  When Seb came across the little island of Simakakang, which was very close to the beautiful dive zones near Setan Island as well as the dense surf zone near Telescopes, in addition to being very conveniently located near the capital of the Mentawais in Tua Pajet – they knew they’d found the place.

Construction on Aloita began in 2003, and it was determined early on that it would be more than just a surf and dive resort.  With its beautiful white sand beach, amazing climate, privacy, and wonderful natural scenery, the team realized that this would be an ideal luxury destination for ANY vacation traveler.  Thus, they designed plans to make Aloita a multifaceted resort destination that can be enjoyed by all age groups, genders, and personality types.  The addition of the Spa and Massage facility was incorporated to truly bring in the “luxury” to the resort, and planning began for various excursions based around cultural trekking, fishing, exploring, and other adventure activities so that the resort would truly have something for everyone.  Aloita was opened to the general public in 2004, and we have continued to try to improve the quality of our resort since then.  We will always strive to have the most complete and unique service offering for our guests

Aloita has a strong team of management in place that will ensure it will remain the top resort in the Mentawais for many years to come.  While Tom and Sebastiano have moved on to different projects, Scuzz is still one of the key owners of the resort and still plays a pivotal role in guiding the vision of Aloita today and into the future.  After several years of feral missions to explore various regions of Indonesia, Scuzz founded Sumatran Surfariis in 1997, and it has remained one of the top independent charter operators in the Mentawais and North Sumatra for the past 12 years.  After guiding and organizing literally hundreds of boat trips, very few people can boast even a fraction of knowledge that Scuzz possesses of the waves in this area.  In addition, Scuzz is extremely respected by both the local and business communities in the Mentawais and throughout Sumatra.  After the tsunamis of 2004, Scuzz was the first charter operator to survey the damage to the more remote villages in this area, and along with his wife Christina were huge catalysts in organizing a major relief area to these zones.  Scuzz continued these efforts after the follow up quakes in March of 2005, and as a result was awarded Tracks Magazine’s “Surfer of the Year” in 2005.  Many people comment on Scuzz’s “zen” and “guru” like harmony with this land, the waves, and the people, and we couldn’t have a better person helping to guide the vision of Aloita’s future.

Danny “Slayer” Siudara is Aloita’s booking manager and resident web geek.  Slayer took his first boat trip with Scuzz almost 10 years ago and quickly became infected with the Indonesian bug.  Despite his penchant for heavy metal and knack for test piloting the shallowest of reefs, Slayer is one of the most knowledgeable and freakishly organized booking managers you will ever find in this industry.  Graduating with honors with a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing and a minor in Communication, Slayer put in the hard yards in the “real world” for many years in various research, marketing, and web advertising roles before he “lucked into the opportunity of a lifetime” and began doing some bookings for Sumatran Surfariis in 2002.  Slayer received several accolades for his public relations and fund raising efforts after the quakes and tsunamis in 2004/2005, and began doing worldwide bookings for Sumatran Surfariis that year as well.  Slayer has booked literally hundreds of trips to Indonesia, so he knows the routine backwards and forwards.  But he lives and works most of year from his home base in California and usually comes out to visit a couple times per year.  So, he’s not TOTALLY jaded yet, and he’s still stoked as a grom every time he talks to someone about taking a trip to Indonesia.