Located in the Northern Mentawai Islands, Rifles is an excellent reef break that offers up a blisteringly fast right-hand barrel that seems to go on endlessly when the conditions line up. The waves here require your A-Game to surf and break for up to 200 meters over a shallow coral reef. Many waves closeout or speed off too quickly to surf, choose wisely and pump hard.
What are the best surf conditions for Rifles?
Gets good between chest high and triple overhead. We recommend riding a shortboard or a step-up as the size increases. This break is suitable only for advanced level surfers. The surf here does not break often (3/10) and will generally be uncrowded (3/10). The best winds are from the Northwest. The best swells are from the South. Works on a mid to high tide and low tide is basically suicidal.
We recommend wearing boardshorts or a bikini year-round. Water temperatures rise to 29 degrees in the summer and drop to 25 only in the winter. See the temperature chart below for more data on this.
