Roti is a small island in the Nusa Tengarra region of Indonesia, southwest of Timor and a very different world away from the increasingly overrun surfing areas of Bali, Sumatra and the Maldives. On the southwest side of the island, the Nemberala Beach Resort is offering thoroughly modern tropical lodging with access to a half dozen, top-quality reefs – classically Indonesian waves where, even in this crowded, modern world, the surfer can still seek the perfect wave on the perfect day and be alone with the surf and his thoughts.
The nation of Timor has a long, interesting and sometimes troubled history. Timor is where Captain Bligh ended his impossible, 3600-mile crossing in a small boat after the mutiny on the Bounty in 1789. (If the photos have already sold you and you are packing for Roti and need a good book, the Bounty Trilogy is fascinating, and appropriate to the area.)
Timor had been divided between the Dutch and the Portuguese for many centuries. Japanese forces occupied the whole island from 1942 to 1945. In 1975, the nation of Indonesia annexed East Timor and was proclaimed Indonesia's 27th province. After a prolonged guerilla war East Timor won independence in 2002.
Trouble and strife but there is no reason to be timorous about this corner of Timor. Roti is only 20 miles from the mainland but far removed from the past violent nation-making on the main island. Roti is southwest of Timor and the Nemberala resort is on the southwest side of the island, facing into all that world-famous, well-traveled swell which starts in the turbulent storms of the Southern Ocean, organizes itself as it crosses into the Indian Ocean and arrives 4000 miles later on the reefs of Roti, falling gracefully on a half dozen perfect reef setups.
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