Last year, Brett Barley went on a dream surf trip. As he recounted in his most recent YouTube series, Barley took his family to the Macaronis resort in the Mentawai Islands in June of 2025. The ensuing weeks took them from Greenbush slabs to barreling Macaronis, and everywhere in between. However, all good things must eventually end, and his latest post chronicles one last day of epic tubes before heading home.
Located on the Indonesian island of North Pagai, Macaronis has long been a premiere destination for surfers with cash to burn. It’s also a tube hound’s dream, making it a perfect stop for Barley and his surf prodigy son Masen.
However, the whole thing almost ended early. Ten days into the excursion, Barley was attempting an air reverse when when his board flipped upside down and slashed him in the backside. The deep laceration ended his session early, in order to book it to the village clinic. He came out of the encounter with seven stitches in his butt, which was fortunate, since fin lacerations have proven to be deadly in the past.
Once he was cleared for re-entry, Barley returned to the water for one last score. One of the few moments in life where putting salt in the wound is actually a good thing.
“Sitting there on the barge in the evenings on the Indian Ocean with my family, paddling out and surfing waves with my son. It just was absolutely magical,” summed up Barley, “This has been one of the best trips of my life.”
