Maldives Surf
The Maldives Islands are justly considered to be one of the best places in the world for surfing. Besides amazing and colourful nature and crystal clear waters, there are splendid places with rather high waves. These waves appear during the rainy season, which usually occurs from March till November. Every year this time, professional surfers from all over the world come to the Maldives Islands for surfing.
So where are the best places for surfing in the Maldives? Besides their immense beauty, there are a lot of places with the best conditions for surfing. As the Maldives Islands are an island state in the middle of the ocean, there are loads of surf spots and waves. Here are some of the most advantageous and comfortable places for this:
North Male Atoll
The spot is perfect for diving in Maldives as well as for surfing fans. One of the best places in the North Male Atoll is the one nearby the Lohifushi Island Resort and Kanifinolhu Resort hotels. The hotels provide all necessary equipment for those who are interested and are willing to surf the waves.
Favourable places can also be found near the Furana Fushi Island hotel, the Tari Village Resort hotel or the Full Moon Beach Resort hotel as well as Thamburudhoo Island. North Male Atoll is the main and the most favourite place for surfers. Among the most popular and favourable surf spots are: Chickens, Lohis, Pasta Point, Honkeys – the left waves; Cokes, Ninjas, Sultans, Jail, Himmafushi – the right waves. Lohis and Pasta Point are available only to resort inhabitants. Cokes is one of the fastest. Ninjas is the kindest and the most sloping one.
South Male Atoll
South Male Atoll is situated not far from Gulhigaathuhuraa Island with the Palm Tree Island Resort hotel, the Guraidhoo Island hotel and the Kandooma Resort hotel. The majority of these places are near desert islands inside the atoll. There are special boat surf trips to the South Male Atoll, but they are rare.
There are also other places suitable for surfing outside the atolls and in the channels, but it would be better to go there between February and April. This is the time when currents contribute to the formation of rather high waves perfect for exciting surfing. In the southern part of Laamu Atoll, there is a place closed from the winds. Waves here are high at all the times, irrespective of the season. They rise high and gradually go down to the seacoast. This makes it a perfect Maldives surf place even for beginning surfers.
Of course, it is very important to make the right choice of the Maldives surf season. The best waves come between April and September. Summertime is the best time for surfers. Winter months are more attractive for non-surfing tourists. This period cannot boast huge waves or rains. The waves will suit surfers of middle and higher levels of mastery and up to the professional one. The conditions are not quite favourable for those who are going to surf for the very first time in their life.
One of the surf peculiarities of the Maldives Islands is the inability to reach the needed surf spot on your own. This is because these spots are on different islands. These islands are not far from each other but there is practically no opportunity to swim between them because of the currents. During the high tide, the water is flowing inside the atoll; during the low tide, it is flowing outside the atoll. Under these circumstances it is pretty difficult to cross this current.
Another peculiarity is the inability to go ashore on some of the islands. Not all waves are suitable for surfing either. The waves that rise facing big resort islands are intended for the resorts’ customers only.
It should also be mentioned that there are no surf schools in the Maldives. Still every hotel has instructors to help you get started. Besides, you can make use of the Maldives surf camp where a lot of enthusiastic surfers will be glad to guide you and lend you their helping hand.
First-timers should also be extremely careful. It is advisable that you take your first steps in the sport together with an instructor, coach or at least someone more experienced than you are. Here are also some of the valuable pieces of advice to guarantee your safety:
If there are rocks or sharp edges of the seacoast somewhere nearby, you may need a helmet.
Try to communicate with the natives, the hotel staff, the rescue service or experienced surfers to find out if there is any kind of insecurity in some certain places: there is a chance to meet some dangerous sea inhabitants (sharks, poison jellyfish, etc); powerful changeable currents or something like that.
While surfing, keep away from other surfers to avoid injuries and accidents in case of surfboards collision.
Before swimming, get to know the weather forecast and do not risk surfing if there is any possibility of the storm. Only highly professional surfers are able to cope with the waves during the storm. Still, even they cannot overcome the Indian Ocean storm.
The current direction and the place it can take you to should be cleared out right from the start. Some drowned flows outside the reefs may go into the deep and pull you into the water.
It is unadvisable for inexperienced surfers to surf alone. The waves are pretty changeable and the sea is very uncertain. You may need some help and support.
Even if you have never tried to straddle a wave, there is nothing impossible at the Maldives surf resort. Here you can be offered not only surfboards and other necessary equipment, but a qualified instructor who can teach you basic simple methods of surfing. All the rest is in your hands. But you can be absolutely sure that if you have caught a wave at least once in your life, you are going to become a real addict and will want to do it over and over again, coming back to the Maldives to find the right one.