tannaman said..
Hi All.
live been given the most incredible opportunity to sup surf any area of the Maldives atolls on a live aboard for 10 days this year.
Im thinking the central atolls sound great. I'll be with 3 other suppers of medium to advanced standard.
Any advice and input would be greatly appreciated. I've been invited as a guest but need to come up with input as to where and when to go.
I would like to take a foil as well for smaller days.
cheers
tannaman

Hi Tannaman,

Lucky bugger. But how are you getting there?

I have had a few trips in the southern-central atolls. There are some great waves to be had, and without the normal flood of surf charters, you should enjoy uncrowded waves. You lucky bugger!!

From memory, from around May to August (inclusive) the swell is bigger but the wind is stronger. On my last trip we went in April to try and get the best of both worlds. We had good conditions, but let's face it, on a 10 days trip it depends what Mother Nature decides.

How fast is the boat? That will dictate where you can go because there are not many clusters of breaks. We often spent large chunks of time traveling between breaks, and our Captains would never sail at night - too dangerous.

If you will be visiting south of Male, at Quarters, Rip Tides, Mikado (favorite spot), Mushrooms, Fat Betty's, Machines, and Ying Yangs, I would be happy to share some intel. (Note, some of these breaks go by different names.)

The only area that I am familiar with is the south-central atolls - from Male down to the bottom of the central atolls. I think Ying Yang is the most southernmost break. Given that covid will keep most boats in the dock, you should not have the crowds. Once I traveled north and those breaks (Cokes, etc.) have a better reputation, but they, therefore, have the bigger crowds. Plus there are cheaper forms of accommodation. Unless you are after the biggest waves, I would stay south.

You can fly into Male and head south on the boat, or better yet, get into a small plane and fly down to one of the smaller airports. On my first trip, we got a float-plane and they dropped us at the boat. That was pretty cool. (The pilot explained that they must maintain a certain elevation for safety reasons, but not long into the flight he was zooming down over the islands and waves. It was fun but just a bit risky.)

Rip-tides and quarters are not far south of Male, and near a popular resort, so I would avoid them.

Ying-yangs is a challenging wave, but fun. Mikado is a spectacular location and there are a few breaks around. I would definitely go there. But if I remember correctly, they are a little isolated. Machines was great fun on my first trip. Caught some rippers at Fat Betty's. F1's can be risky.

There are lots of beautiful places to visit and incredible waves - but you need to have some luck with wind and swell.

If it were me, I would go in late August or September. June/July are more likely to be windy (and there are frequent squalls/storms). Again, it is up to Mother Nature, but if your #1 goal is swell size, go earlier, if you want better conditions, go later.

I personally like to scuba dive. The manta and whale-shark are not around the surf breaks in the June-August period, if I remember correctly.

Sounds like a trip a mate and I have been considering for some time.
can I ash if SUP riders are accepted by the tea bags over there?

Maldives ...yes good place for surf ...I ONLY remember a few names of places because after surfing ,we drunk our memories away .
Love to go back .. Do it .

Tardy said..
Maldives ...yes good place for surf ...I ONLY remember a few names of places because after surfing ,we drunk our memories away .
Love to go back .. Do it .

We surfed BLOCKED DUNNYS. that was a cracker.

Sultans is epic super solid and has a good hollow section.
central and northern atols can get busy with other boats.
One issue with the Maldives is the boats tend to move during the day time so often you are loosing a day here and there moving to the next surf break, where is the Ments the boats move at night and you wake up at a new wave every couple of days.
Wind can also be a killer specially on the sup. we got blown off the water a few times with monsoon storms coming in most days. I was there in May.

Thanks guys.
I was planning on central atolls in may... maybe need to rethink.
ive heard the northern atolls can be very busy but maybe COVID has changed this.

You never know with the weather, but as per my original response, when the swell is likely to be bigger, the wind is likely to be stronger. Personally, I would avoid June-August. From memory, May is a toss-up. (There is probably historical weather data available that will tell you the truth of the situation; but don't just check Male, there should be data available for the southern-central atolls.)