Maldives Surf News

Ayya and Ibu 1st in Malaysia

2010-01-11T13:53:00.002+01:00

Billabong Occy Grom Comp at Cherating Beach in Malaysia during all three days of competition at the long, sandy-bottomed point break, getting cheers and wowing the crowd on the beach. Winning the Men’s Open in the Billabong Pro Am was Hussain Areef from the Maldives. Areef was also a standout from his very first heat, showing off his impressive dexterity in every type wave that that came his way. In the final he had to overcome the challenge of a super grom Jay-R Esquivel, Cherating grom Didaqt, and Satu Suku’s Tunku Khairil, but he was well up to the task and earned the top spot on the winners podium.

Just after paddling in from a quick expression session before the Men’s Open final, MC Tai Graham called Mark “Occy” Occhilupo up to the microphone to say a few words to the competitors and spectators on the beach. “I’m so stoked to be here in Malaysia,” Occy said. “Everybody makes you feel so welcome, you guys are such amazing hosts. And we scored some great waves over this weekend too. I never thought there would be waves this good here in Malaysia, it was unbelievable. It’s really been a great comp and a fun time, and I want to thank all the locals and the Billabong crew for making it such a big success. The groms here are absolutely ripping…to be out there in the water with them and to watch them going for it was the best thing ever,” he exclaimed.

Then Tai asked him when he would be back, to which Occy responded, “If that’s an invitation, and it sounded like it was, for sure I’m coming back!” which got a big round of cheers and claps from the crowd. Over the three day competition held at the seaside town of Cherating on the east coast of Malaysia, 115 contestants from 11 countries gathered to compete for fun, prestige, prizes and goodies including surfboards, Billabong boardies, shirts and backpacks, Nixon watches, Von Zipper eyewear, Kustom footwear and more, in the Occy Grom Comp and the Billabong Pro Am that run from the 8th to the 10th of January, which included Men’s Open, Women’s, Masters, Grommet and Bodyboarding division.

Check out the Billabong Asia website for webclips of the event at www.Billabong.com

Occy Grom Comp Results

1. Jay-R Esquivel (Philippines)

2. Nazrin “Yen” Nasruddin (Malaysia)

3. Didaqt Musaddiq (Malaysia)

4. Suhaimi “Semmy” Bin Hassan (Malaysia)

Men’s Open

1. Hussain Areef (Maldives)

2. Jay-R Esquivel (Philippines)

3. Didaqt Musaddiq (Malaysia)

4. Tunku Khairil (Malaysia)

Masters

1. Art (Malaysia)

2. Raymond Chong (Malaysia)

3. Aaron Wright (USA)

4. Tim Brent (Australia)

Women’s Open

1. Gemala (Indonesia)

2. Cheryl Tang (Singapore)

3. Brenda Lee (Malaysia)

4. Farisha Mazlan (Malaysia)

Bodyboard

1. Ali Khushruwan Ahmad (Maldives)

2. Waqi (Malaysia)

3. Ahmad Rusyuddin (Malaysia)

4. Zarulaliff Bin Zulkifli (Malaysia)

/www.billabong.com/asia/blog-post/1286/2010-01-10

WQS Pasta Point cancelled in 2010

2009-12-22T09:52:00.003+01:00

After nine incredible years of running the 6 Star Prime Rated Maldives World Qualifying Series event ASP Australasia today announced that the event will be postponed for 2010.

ASP Australasia have been aggressively looking for a sponsor to take up the Maldives event, which has been highly regarded as one of the very best events on the World Qualifying Series, but for 2010 this is not a reality.

The event was created in year 2001 and run as the Deep Blue Open, an intrepid initiative by ASP Australasia at the time and over ten years delivered outstanding surf and an exceptional global promotion to the Maldives which now has a booming surf tourism industry.

Plans are already in place to re instate the event for 2011.

“With world class, super high performance waves and on the cusp of its 10th birthday, it is disappointing that the Maldives WQS event will not be featured on the 2010 ASP calendar“, said ASP Australasia Tour Manager Dane Jordan.

“On a promotion, brand awareness and media perspective the event has always offered an exceptional return on investment for sponsors and we are confident that the Maldives WQS will return for the 2011 season.

In the mean time, Sri Lankan Airlines is setting up a 6star at Arugam Bay from June 14-20 now that the new road to A-Bay will make things much easier.

www.aspaustralasia.com

Welcome to Kuda Ayya

2009-11-24T18:04:00.008+01:00

Welcome to Kuda Ayya, the new Maldivesurf surfguide ! Now, a majority of the 30-40 surfguides in the Maldives are foreigners since there is probably less than 10 maldivian surfguides working whether on boats or resorts.

Since the beginning Maldivesurf guides have been hiring Maldivians ( Nahu, Fayani, Rifu) and here is Ali Khushruwan, much better known as Kuda Ayya, who will be starting in March,2010. Kuda Ayya, 23 years of age, has been surfing since he was 12, is undoubtedly Maldivian bodyboarder N°1. He got 1st place in several competitions including the national bodyboarding competition (varunulaa challenge)over last 2 years. Ayya is the only the bodyboader who gets sponsorship in surfing garments and products such as Hot Buttered, Reef ,Ocean & earth, Kutalines, Smith Opticals and FCS accessories.

He has studied up to grade 8 from Majeedhiyya School then has worked for the last 5 years in Malé main surfshop : Sea & Sports. He’s now pushing a new crew of bodyboarders in Malé to surf in town. And he might light the fire of some kids in the central atolls as well !

New Guesthouse in Cokes

2009-11-17T15:30:00.011+01:00

The first surf camp now open in the Maldives, exclusive to The Perfect Wave Travel Co, Cola’s guest house is in the village of Thulusdhoo in North Male Atoll where the mighty COKES point offers the best right hand point break in the Maldives. Across the channel within easy view of the hotel, an equally good left, Chickens works its magic.

The camp is owned and operated by Aussie Brian James who has ten years experience working in the Maldives surf. With his Japanese partner Chiharu Kanno, they offer their surfing guests a wealth of local knowledge and a warm and friendly stay at a truly unique hotel/surf camp.

With an unsurpassed view of the surf at Cokes and Chickens, Colas has two large informal areas to relax in. The top floor has a common area and is equipped with home theatre system, library, and games for the tired surfer to enjoy. The ground floor and reception area offers a juice bar and cafe with more room to refine the art of chilling out before or after a hard session in the surf

Accommodation

8 double or twin share rooms with AC, mini fridge, ceiling fans, hot water ensuites and closet. All rooms open to communal areas for relaxation. Also all linen and room towels are provided

Facilities

Colas offers all meals from a well appointed kitchen.
Foods are a combination of Australian

and Japanese style with a little local Maldivian cuisine to balance things out.
Colas Juice Bar offers smoothies and fresh fruit
juices.
Shiatsu massage is available by appointment.
Extra charge : US$40 one hour; US$20 half hour
Babysitting is available by appointment.
Extra charge : US$10

one hour
Home theatre in the communal area on the upper level
Chess, backgammon, cards, various games and a library on the upper level.
Wireless internet facility available 24 hours a day
Mobile phone access at all times
Local supermarket, Big Shop for any extra needs

Alcohol

Due to the local religion, the consumption of alcohol

is forbidden in all Maldives villages

therefore is not available at Colas.

Photography - Surf photo and video service

by experienced photographer by appointment.

Extra charge : US$25 per hour per individual surfer

www.theperfectwave.com.au/colas-surf-camp-maldives.html

Kai Sallas wins Pasta, Ingleby wins 2009 Tour

2009-10-29T17:59:00.004+01:00

The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Oxbow World Longboard Tour Maldives event today crowned two champions – Harley Ingelby (Australia) as the ASP 2009 World Longboard Champion and Kai Sallas (Hawaii) as the Oxbow Maldives event champion.

Sallas won the event, surfing clean 3 feet (1 meter) surf at Pasta Point defeating Australasia’s Harley Ingelby in a high scoring final that saw Sallas take the win with a combined two wave tally of 15.65 to Ingelby on 14.00. Ingelby’s second placing in today’s final event on the two event ASP 2009 World Longboard Tour secured him the World Title.

“I’m so stoked to win this event, the waves have been super fun all week and to beat Harley in the final capped off a perfect week for me” said Sallas.“ I started well with 7.65 on my first ride and felt confident that I could back that ride up and take the win, Ingelby came at me hard in the final few minutes but my best ride was my final one and it’s great to win and actually beat the current world champion as well!”

The ASP World Longboard Champion is decided across the ratings from two events and Ingelby’s 1st placing in the season’s opening event in Japan along with his 2nd place here in the Maldives see’s him take the first ASP World Title for the 2009 season. “It’s the best day of my life” said 26 year old Ingelby after the final.

“I’ve been close to winning in the past and always felt I could win the title but I’ve also seen many great surfers not win world titles and I was wary that the opportunity could slip – It’s a huge weight off my shoulders and right now the feeling is unbelievable.” Ingelby secured the world title early in the day when he defeated Brazilian Phil Ratzman in a very close see-sawing quarter final.

“It would have been great to take the event win as well as the world title but full marks to Sallas, he surfed a great final and he deserved the win as he’s been a standout all week.” “I really left my run in the final late, I don’t think I had one decent score in the first 20 minutes, when I did get that 8 point ride late in the final I was a real chance but simply could not find a wave to deliver a decent second score” added Ingelby.

Today’s Semi Finals were both tightly fought out with Sallas defeating fellow Hawaiian Ned Snow while Ingelby survived a late challenge in his semi final from French surfer Antoine Delpero winning on a score-line of 14.80 to Delpero on 14.35. With excellent surf throughout the event all surfers enjoyed a great week and it was a fitting finale to the ASP Oxbow Longboard World Tour for 2009.

OXBOW ASP WORLD LONGBOARD TOUR MALDIVES QUARTER FINALS
Heat 1: Kai Sallas (HAW)12.00 V Eduardo Bagé (BRA)11.85
Heat 2: Ned Snow (HAW) 15.75D Ben Skinner (GBR)11.75
Heat 3: Harley Ingleby (AUS)14.00 D Phil Rajzman (BRA) 13.55
Heat 4: Antoine Delpero (FRA) 13.50 D Remi Arauzo (FRA) 12.00

OXBOW ASP WORLD LONGBOARD TOUR MALDIVES SEMI FINALS
Heat 1: Kai Sallas (HAW) 14.50 D Ned Snow (HAW) 13.45
Heat 2: Harley Ingelby (AUS) 14.80 D Antoine Delpero (FRA) 14.35

FINAL
Kai Sallas (HAW) 15.65 d Harley Ingelby (AUS) 14.00

1	Ingleby,Harley	AUS
2	Sallas,Kai	HAW
3	Delpero,Antoine	FRA
4	Rajzman,Phil	BRA
5	Perkins,Bonga	HAW
6	Snow,Ned	HAW
7	Bage,Eduardo	BRA
8	De Soto,Duane	HAW
9	McPhillips,Colin	USA
10	Skinner,Ben	GBR
11	Jensen,Taylor	USA
12	Matos,Amaro	BRA
13	Edwards,Keegan	HAW
14	Arauzo,Remi	FRA
15	Moir,Matthew	ZAF
16	Young,Bryce	AUS
17	Neal,Jared	AUS
18	Bahia,Carlos	BRA
19	Constable,Josh	AUS
20	Bleakley,Sam	GBR
20	Deniel,Alexis	FRA
22	Salazar,Alex(Picuruta)	BRA
23	Silva,Jeremias	BRA
24	Silvagni,Tony	USA
25	Mori,Taiki	JPN
25	Ogashira ,Nobuhiro	JPN
25	Macleod,Dylan	ZAF
28	Mothershead,Troy	USA
29	Viudes,Jaime	BRA
29	Maurin,Romain	FRA
31	Robbins,Cole	USA
31	Teal,Eugene	JPN
33	Kinoshita,David	JPN
34	Shimabukuro,Noah	HAW
35	Surman,Mitch	AUS
35	Bing,Justin	ZAF
35	Pioli,Dane	AUS

Oxbow World Longboard Tour starts at Pasta

2009-10-26T09:11:00.002+01:00

25 October, 2009 : An idyllic setting and perfect waves at Pasta Point set the scene for the final event of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Oxbow World Longboard Tour for 2009.As the second and final event, this will decide the 2009 World Champion. All 32 surfers competing in the event have arrived and are warming up in excellent three-to-four foot (1 – 1.5 metre) surf at Pasta Point.

Australia’s Harley Ingelby, the current leader on the 2009 ASP World Longboard season ratings, has been here for three days and has already spent many hours in the water familiarizing himself with the wave in hopes of giving himself the best chance to win this year’s ASP World Longboard Title.

“Awesome waves here and I’m really enjoying surfing,” Ingelby said. “As far as the world title goes, I’m only thinking about surfing heat-by-heat and simply treating this as another important ASP event. The ratings will take care of themselves, I just have to surf my best and try and win.”

Defending ASP World Longboard Champion, Bonga Perkins (Hawaii), is currently in third position on the ratings, and on a two-event series, has every chance of adding another title to his already impressive two ASP World Longboard Titles (1996, 2008).

“The world title is there to be won and that’s what I’m here for,” Perkins said. “There’s all sorts of equations as to how to win and I’m here to defend my title and if that means making the Final and winning the event then that’s what I’ll try and do. The waves are super fun, incredibly warm water and I’ve enjoyed surfing the last two days. I’m ready to go.”

Among the world’s elite of longboarding visiting the Maldives, the title contenders from the Oxbow team include Antoine Delpero (FRA), Duane de Soto (HAW), Ben Skinner (GBR), Eduardo Bagé (BRA), Matthew Moir (RSA) and Bryce Young (AUS).

Being a two-event series for 2009, there is a strong possibility that the No. 1 position on the ratings could be tied after this event and if that is the case, a surf-off will occur at this event.

ASP Tour Manager Al Hunt outlined the plans for this situation today.

“With two events of identically-rated events to decide the ASP World Longboard Title for 2009, there’s a big possibility of a first place tie and if that happens we’ll run a special Final here to determine the World Title,” Al Hunt, ASP World Longboard Tour Manager, said. “It’s a situation that will only be applied for 1st place on the ratings and we’ll determine how that final would be run if and when it’s required at the end of this event.”

The event will be live web via www.aspworldtour.com and with excellent swell running today it looks very much like round one action will commence early tomorrow morning.

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com

OXBOW ASP WORLD LONGBOARD TOUR MALDIVES ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Colin McPhillips (USA) vs. Dylan Macleod (ZAF)
Heat 2: Bryce Young (AUS) vs. Kai Sallas (HAW)
Heat 3: Carlos Bahia (BRA) vs. Sam Bleakley (GBR)
Heat 4: Eduardo Bage (BRA) vs. Nobuhiro Ogashira (JPN)
Heat 5: Duane De Soto (HAW) vs. Troy Mothershead (USA)
Heat 6: Ned Snow (HAW) vs. Tony Silvagni (USA)
Heat 7: Ben Skinner (GBR) vs. Alexis Deniel (FRA)
Heat 8: Bonga Perkins (HAW) vs. Mitch Surman (AUS)
Heat 9: Harley Ingleby (AUS) vs. Justin Bing (ZAF)
Heat 10: Keegan Edwards (HAW) vs. Jared Neal (AUS)
Heat 11: Phil Rajzman (BRA) vs. Cole Robbins (USA)
Heat 12: Taylor Jensen (USA) vs. Jaime Viudes (BRA)
Heat 13: Antoine Delpero (FRA) vs. Taiki Mori (JPN)
Heat 14: Alex (Picuruta) Salazar (BRA) vs. Josh Constable (AUS)
Heat 15: Matthew Moir (ZAF) vs. Remi Arauzo (FRA)

Plans for a $3 /day Green Tax on visitors

2009-09-08T10:13:00.004+02:00

Famed mostly for high-end luxury resorts and white-sand atolls, the Maldives has made a name for itself as an advocate for mitigating climate change because rising sea levels are forecast to submerge most of its islands by 2100. The Maldives' $850 million economy gets more than a quarter of its gross domestic product from tourists, but has not yet taxed them to help it fight climate change.

President Mohammed Nasheed, who in March outlined plans to make the Maldives the world's first carbon-neutral nation within a decade, said an environment tax was soon to be levied on all tourists. "We have introduced a green tax. It's in the pipeline. It's a matter of parliament approving it and I hope parliament will approve it -- $3 per each tourist a day," Nasheed told reporters in Male, the capital of the Indian Ocean archipelago.

Based on an annual average of 700,000 tourists who spend an average of three days on the islands, that translates to about $6.3 million annually. In March, Nasheed launched a $1.1 billion initiative to convert the islands solely to renewable energy from fossil fuels, and buy and destroy EU carbon credits to offset emissions from tourists flying to visit its resorts.

The government has acknowledged it needs outside investment to fund those plans, and Nasheed's trip to U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen in December. Last month, his office said he would not attend the talks because of a budget crisis that forced the country to seek a $60 million International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan.

Nasheed said he still had no plans to attend "unless someone very generously helps us. I hope someone will assist us." He said the Maldives had little leverage in the outcome of the Copenhagen talks, which are to create a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, but a huge stake. "There is no point in Maldives entering the agreement. It is a small country. It is India, China, Brazil, the United States that have to join in," he said. "No one is going to come out as a winner without an agreement."

Google Earth 2 : more views

2009-08-15T09:08:00.011+02:00

Google Earth : splendid views

2009-08-14T09:43:00.007+02:00

An increasing number of atolls are being precisely shot by the ominous Google Earth image viewers. If you look closely, you will find a tremendous amount of spots, and maybe some secrets surfspots. Here is half a dozen :http://earth.google.com/

July 2009 : great surf conditions

2009-08-03T13:02:00.006+02:00

July has been a great month for the surfers in Maldives ! Lots of long-distance swells, less monsoon winds and less rainy than usual. Good weather and good waves is what all surfers are looking for. July is normally a pretty dull month with much overcast days, strong SSW winds blowing out the lefts and generally rough conditions for cruising. Although rights like Sultans, Jails or Cokes still remain offshore, it's not necessarily a month for great surf. Watch the archives of Windguru and you can see the details of this mythical month. CLICK ON THE IMAGE FOR A BLOW UP

July 2009
Overall : the 2nd (6 to 12) and 4th (23 to 31) weeks were idyllic
Worldclass days : July 7,8, 11,12, 23,30,31
Average : 1.9m - 11-12sec
Swells : 8 new swells with more SW on the first half and more SE on the second half
Bad weather : 5,6,13-15

By comparison, the onset of the SW monsoon last May has been among the most violent ever with 12 consecutive days (18-29) over 20 km/h and peaks at 41 km/h average WSW winds and pouring rains. The monsoon started striking among May,10 and almost lasted 3 weeks of strong west winds, which has created very rough cruising and very disorganized surf. Apart from the 1st week, May has been an horrendous month. CLICK ON THE IMAGE FOR A BLOW UP

May 2009
Overall : the 1st week (1 to 8) was fine with clean small to mid-size swells.
Worldclass days : May 1,2,3,6,7
Average : 1.4m - 8sec
Swells : 6 new swells with very little SE, 11 days of dominant WSW winds / swells
Bad weather : 9-11; 13, 18-21; 23-26

Remember, most of the good spots are facing E / SE

Make your own stats to better choose your next surtrip in the Maldives, especially on a surf safari boat.

www.windguru.cz/fr/historie.php?id_spot=4158&&model=gfs

Tourist arrivals decrease by 10%

2009-07-15T09:48:00.003+02:00

Some 282,000 foreign tourists visited Maldives by end of May 2009, tourism ministry statistics have revealed. According to the ministry this is 10.5 % reduction when compared to May 2008, probably due the effects of the World Crisis.

Looking at tourist arrivals for the past 5 months of this year, least number of tourist arrivals were in February and March. According to World Tourism Organization (WTO) there was an 8% reduction in global tourism in the first 2 months of 2009. Global economic downturn and the A1H1N1 influenza have had devastating impacts on global tourism industry with an anticipated reduction of 2-3% by the end of this year.
Highest number of tourists arrivals in Malé were from Italy ,UK , Germany , France , Russia , China , Switzerland , Japan , Australia , and India.
- 47,700 Italians
- 43,500 British
- 30,000 Germans
- 27,791 French
- 18,919 Russians

www.maldivestourismupdate.com

Maldivian locals still not making heats

2009-06-20T02:07:00.003+02:00

Despite rising surfing levels, it's still very hard for Maldivian best surfers to compete with international surfers at last WQS. All the 7 surfers got last and again Iboo got the best score. Here are their results on their last round 1 heats :

Fuku, 4th : 4.73
Ammadey,4th : 3.67
Azly,4th : 3.33
Shaad,4th : 2.50
Iboo,4th : 7.07
Matte,3th : 2.10 (no 4th)
Mike,4th : 4.70

P.S : video of WQS finals
http://live.coastalwatch.com/sl_news.aspx?eid=15790

Owen Wright Wins Epic Final

2009-06-15T22:14:00.003+02:00

Sunday, 14 June 2009

Owen Wright (Australia/NSW/Lennox Head) has won the 10th annual Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) six star PRIME rated World Qualifying Series (WQS) SriLankan Airlines Pro in the Maldives.

It was a monumental high scoring final, described by numerous ASP officials at this event as the greatest final they have ever seen held in outstanding 4 to 5 feet (1.5m) surf at Pasta Point.

This final had everything with both surfers forcing each other to new heights combining superb power surfing with new age aerial moves.

The final scores saw Owen Wright on 19.23 out of a possible 20 to Gudauskas on 18.93.

Wright’s second ride in the final of 9.83 was decisive, pulling two major aerial manoeuvres along with a series of fully powered on face vertical turns.

While that wave opened up a serious lead, Gudauskas challenged hard on his second ride driving through a series of powerful top to bottom turns but just fractionally mistimed his final floating re entry and fell. The wave was still awarded an outstanding 8.94, many believed had he landed that final turn it would have been his second perfect 10 point ride for the event.

Wright capitalised mid final with another outstanding 9.4 ride, again inclusive of aerial moves and Gudauskas suddenly found himself in an unlikely combination of scores required situation.

Gudauskas, who earlier in this event had scored a perfect ten point ride utilizing the new age rodeo clown move, refused to concede the final and began to focus on going for another perfect 10 by attempting some massive rodeo clowns (aerial 540 degree reverse flips), which he went perilously close to landing.

Inside the final five minutes, Gudauskas found his final excellent wave, unleashed three incredible top to bottom powered turns, lined up the final section, launched and landed another amazing aerial flip to take a perfect 10 points.

Still in second place and requiring a 9.24 to win, time ran out for Gudauskas and Wright was the deserving winner of this epic battle.

“That was the best final I have ever experienced “ said Wright after his win.

“ I knew Pat was capable of scoring 9 to 10 point rides and before the final I knew I’d have to pull multiple aerials to win - my strategy was at least two serious aerials on the waves and a lot of powerful surfing in between the aerials and that’s exactly how it played out.”

Owen Wright is now number one rated surfer on the ASP World Qualifying Series and the exciting 19 year old has already reassessed his goals for the season.

“At the start of the year I was focusing on winning the Pro Junior season in Australia and doing a few WQS events to get the experience but now I’m definitely looking to win the WQS and qualify for the ASP World Tour.”

ASP world tour head judge Perry Hatchet firmly placed this final within the top five finals he had ever witnessed while many others declared it the best final they had witnessed.

The entire event, which created history earlier when Pat Gudauskas delivered the first competitive rodeo clown manoeuvre, appears to have sped up the aerial assault that surfing is taking.

Pat Gudauskas’s efforts both in the final and throughout the event left the 23 year old feeling good after his narrow defeat in the final.

“You know I feel like I’ve won the event even though I lost, it was just such an amazing event and incredible final to surf in and I’m really stoked to have pulled those aerials” said Gudauskas.

“I think surfing’s heading to exciting places with these moves and I’m fully pumped for the rest of the year.”

In a significant rule implementation, the final was actually restarted after the first 10 minutes saw both surfers without a score on the board. This recent rule had just been passed by the ASP and it was successful at its first go.

“The 10 minute restart rule set that final up and made it an incredible event” commented ASP World Tour Head Judge Perry Hatchett.

Equal 3rd placed surfers today were Brazilian 19 year old Jadson Andre and USA’s Austin Ware.

Andre went down in his semi final to Gudauskas but again demonstrated his incredible aerial skills fighting back from a massive combination scoring situation in the semi final using his trademark colossal aerial skills.

The 3rd place result for Andre further consolidates his season on the WQS. Andre is now rated 4th on the season WQS ratings.

At season’s end the top 15 surfers on the WQS will qualify for the elite ASP World Tour and Andre is superbly placed.

For Austin Ware his 3rd place finish was his best result of the season and also has him right in contention on the WQS at this half way point to the season.

Current Top 15 ASP WQS are:
Wright,Owen AUS 1 11338
Ross,Daniel AUS 2 10600
Melling,Adam AUS 3 10301
Andre,Jadson BRA 4 10100
Simpson,Brett USA 5 8476
Duru,Joan FRA 6 8451
Gudauskas,Patrick USA 7 8263
Logie,Travis ZAF 8 8226
Thornton,Blake AUS 9 8013
Polo,Marco BRA 10 7825
Munro,Luke AUS 11 7813
Thompson,Jay AUS 12 7688
Yeomans,Nathan USA 12 7688
Courtney,Drew AUS 14 7513
Ware,Austin USA 15 7457

Play Dhonveli Pro online

2009-06-03T12:44:00.005+02:00

Go to the events official website at www.srilankanairlinespro.com and follow the links to www.fantasyprosurfing.com and www.youriding.com to access these two online games.

Both games have detailed easy to follow instructions on how to play. Like many sporting games, fantasyprosurfer.com engages participants by choosing a team of surfers with points awarded according to performance while youriding.com tackles the SriLankan Airlines Pro from an interactive wave riding perspective.

Play either or both and you’ll at least feel a little bit like you are in paradise; picture and dream of the perfect peeling points, unbelievable 30°c water temps, tropical climate... Almost as good as being there in person, maybe !

Nationals will happen on June,7th, Sunday at Dhonveli to select 2 wildcards among the top 8 Maldivian surfers. Good luck !

Past 7 WQS winners

2007 Dhonveli Sri Lankan Pro : Heitor ALVES (BRA)

2006 Dhonveli Sri Lankan Pro : Luke MUNRO (AUS)

2005 Lohifushi Deep Blue Oneill : Daniel REDMAN (ZAF)

2004 Lohifushi Deep Blue Oneill : Toby MARTIN (AUS)

2003 Lohifushi Deep Blue Oneill : Trent MUNRO (AUS)

2002 Lohifushi Deep Blue Oneill : Tim CURRAN (USA)

2001 Lohifushi Deep Blue Oneill : Chris WARD (USA)

Follow this event live, beginning next Monday at www.srilankanairlinespro.com/

Seaplane crashes but no casualties

2009-06-03T12:31:00.005+02:00

On June 02. A Maldivian Air Taxi seaplane crashed into the lagoon of Halaveli Resort in Ari Atoll this morning during a photo excursion, reports say. The incident occurred around 10:45 local time, according to Haveeru News.

All 7 people on board, including 4 photographers and 3 crews all escaped without any major injuries, according to Civil Aviation Ministry. The photographers are foreigners whilst the crew are Maldivians nationals.

A similar incident occurred on July 14th last year when a plane sank near Bathala Resort in Ari Atoll after it crashed with a Dhoni on landing.

Maldives is home to the largest sea plane operation in the world, as part of the the logistics to support the tourism industry. Most visitors take a sea plane from Male' International Airport to their destined holiday resort in outer Atolls. The operation and the fleet has an excellent safety standard and incidents of this nature rare occur. Earlier, frequent accidents in helicopters resulted in the seizing of the operation and no helicopters are currently in service in the Maldives.

SriLankan Airlines Pro : June 8-14

2009-05-24T10:04:00.002+02:00

SriLankan Airlines Pro in the Maldives set to deliver paradise to ASP World Qualifying Series

ASP Australasia Office Casuarina NSW : Widely regarded as the most striking event on the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS), the SriLankan Airlines Pro in the Maldives has again drawn a brilliant field of 128 international surfers from 20 nations around the surfing world.

Current ASP World Tour surfer and 2007 SriLankan Airlines Pro Champion Heitor Alves (Brazil) heads the field as the events number one seed with a long list of magnificent surfers in the line up that includes Phil Macdonald (Australia), Sunny Garcia (Hawaii/ASP 2000 World Champion), Aritz Aranburu (Spain), Pat Gudauskas (USA), Masotoshi Ohno (Japan), Travis Logie (South Africa) and current number one rated ASP World Qualifying Series surfer Adam Melling (Australia).

This year’s event also welcomes esteemed international surf brand Ocean and Earth as a supporting sponsor. “We have seen the amazing perfection that the Maldives event has delivered to world surfing over the past five years through the webcast, images and vision and Ocean and Earth are excited to be involved” said Ocean and Earth International Chief Executive Officer, Paul Munten.

“I understand it’s the warmest waters of any ASP tour event in the world and with most surfing nations either just out of winter season or heading into winter it has to be the perfect place to be “ added Munten. Perfection off the reeling Pasta Point reef, set on the glorious Chaaya Island – Dhonveli is what this event has become famous for.

The event runs from the luxurious Sunset Beach Deck Bar and Restaurant, a location that delivers highest quality surfing at close range to the judges, spectators and media making for one of competitive surfing’s truly unique quality experiences.

Sunny Garcia, one of ASP’s most experienced and venerated competitive surfers ever, summed up his first experience in the Maldives last year saying; “This place is amazing with fantastic waves, crystal clear warm waters in a setting that is so perfect for a high level event – I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get here and I’ll certainly be back.”

A quarter finalist last year, Sunny is back in the field for 2009 and in such quality waves will be a certain contender. As an ASP World Qualifying Series Prime Six Star rated location the SriLankan Airlines Pro offers maximum points and prize money and the event is vital to the chances of all competitors surfing not only to win this event but also to qualify for the elite 2010 ASP World Tour.

It’s the perfect midyear venue to the ASP World Qualifying Series season and whoever wins this year’s 2009 SriLankan Airlines Pro will be ideally set up for the years tour.

ASP Australasia as the event managers will ensure a quality live Webcast along with Television News Feeds, class complimentary Digital Images for newspapers and websites, Web highlight packages and a dedicated 30 minute international television program.

SriLankan Airlines Pro 2009 is made possible thanks to the following sponsors: SriLankan Airlines, John Keells Group, Chaaya Island – Dhonveli, Atoll Travel, Atoll Adventures, Ocean & Earth International, Dhiraagu, Maldives Tourism & Promotions Board, ASP Australasia

Flight booking : Malé is not Mahé

2009-05-17T09:39:00.003+02:00

When booking a flight to maldives, don't get mixed up between Malé (MLE) and Malé (SEZ). That's what happened recently to a french surfer due to arrive in Malé on EK flight. When boarding his flight in Dubai, he looked at the route map on TV and was wondering " why do they show the Seychelles map ?" before he understood his blunder. He got mixed up. Fortunately, there was enough time to exit the flight and re-book for Malé.

Vindhu2 hit the reef and sink with surfers

2009-05-11T16:53:00.005+02:00

On 06 May 2009, A safari vessel called ‘Vindhu’ carrying 9 German surfers and an Indian has ran around Farukolhu Fushi (Ex Club Med near Hulhumalé anchoring spot) reef while travelling to Male’ from Kaafu atoll Dhihfushi.

According to Maldives Police Services, at the time of the incident, a total of 13 people were onboard. Police reports that when the incident was reported at around 2015 hours on Tuesday, a police rescue launch was immediately dispatched. The 13 people, including 9 Germans and one Indian was brought to Male’ onboard the rescue vessel.

Police also rescued many of surfing equipment belonging to the tourists on board Vindhu. At the time of the incident, in addition to the German tourists, the vessel owner, one Indian and Bangladeshis were onboard.

Although no causalities were reported, the vessel Vindhu sank just hours after running aground reef. At the time the paper went to press, Maldives Coast Guard has commenced activities to salvage the vessel.

World Longboard Champs at Pasta Point

2009-05-05T09:32:00.005+02:00

The 2009 World Longboard Championships will be finalized in Maldives from October 26 to 31. After a 1st event in Tahara in Japan from July 28 to August 2, the best longboarders in the world will battle in the turquoise waters of the Maldives to win the World Longboard Championship title. They will meet at the legendary Pasta Point in Chaaya Dhonveli.

The two stages of the 2008 circuit took place in Anglet and San Clemente with the championship title going to Bonga Perkins and second place to the young Frenchman Antoine Delpero.

After the LFX Maldives in 2004 leading to the exploration of Central Maldives, Oxbow is putting again the atolls on the longboard map.

www.oxbowpro.com
www.oxboworld.com

March Central atoll report

2009-04-22T09:49:00.012+02:00

March 03-13 : more lefts than rights !

For the 5th Maldivesurf season in the Central atolls, that was the earliest departure ever. Eventually, that 11-day trip on MTC Cruiser (Vaareydhuni refurbished) was completed without a drop of rain and a sight of any other surf safari boat. If the swell remained in the 2-4ft league with light NW winds on the first 8 days, it finally reached a peak of 4-6ft with unreal 20 second period. Between Mikado's left, Malik's and the newly discovered "Haimark" facing Hadigilla, that's the 1st time lefts get predominant on rights for any Central atolls cruise.

Domestic flight connections between Malé and Laamu being not as quick as before, the french dentists group had to spend 6 hours in Malé upon arrival. Some took advantage of that stop to get an uncrowded surf in Malé while others were walking around town. Thus, the trip started at YinYang because YinYang never gets flat even on a 0.7m SSW swell and 9 seconds. There we surfed for 4 days in the 2-3ft range with 2 glassy days. Much is happening around the Hithadoo Pass at the Olhuveli Resort (www.sixsenses.com/S ix-Senses-Latitude-Laamu/index.php) is about to open next October. The good news is that SixSenses headquarters are planning to set-up some surf service with speedboat transfers but the bad news is that it will be 5 star, so expect rates to be upmarket. It brings some wealth to the neighborhood and Maamendhoo island now owns a deep water harbor were Fishing Dhonis can anchor. For those who remember the jammed channel between the 2 islets with zillions of ropes, noisy boat operations, especially from Horizon Fisheries canning ship, that's history ! No more flies too !

As expected, Mikado did not delivered the goods, the light / mid North wind blowing strong enough to bring cross-wash on the rare set waves. However, Finnimas lefts really act as swell magnet and on the best days, it produced long racing 3-4ft walls and at worst, 2ft offshore peaks, that you could ride like a good beachbreak wave. Things are changing here too since following Anni new president election in October 2008, both neighbooring islands with farm and fish factory have been closed. In Thimarafushi, you can navigate on internet through Wi-fi ! Wi-fi is spreading over in the Maldives ! As in April 2008, SE winds did show up so we could surf twice Malik's lefts on the western Pass. Waves breaking really close to shore, we decided to walk through the village and there we met Abdul Majeed. He's a 42 years old local "surfer" riding with a basic scooped wood plank and no fins for years.So we did a little trade for a bodyboard and Fabien left his to Ashraf so the bodyboard community is spreading in Maldives. By the way, the group was made of 3 longboarders, 3 surfers and 2 bodyboarders.

Once we spent some time celebrating TomTom's birthday so we could kill the only bottle of alcohol onboard (wondering what happened to the other bottles) and once Etienne and Cedric caught some decent fish ( 1 good-size batfish, 2 big jobfish, 1 Emperor...), it was high time to get ready for the miracle swell who was forecast since the trip departure. After tough negotiations regarding the location we were gonna milk that swell, we headed for Hadigilla (ex-Bibeacons) for 2 epic days. Not only the rights were cooking, but we had a go at the lefts opposite the pass : first time ever ! Believe me or not but we always overlooked that spot that is often plagued by onshore winds and wrap so much that you can't even see how it breaks. Each rider anchored to one spot (natural footers on the rights and goofies and bodyboarders on the lefts) until everyone had spaghetti arms ! Before we made it back to Malé after 12h cruise mostly at night, another premiere ! A few hours before embarking on 09h30 EK Emirates flight.

For more, click and watch 120 shots slideshow.
www.flickr.com/photos/64357569@N00/sets/72157617091010526/

P.S : check the boyz as well in Malé shot with a GoPro (not bad for a small camera but it requires really good light and Lithium batteries) and Davidoo, Ocean Dancer Boss who caught on SUP !

www.maldivesurf.com

World Stormrider 3 out : 2 maldivian zones

2009-04-14T18:17:00.011+02:00

The 3rd volume of the World Stormrider Guide to be released next May 2009 will contain much promo about Maldives. Out of 80 zones worldwide, 2 will be in the Maldives : Central atolls and Southern atolls (Addu & Fuammullah).

www.lowpressure.co.uk

Central atolls double page spread

Addu double page spread

Maldivesurf double page ad

List of 80 zones throughout the world

Europe

161_Reykjanes peninsula, Iceland
162_Lahinch, County Clare, Ireland
163_Isle of Lewis, outer hebrides, Scotland
164_Lacanau, Gironde, France
165_Viana do Castelo, Minho Douro, Portugal
166_Terceira, Azores Islands
167_Roma, Lazio, Italy
168_Parga, Epirus, Greece
169_Sinop, Turkey, Black Sea
170_Alexandria, Al Diffa, Egypt
171_Bizerte area, Tunisia
172_Dakhla, Western Sahara, Morocco
173_Malta & Gozo

Africa

174_Robertsport, Cape Mount, Liberia
175_Cotonou, Benin & Togo
176_Porto Alegre, São Tomé & Principe
177_Pointe Noire, Kouilou, Congo
178_Skeleton Coast, Namibia
179_East London, Eastern Cape, ZAF
180_Scottsburgh, Kwazulu Natal South Coast, ZAF
181_Malindi, Swahili Coast, Kenya

Indian Islands

182_Anjouan, Comoros
183_Lavanono to Anakao, Madagascar
184_NE Yemen, Hadhramaut & Mahrah
185_Chabahar, Baluchestan, Iran
186_Kovallam, Kerala, SW India
187_Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
188_Hithadhoo, Laamu&Thaa, Maldives
189_Gan, Addu & Fuamullah, Maldives
190_Arugam Bay, SE Sri Lanka

East Asia

191_Ngapali, Rakhine & Ayeyarwaddy, Myanmar
192_Phuket, Thailand
193_Cherating, Pahang & Terengganu, Malaysia
194_Lhok Nga, Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia
195_Hu’u, Central Sumbawa, Indonesia
196_Pantai Marosi, Sumba, Indonesia
197_Sopi, North Maluku, Indonesia
198_Tandag, Surigao del Sur, Mindanao, Philippines
199_Baler, Aurora, Luzon E, Philippines
200_Hong Kong & Guangdong Province, China
201_Hainan, China
202_Chialeshui, Kenting, Taiwan
203_Tanegashima, Ryu-Kyu Islands, Japan
204_Japan Sea, West Coast, Japan
205_Jungmun, Cheju Do, South Korea

Australia

206_Gnaraloo, North West WA, Australia
207_Ulladulla, South Coast NSW, Australia
208_The Entrance, Central Coast NSW, Australia
209_Lord Howe Island, NSW, Australia

Pacific Islands

210_Dunedin, SE Coast SI, New Zealand
211_Ahipara, Northland NI, New Zealand
212_Santa Isabel, Malaita & Makira, Solomon
213_Majuro, Ralik Chain, Marshall Islands
214_Pohnpei, Micronesia
215_Kiritimati & Tabuaeran, Line Islands, Kiribati
216_Waikiki, Oahu South & West shores, Hawaii

North America

217_Sitka, Gulf of Alaska, USA
218_Tofino, Vancouver Island, Canada
219_Humboldt, California, USA
220_Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
221_Great Lakes, USA

Central America & Carribean

222_San Miguel, Northern Baja, Mexico
223_Salina Cruz, East Oaxaca, Mexico
224_Punta Mango, Oriente Salvaje, El Salvador
225_Dominical, South Coast, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
226_Yumuri, Guantanamo, Cuba
227_Yallah’s, Jamaica
228_Cap Haitien, Haiti
229_Antigua & Barbuda, Leeward
230_Mount Irvine, Trinidad & Tobago

South America

231_Caracas, Vargas Coast, Venezuela
232_Pradomar, Caribbean Colombia
233_Nuqui, Pacific Colombia
234_Bermejo, Ancash, Peru
235_Ilo, Moquega, Peru
236_Totorallilo, Atacama_Region 3&4, Chile
237_Buchupureo, BioBio_Region 7&8, Chile
238_La Paloma, Rocha & Maldonado, Uruguay
239_Torres, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
240_Arari, Maranhão, Pororoca, Brazil

SriLankan Airlines Pro

2009-04-10T08:50:00.002+02:00

Dhiraagu signs on as official partner premier WQS event

ASP 6-Star Prime Mens WQS event

Chaaya Island Dhonveli, Maldive Islands
8 - 14 June 2009

The Association of Surfing Professionals Australasia (ASP) and SriLankan Airlines are proud to announce that Dhiraagu, the number one telecom service provider in Maldives, has signed on as an official partner for the 2009 SriLankan Airlines Pro – Maldives.

“We are excited to once again partner with the premier telecom provider in the Maldives and the support provided by Dhiraagu is vital to the success of the SriLankan Airlines Pro – Maldives and ensures that people all around the world will be able to access up-to-date information and watch the event live,” said ASP Australasia Tour Manager Dane Jordan.

Dhiraagu will provide all International roaming capabilities for the event along with vital internet connections to allow daily press and the live video webcast to be broadcast to the world. “We are proud to be associated with such a magnificent sporting event and the live webcast showcases Dhiraagu’s advanced telecommunication networks” said Mr John Murray, Head of Marketing for Dhiraagu.

“Not only does this high quality live webcast highlight the great surf in the Maldives it also presents the magnificent tropical location to hundreds of thousands of people around the world and promotes our island paradise to the world.”

The SriLankan Airlines Pro is a 6 Star PRIME World Qualifying Series event and will run from 8th – 14th June, on Chaaya Island Dhonveli home to the world famous wave of Pasta Point.

The event will attract over 100 of the worlds best surfers including numerous former World Champions and current ASP World Junior Champion Kai Barger (HAW). Competitors will come from 5 different continents and over 15 different countries.

The 2009 SriLankan Airlines Pro is proudly sponsored by SriLankan Airlines, Maldives Tourism and Promotions, Atoll Travel, Dhiraagu, Atoll Adventures and ASP Australasia.

Ibu 1st place in Hikkaduwa contest

2009-03-27T18:23:00.006+01:00

Hussain Areef (Ibu) took first place in the invitational surfing competition held in Sri Lanka to commemorate the their National Day early February.

Eight Maldivian surfers competed in the competition. In addition to Maldivians, altogether 30 surfers from Sri Lanka, India, Japan, South Africa, Italy, France and Australia took part in the competition. A Sri Lankan surfer also managed to secure equal points with Ibu and secure a joint win.

Ibu, 29, who has been surfing for 15 years, said that it was a huge win for him after having represented Maldives on the invitation of the Sri Lankan Surfing Association. Ibu had earlier won first place in a competition held in Thailand.

The Maldivian National team that took part in the competition was sponsored by former Sports Minister Mohamed Waheed-din.

Survival Course for Maldivian surf guides

2009-03-27T17:50:00.007+01:00

In the last week of February 2009, Budget Surfing Maldives has facilitated a 'surf survival course' in association with the Life Saving Association, Maldivian Surfing Association and the youth ministry.

A qualified instructor from New Zealand did this course, specifically geared towards surf guides. It involves first aid, CPR (on land and in water), rescue swimming, on board rescue, getting people in a boat and other stuff that is useful for surf guides in Maldives.

It's pretty much the beach life saver course without the big paddle boards and flag signals, stuff that surfguides won't need or use in Maldives. With an estimated 25-30 surfguides in the country,there is no denying that it requires some qualification to ensure the safety of foreign surfing guests, whether on boats or resorts.

It was a great success with 15 guys from Malé attending the 4 days course, only costing 300 Rfs. (25 USD. All guys got a diploma from the Ministry of Youth. Big thanks to Joel de Zwaan to organize and sponsor that course.

.

www.budgetsurfingmaldives.com

Malé Raalhugandu March,2

2009-03-03T09:03:00.015+01:00

Small 1ft playful evening surf with the Malé locals. Guys having fun on all kinds of wave riding vehicles. Rifu , Fayani, Issey, Bilu , Fuku, Nahu, waveski... Where is Ibu ? Photos : YEP

It’s early afternoon in Malé and the local surfers start to sit near Toscaloosa restaurant, ex “Wipe-out Café” to smoke a cigarette and watch the waves. Unless it’s Friday or the swell really clean, noone bothers to show up in the surf before noon apart from a few expats or occasionnal bodyboarders. There is a reason for that : morning is front lit and looking at the sets when the sun glares in your eyes is a tough job while afternoon gets a beautiful back lighting.

So the 2^nd generation hardcore locals usually gather in front of the spot, chat and take 1 hour or 2 to jump in the surf, usually altogether. The fact that kids get out of school around 3 pm adds a small boost in the lineup right after the 3h30pm prayer. By 06pm prayer that you can clearly hear from the water, the lineup is usually stuffed until dark at 06h30. Since the break aka “Raalhugandu” (literally the surfspot”) or Lonuziyaarai, as the named of the street which gets there, better works at low tide, sometimes the tide shift can influence that usual 3 pm rush.

Before 1992, when the Japanese helped Malé to prevent coastal erosion by dumping more than 3000 Tetrapods around the city, the surfspot was totally epic in the city : sometimes long perfect barrelling rights reeling along the southern point. Now, it’s more of a beachbreak kind of wave with longer and more rights but some vicious barrelling lefts when the swell gets over 6ft. The weird thing is swell starts bending outside and breaks in deep water and would be an ideal longboard wave but noone bothers to paddle out that far !

Ahmed Shihaz aka Mike is one of the main locals who started surfing 10 years ago. This regular footer is 30 now and has been studying 4 years Marine Biology in Malaysia. Since he could not find a job according to his studies, he finally made it as a surfguide in Dhonveli after a few boat trips as surfguide on Atoll Adventures boats. Until 2008, now he's back in town. There he is talking with his good friend Nahu, a real skinny guy with an afro type of hair and a really laid-back attitude that earns him the nickname of “Machado”. If you take a boat trip on Flying Fish, you’d probably have him as a softspoken surfguide, with a very fluid style. Obviously, Issey sits there also, waiting for his right time to get wet. Sometimes, you wonder how a 100,000 people super urban city like Malé does not nurture more surfers !

The first generation surfers like Naseem, Hunda (Abdullah Salim), Booga, Amin Didi or Big Mo have started surfing in the early 80’s in the direct wake of late Tony Hussein. Actually, most of those guys are from Kudafari in Noonu atoll and learn stand up surfing there when Tony Hussein was living on the island. Those early surfers don’t have the time to surf now and the 2^nd generation of surfers of the mid-90’s like the Areef family (Iboo has 5 brothers who surf named Fuku, Ibrey…), Ajey, Amu, Bilu, Faya, Adam, Sharum, Shani…and even a handful of girls. Out of the 100 members of MSA (Maldivian Surfing Association), there are about 80 from Malé who run a contest every year in June to decide the wildcards for the WQ

S. Among the best surfers, there is also Pelé, not taller than 5’3”, the natural footer who works at the Seasport shop, who went to China last year for the contest with Iboo and Fuku. Pelé loves backand barrels and surfs on a 5’4”. Actually, his colleague, Motta, is also a good surfer, but surfs less now that he’s older. The 3^rd generation are about half bodyboarders like Iman, Kunda Aya and when Malé is big, a good share of the lineup are bodyaboarders. Malé can be tricky to surf when big and stormy and can snap boards like chopsticks. A new board costs 800 USD in the shop, bodyboards don’t break… When it’s that big, there are other spots to surf like Rats shallow rights, near the main harbour or Vilingili super shallow rights but surf seems to be so consistent that most of the locals surf Raalhugandu and don’t charter a dhoni to North Malé legendary breaks so often. Some of those guys work as surfguide on the surf safari boats so they’re not surf-starved.

Generally, the ocean is not as wild as in the Pacific for example and Maldivians have been used to stay on land whenever the sea is too rough to navigate for example. Because of more sunshine and the traditionnal lack of food (malnutrition has been endemic up to the 60’s), lack of water, seamen can’t be daredevils like in Hawaii or French Polynesia and the result is that Maldivians are not big chargers, they feel more like skinny stylish surfers than heavy surf challengers.

Don’t get me wrong, Maldivians love surfing but because they’ve been secluded for so many centuries, they also enjoy now the modern world getting to their islands like mobile phones, satellite TV, trendy clothing so they really like to hang around the surf, chatting with friends and having fun at crazy wipe-outs while gazing at the glittering surf.

Crazy fuel prices and Euro / USD in 2008

2009-01-08T17:51:00.004+01:00

Safari boat operating costs are strongly linked to the fuel price and can reach 25% of whole bills for those safari boats cruising a lot with high cruising speed. In 2008, fuel prices have gone crazy. Before the Olympics in China, it seemed that fuel reserves were dying and world fuel price went from 95usd for a barrel to 145usd in early July. It seemed that the overall world rising demand, along the higher needs from India and especially China, made the oil price hit the roof and sparkle some immediate inflation through all goods linked with transport : i.e food, everyday products, almost anything went up.

2008 - World oil price in USD

After the Chinese Olympics, the world financial crisis started to slow down the economy and the trend went so fast over the fall, that late December the fuel went down below 40usd, which is more a 300% decrease in 6 months ! It took a while for the fuel in Malé to decrease. After the last increase in June 2008 where a liter of fuel was 17.75 Rfs, it decreased 10 times over the second half of 2008. According to STO, it went down to 7.4 Rfs on November25.If the fuel price has decreased much, it seems that everyday goods have kept progressing and food is now more expensive in maldives despite the fuel price decrease. How come ?

2008 - Euro / USD rate

Another main factory for the Maldivian tourism economy based on 65% of european tourism is the euro rate. And it's been a year of yo-yo ! The Euro started in 2008 around 1.45 / 1.50 and made a quick ascent in spring, reaching 1.60usd late May and again in mid-august. Then, the financial and economical crisis through the european economy made the euro lose a lot of power against the dollar. It looks like investors have been playing with currencies so they can get the benefits they don't get anymore on companies, which have been losing a lot of their values. The lowest was hit late October and late December at 1.23usd. Since early December, the euro has gained power again and the main feature has been the almost parity of euro and british pound (now it's back to 1 euro = 0.90 pound). On Mid-December, the euro hit a peak at 1.47usd and went back early January in the 1.35 / 1.40 range, which will according to experts, should be the average rate for 2009. But as the same experts point out, fragility will be high and ups and downs will be significantly dramatic. So for those who have to pay their bills in Euros or dollars, you'd better keep an eye on that exchange rate.

www.stomaldives.com/news.html

Fewer surfers in the Maldives in 2009

2008-12-23T10:05:00.003+01:00

According to World Surfaris, It is highly likely in 2009 that there will be fewer surfers in the Maldives than the last few years.

Worldsurfaris have teamed up with Singapore Airlines and all our Maldives operators to offer the best prices for 2009 to help combat the global economic downturn. Click on the banner below for a summary of the newly discounted Air inclusive packages to the Maldives.

www.worldsurfaris.com/cheapmaldives/

Malé 100,000 people, world's densest city.

2008-11-21T18:04:00.004+01:00

With an area of just over 1.77 square Km, Malé has become the densest city in the world ! A quarter of all families in Malé live in one room, a damning report by the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) on Thursday revealed. And up to 68 percent of families in the capital are living in accommodation that fails to meet "adequate housing" criteria due to overcrowding, "easily qualifying these apartments as slums by the United Nations definitions," the report finds.

According to the study, Male's population density has increased by 40 percent between 2000 and 2006.According to the study, Male's population density has increased by 40 percent between 2000 and 2006. With almost a quarter of families sharing one room, "families or groups of families have been forced to cook, eat, sleep and defecate all in the same room."Focus groups had said the average number of persons sharing a room have reached five to six persons per room.

Average rent prices per month of a one bed room apartment has risen from Rf 3000 in 2005 to Rf 6000 per month in 2007, while two bedroom apartments rents have increased from Rf 5000 in 2005 to Rf 9000 in 2007.

www.minivannews.com/news_detail.php?id=5530

Blue Lines : a surf film entirely shot in Maldives

2008-11-21T17:37:00.002+01:00

A surf film entirely shot in the Maldives featuring the best surfers in Portugal.

- David Luis
- Joao Guedes
- Edgar Nozes
- Ruben Gonzalez
- Paulo Almeida
- Miguel Ximenez
- Francisco Rodriguez
- Tiago Oliveira
- Joana Rocha
- Joana Andrade

Releasing in January 2009
infos : ontheedgeproducoes@gmail.com

www.bluelines.com.pt

Sea level rise : escape plan

2008-11-18T18:43:00.004+01:00

The new President of the Maldives says he will begin buying land in other nations as “an insurance policy” in case his nation needs to be evacuated due to rising sea levels from climate change.

Nasheed declared their plans to British newspapers saying a national fund would be established with royalties from the country’s tourist industry to fund land purchases. Sri Lanka and India were obvious targets given their proximity, and the cultural similarities of their people to the 300,000 Maldivians. He also named Australia as a possible destination.

“We can do nothing to stop climate change on our own and so we have to buy land elsewhere. It's an insurance policy for the worst possible outcome,” Nasheed told the Guardian, comparing the concept to Israelis buying land in Palestine. There is much contention among scientists over how much sea levels can be expected to rise this century. The IPCC landmark 2007 report published conservative estimates of a rise of 25 to 58cm by 2100.

In 2005, authorities announced plans to move the 1000-strong population of the Carteret Atolls, in Papua New Guinea, to Bougainville in what were said to be the first climate change evacuations. Their current homes are predicted to become completely submerged by 2015.

www.carbonpositive.net

Sri Lankan Pro 2009 : 8-14 June

2008-11-13T12:18:00.002+01:00

The 4th edition of Dhonveli Pro will happen again in Maldives at Pasta Point mid-June. That will be a World Qualifying Series 6star prime, one of the 11 biggest WQS events of the year. Write down this date in your agendas !

Ismael Miglav aka “Issey”

2008-11-04T17:51:00.006+01:00

26 years old
First surf experience : 16 years ago
Quiver : 4 surfboards from 5’5” to 6’0
Fav move : Air 180° frontside
Fav surfer : Taj Burrow
Fav’ food : Roshi mashuni (grated fish, coconut and onion), orange juice
Best result : 2003 Maldives champion

It seemed to me that every time I’d go surf the break in Malé, Issey would be there busting some real airs on the rights. Being quite a low profile guy like most of his peers, I did not interact much with him apart from a few smiles in the water. I just knew he was considered as the 2nd best surfer after Iboo.

Then, on one of my trips in the Central atolls, I suddenly saw Issey cruising out of the blue on a small fishing boat. He had injured his knee on an air in Malé and had decided to go home in his native village, he had never been back for 20 years ! For years, he’s been working at the Quiksilver shop in Malé, with a small sponsoring deal and taking advantage of his 25 days vacation a year to go elsewhere. Like he travelled to Australia to compete in a Pro Junior at Narrabeen in 2000. He only stayed there 5 days as travelling there was a huge gap in his budget. He went to Sri Lanka to do a contest in Hikkaduwa and also in Phuket, Thailand for a Quiksilver event.

He started surfing in Malé really young at 8years old, riding local bellyboard first, then bodyboard before Tony Hussein gave him his first surfboard. When he was 10, he got knocked out really bad in the head, consequently leaving a deep fin cut. He had a narrow escape and since then, he admits not being super comfortable in big surf. “Malé can be really powerful and shallow on the lefts, I’ve seen some near-death experiences there”.

It took him 12hours by dhoni to go from Malé to his original village and now he finds out that a really wave breaks next to it “ I’ll come back more often” and teach some village kid to improve their surfing skills, still low because noone was there to show the tricks. Now, they have a master to follow. You might meet Issey as a surfguide on Voyages Maldives boat trips.

Mohamed Nasheed (Anni) new President in Maldives after 30 years of Gayoom

2008-10-29T08:41:00.008+01:00

The provisional results of the second round of the presidential elections held in Male’ showed that the MDP Alliance’s candidate, Mohamed Nasheed (Anni), had emerged as the clear winner of the election.

Announcing the provisional results of the runoff elections, the President of the Elections Commission, Mohamed Ibrahim, said that 86.58 percent of those eligible to vote had taken part in the voting. A total of 181,204 people voted in the second round of the first-ever multiparty presidential election held in Maldives.

Incumbent President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom managed to win 82,121 votes; 45.79 percent of the total votes and a slight increase from the percentage he won in the first round of the elections.

Mohamed Nasheed won 54.21% of the votes, a total of 97,222 votes. The total number of valid votes was 179,343 while 1,861 votes were deemed invalid. The total number of people who were eligible to vote in the runoff election was 209,294.

www.haveeru.com.mv/english/?page=details&id=24885

Island Aviations gets a 50-seat plane

2008-09-29T15:14:00.004+02:00

Last 18 September2008, Island Aviation Services’ airline division newly rebranded Maldivian, has procured a new Dash-8 50-seat plane for their services.

The new “Maldivian” airplane took off from Cairns, Australia with four Maldivians onboard on 11 October and arrived in Maldives last Tuesday afternoon. According to the company, the new plane, purchased from Germany’s Aircraft Asset Management for US$110 million, is the only plane in their fleet that is emblazoned with the company’s rebranded “Maldivian” company name logo and art decal.

Once the new plane comes into service, the number of daily flights to Trivandrum, India will be increase to two flights and IAS has also decided to increase the number of daily flights to Sri Lanka. There is now a fleet of 3 prop airplanes along 2 Dash-8 with 26 seats.

www.airports.com.mv

Maldives September Central atolls report

2008-09-26T18:11:00.007+02:00

A group of 8 italian surfers just came back from a trip and send me a report. Some surfers might be interested to know that there are less surfers in fall than summer and spring. It's easy to understand why. Most travelling surfers in Maldives are from Europe, which is increasingly true as the Euro gets stronger against the dollar. And fall in Europe is the best surfing time so a majority of surfers is keen to travel around Europe. Another point is that September in Maldives was ramazan time (10 days ahead next year) and local surfers, who usually surf in the late afternoon, can't really fasten and surf at the same time. That's why local surfers have been away from some lineups like Malé or Muli that month.

Check out this :

Sept13: short session at Malè break, heavy left 1.5 mt,3 locals.
Sept14: Last Stop glassy 1.5/2 mt and few waves at Foxy 1.5 mt sets, tubes shallow inside. (Just 3 other surfers at Foxy))
Sept15 and 4: Muli outside ,1.5 /2 mt perfect and long walls ,light wind, no people.
Sept16 : Hadigilla morning session 1 mt /1.5, almost glassy, few long waves but fun.
Sept17: check Mikado no waves we arrive 16.00 pm at the Machine ,small and a little windy, short session
Sept18 : Machine N wind 1 mt swell getting better
Sept19: Machine 1.5 mt glassy morning and bigger in the afternoon
Sept20 : Machine 1.5 morning and 2.mt sets in the afternoon,big tubes, great session
Sept21 ; Machine perfect morning (four hours session) 1.5 /2mt sets glassy,1,5 in the afternoon
Sept22: Machine last session , glassy 1.5 mt sets.

Rifu was a good guide, giving the right advice on spots and current, the food was very good , the Cook has talent and made cakes too, the crew was ok and the guys on the Dony too.

Just one thing : we had to tell the captain to wake up earlier in the morning because he moved the boat around 7/7.30 to go to the spots,we realised he had many beers those nights cause of ramadam!, but then he was ok, Rifu tolld him to move earlier.

Anyway best trip in Maldives , good waves, no other people around that's the most important thing to keep.

Photos : Giuseppe Arioni - ©Risky Point surf team

Paradise island : the 3rd surf resort in North Malé

2008-07-30T12:16:00.002+02:00

It took about 6 month for Lohifushi to turn into Huduranfushi resort over the summer 2006 and in the meantime, Paradise Island set up a surfing service to the nearest breaks. Of course, you can not surf on Paradise Island but Jails / Sultans / Honky’s only stands a 20 minute dhoni ride way. While Chaaya Dhonveli and Huduranfushi now enforce strict exclusivity access over their home left-handers, Paradise now plays third fiddle in the surf resorts without surf but good service to travel to nearby breaks.

Paradise Island is an idyllic setting for surfers who desire access to 5-star facilities. Paradise Island features both water and beach bungalow accommodation, an international dining experience from the island’s buffet, Italian and Japanese restaurants, a Day Spa set in a lush tropical theme and a large variety of water sports activities, including Jet Ski, parasail and diving.

Line up surf the Maldives offers a Dhoni (20 minutes) service twice daily to famous local breaks such as Jailbreaks, Honky’s, Sultans and Full Moon. These leave at 8am and 2pm each day and return by lunch and sunset respectively. Regular trips to Cokes and Chickens are also arranged as well as to breaks on South Male Atoll. A qualified surf instructor/surf guide accompanies each session and coordinates all surf activities from Paradise Island.

Lineup Maldives aims to become the most competitive provider of quality surf resort living in the North Male Atoll and would welcome new customers. Packages begin from $Aus2999 / 1850 €. Casual rates are also available for surfers who desire greater flexibility. Enquiries can be made at sales@tripconcept.com (world) and Lineup@lineup.com.au (Australia). See also www.surfthemaldives.com or email the surf guide directly on Paradise Island on markbcosta@gmail.com for further information.

Magic Seaweed top forecasts

2008-07-28T15:09:00.008+02:00

For long, Maldives has been blank on the usual global surf forecasts like Surfline (now there is a detailed forecast). Mainly because there is a very low surf population and because there are no main surf destinations nearby (Sri Lanka does not attract enough surfers). For 3 years, British magicseaweed has been releasing a free 7days forecasts with as many informations as you need (including tides) for an increasing number of spots : Beacons, Honky's, Jails, Lohi's, Malé, Pasta Point, Sultans in North Malé and Tiger Stripes in Gaafu Dhaalu atoll. Although one could expect a more widespread selection of spots (especially in South malé), that range of infos is probably the widest you can ever find on the web.

The 7 day forecast with swell, period and winds is really convenient to watch. Maldives has very consistent medium size surf and Central Maldives is never flat from March to November. More than swell& tides, your enemy is the wind although there is alwats a corner of the reefpass with side offshore winds. December-March is sunny & dry (Iruvai season, NE monsoon) while May-October is rather windy and humid (Hulhangu seaosn, SW monsoon), April and November being the transition months. If you refer clean crisp conditions with eays cruising, come between late-march to mid-may but those are the most requested weeks. The SW monsson starts with 3 or more straight days of rainfall and heavy WSW winds then good weather comes back. For months, there will be an alternance of thunderstorms and sunny spells. While skies are often overcast, it’s rarely too windy (average 10-15 knotsd dominant WSW winds) like the trade-winds belt. Even in June-July, the heart of the SW monsoon, there are still a good number of clean days. Rains are mostly heavy showers, don’t leave your boardbags wipe open ! April is the warmest month and heat remains high (30°c) but not desert-like suffocating. Water remains in the 27-30°c so don’t even think of neoprene unless you expect some protection from reef or sun.The rating system makes it fairly comprehensive to know how good the week ahead will be.

Links :http://magicseaweed.com/Pasta-Point-Surf-Report/572/

Other key forecast websites :
Windguru (7 days- Malé) : www.windguru.cz/fr/index.php?sc=4158

Surfline (Chicken's) : http://www.surfline.com/surf-report/chickens-maldives_6154/

Buoyweather (3 days free, 7 days paying ; nearest virtual buoy SW Sri Lanka) : www.buoyweather.com

Stormsurf Indian Ocean : www.stormsurf.com/page2/links/indiwam.shtml

WQS Dhonveli finals : Hawaiians rule !

2008-06-14T12:39:00.011+02:00

Former ASP World Junior champion Kekoa Bacalso (Haw) finally stepped up to the winners plate on the WQS winning in perfect waves at Pasta Point, defeating fellow Dustin Barca (Haw). One of the highlights of the event was the return of ex-world Champion, Sunny Garcia to the qualifying events. Hawaiian Sunny made it to the Round of 16, giving him the 9^th place and 1650 points, definitely a keeper for his 2008 campaign to made it back to the WCT in the 2009 (he’s now ranked 4^th,Sunny is hoping to be the oldest surfer ever to requalify for the WCT at 38.). It was another Hawaiian (Makua Rothman) who beat Sunny Garcia. Five Hawaiian’s came into the final day of 8 surfers for the quarter finals, an unprecedented event in history.

“It was such a pleasure to surf against Sunny who I have so much respect for and to win the heat was great for me today," Rothman said. "The Hawaiians are doing good here because the waves are so good. We know how to surf good waves, powerful full bottom-to-top turns. This is an event that delivers waves so we expect to do well. We’re here as a team and hopefully we can win.”

The quality and consistency of the surf has been amazing all week, starting slowly at 2-3ft, peaking at 5-6ft for the end of the week and being 4-5ft for the finals. With Hawaian measurements ! Most recreational surfers would call those waves at least 2ft, just looking at wave-face. The wind has been low to moderate WSW making slight cross-shores, which blow perfectly offshore on the rights like Sultans or Jailbreaks. Although there has been heats ran at Jails in the past, it’s obviously a logistical nightmare to move judges, production and surfers from Chaaya Dhonveli resort, hosting Pasta Point.

Final : 17.87 Kekoa Bacalso - 14.50 Dustin Barca

Semi-final 1 : 16.83 Kekoa Bacalso - 13.84 Joel Centeio

Semi-final 2 : 15.90 Dustin Barca - 15.17 Leonardo Neves

Best European : Tiago Pires (Portugal, Quarters)

Best Brazilian : Leonardo Neves (Semi)

Best American : Nate Yeomans (Quarters)

Best Australians : Michael Campbell, Phillip MacDonald, Nathan Hedge, Adam Robertson, Drew Courtney (Best of 16, Round 8)

Best South African : Damien Fahrenfort (Best of 48, Round 6)

Best New Zealander : Jay Quinn, Bobby Hansen (Best of 96, Round 5)

Best Japanese : Teppei Tajima (Best of 96, Round 5)

Ranking after 18 events (6 events 5 or 6star prime)

1 Gudauskas,Patrick(USA) 7894

2 Ware,Austin(USA) 7838

3 Bettero,Hizunome(BRA) 7500

4 Garcia,Sunny(HAW) 7215

5 Bacalso,Kekoa(HAW) 7162

6 Weare,David(ZAF) 7113

7 Simpson,Brett(USA) 7075

8 Courtney,Drew(AUS) 6731

9 Yeomans,Nathan(USA) 6706

10 Hedge,Nathan(AUS) 6594

Past 7 WQS winners

2007 Dhonveli Sri Lankan Pro : Heitor ALVES (BRA)

2006 Dhonveli Sri Lankan Pro : Luke MUNRO (AUS)

2005 Lohifushi Deep Blue Oneill : Daniel REDMAN (ZAF)

2004 Lohifushi Deep Blue Oneill : Toby MARTIN (AUS)

2003 Lohifushi Deep Blue Oneill : Trent MUNRO (AUS)

2002 Lohifushi Deep Blue Oneill : Tim CURRAN (USA)

2001 Lohifushi Deep Blue Oneill : Chris WARD (USA)

Hyundai babies take you surfing

2008-06-13T18:17:00.003+02:00

It has nothing to do with Maldives ! But that video is such a sweet way to show that surfing has taken over the new generation and definitely goes mainstream ! Okay, 4WD drive is very eco unfriendly but how could the baby drive on the sand ?

Dhonveli WQS 6 star : Maldivian surfers still need to train harder to beat the Pros

2008-06-10T18:43:00.010+02:00

After competing in the Atoll Trials on June 8th in sloppy 2ft surf, the top 8 Maldivian surfers have entered the main draw of the World Qualifying Series SriLankan Airlines Pro. The ASP 6 Star Prime has begun at Pasta Point and surf conditions are looking at perfect 3-5ft all week.
After Round 1 of 144, all the Maldivian surfers have finished last in their heats. Here are their scores (Best 2 waves. Out of 20). What happened to Mohamed ‘Billu’ Erushaadh ?

Hussein “Iboo” Areef 8.77

Mohamed Irushad 5.40

Ahmed "Mike" Shihaz 5.26

Abdullah "Fuku" Areef 4.53

Ahmed Aznil 3.50

Azly Naseem 3.20

Mauroof Ahmed 2.17

Out of 96 competitors, only 11 competitors could have been beaten by Iboo’s score. Quite a few Hawaians have been scoring pretty low.But there is definetely a lack of good scores in the Maldivian surf community to really hope that a Maldivian surfer could do well (win a few heats) in that contest. Maldives owns some of the best waves in the world but it will take some years before it breeds some of the best surfers.

8.60 Thomas Bady (FRA)

8.24 Chaz Chidester (HAW)

8.07 Luke Cheadle AUS

8.02 Ola Eleogram (HAW)

7.67 Frederic Robin (FRA)

6.92 Jose Maria Cabrera (CNY)

6.84 Marcelo Nunes (BRA)

6.30 Brent Dorrington (AUS)

5.63 Bear Bailey (HAW )

4.44 Mason Ho (HAW)

3.06 Jake Davi (HAW)

Don't miss the live action all week (last day June15). Check the webcast online !

2007 record year for tourism

2008-06-02T13:12:00.004+02:00

With a total of 675,889 tourists, it has been recorded that 2007 had been a record year for tourist arrivals in the Maldives. It was projected that the arrivals would be 8.5% higher than the previous year; however, tourist arrivals exceeded the projection by 3.8% resulting in a 12.3% increase from the previous year.

The monthly arrivals figures are as follows: January (64,570), February (65,224), March (64,491), April (63,171), May (46,602), June (38,457), July (51,025), August (53,168), September (48,468), October (58,706), November (56,797), and December (65,210). With 125,158 tourist arrivals, United Kingdom ranked top among the source markets, followed by Italy with a total of 117,246 tourists.

Third highest ranked was Germany with 72,269 tourists followed by France, Japan and China with a total of 45,301, 41,121 and 35,976 tourists respectively. The total bed nights for the end of 2007 were 5,293,224, and this is an increase of 9.7% than the previous year. The occupancy recorded for resorts/hotels for the year 2007 was 82.9%. An average of 17,511 beds had been operated throughout last year. The average stay of a tourist has increased to 8.5 days for 2007 from 8.0 days in 2006.

Tony Hussein death 2

2008-06-02T11:45:00.005+02:00

According to Dara, surfguide at Chaaya Dhonveli, Tony Husseing went surfing on May,27th at Pasta Point. As dara said 'He walked from shore and as he was gonna duckdive a wave, a longboarder went straight to him and there was some weird interaction. Then, Tony was floating face down. I was shooting from the beach at that moment so I jumped in the water to recover him. He had collapsed and was pronounced dead a few moments afterwards. Although he had some injury on the back of his head, it's been said by the doctor on Dhonveli that he had been striken by a heart attack".
Hinde's story, recounted in detail by Shawn Shamlou in The Surfer's Journal, is a rare tale of "Serendipity" and the ultimate result of surf adventure. "It wasn't until Tony's fourth trip (...) in 1975, that waves outside of Male were found," Shamlou wrote. "Tony headed straight for a spot he had seen on a very onshore day, hoping this time it would be the right season. What he found changed his life forever: not one, but two perfect waves breaking off an uninhabited island, an unreal right/left setup (...) After that first hallmark surf, Tony literally peered out from the surf break and sussed out the closest inhabited landmass-Himmafushi Island. That's the island where Tony would live. He'd found the end of his road."

Tony “Hussein” Hinde died surfing on May,27

2008-05-29T18:58:00.009+02:00

Maldivian surf legend Tony "Hussein" Hinde died surfing on May,27th

Tony “Hussein” Hinde, the father of surfing in the Maldives has passed away, surfing his home spot at Pasta Point on May, 27th. He was found face down near shore and despite CPR, could not get back to life. What can be believed as a drowning happens only 4 months after the tragic death of his wife Zulfa. Which is an immense tragedy for their 2 kids, Ashley and Mishal.

In December 1973, Tony and his friend Mark Scaunlon shipwrecked in the North Malé atoll in Maldives aboard the Whitewings, a beautiful ketch where they were hired as crew. That changed Tony’s life completely. After a few months of refurbishing the boat, they realized how good the surf is. Tony once sent a postcard saying “I am thousand coulours away from home” And home became the Republic of Maldives where he turned muslim to be able to marry Zulfa and become a Maldivian citizen. For 15 years, he managed to keep the secrecy of worldclass surf in the atolls among a few friends. Which made it one of the best kept secret in the whole history of surf discovery. He was forced to launch Atoll Adventures in the mid-80’s and Tari Village because there were a few foreign plans to develop the surf over there. Tony Hussein always remained the landlord over the camp and changed to Dhonveli Beach & Spa in the early 2000.

Here was Tony making calls for organizing the boats around, together with his partner Mark Scaunlon in May 1999.

Local surfers in Malé will have a paddle out ceremony outside Varunulaa Raalhugandu, the main surfspot in the capital to give a tribute to the memory of their surfing father after his funeral. He will be greatly missed by his family, Maldivian surfers and countless surfing guests that he took care personally at Tari Village and Dhonveli (now Chaaya Dhonveli)

Iboo : still the best surfer in Maldives

2008-05-29T10:46:00.005+02:00

Hussein « Iboo » AREEF

Born 23 April 1977, Goofy

In Rasmandhoo (Raa atoll)

Height : 5’6 ; Weight : 52 kg

National titles : 2001, 2002 and 2004

Favorite surfers : Kelly Slater, Rob Machando, Tony "Hussein" Hinde

Because of the booming of deluxe tourism industry, you see a lot of wealthy kids in Malé taking over surfing with brand new boards and expensive surfwear brands. But Hussein Areef, aka Iboo, is not one of them. His father is an humble fisherman, who was working on fishing dhonis in Hasmadhoo on Raa Atoll, on the western side of the country, an unknown place to surf. However, until he was a kid, he would do “Raalhaelhun”, some kind of bodyboard with a wooden plank.

Then, he moved to Malé to study but a close friend named Azlee from Noonu Atoll and Sulja lent him a soft bodyboard and obviously, his parents were not happy at all that he would spend days surfing the local break. They did not want him to become a Vakaruge Kudin : the equivalent divehi word for “beachbum”. After 3 years of stand up surfing Malé, he finally got one day to Honky’s on a good Iruvai(dry season) day. It was a revelation : such a long wave, his legs would be tired halfway through the wave. He managed to keep up with his science studies but in 1997, when Ahmeed Rashid, aka Dara, told him about a job opportuinty at Tari surfcamp, although his parents had asked him to stop surfing, he gave it a try.

It was a tough experience at the beiginning being a shy surfguide among noisy Australians. He’d speak some english but never hung out with foreigners before, it was really hard to act as a surfguide. i.e, explain to the guests how Tari resort works, give them advice on surfing Pasta Point and arrange the dhonis to go to the nearby breaks like Sultan’s, Honky’s at Jailbreaks...Incidently, I happened to lose my board on a fairly big day at Jailbreaks in 99, right after the spot ban had been lifted, and guess who went swimming in the lagoon to pick it up ! Being able to surf Pasta everyday, Iboo quickly became the best surfer in the Maldives and he’s still ranked N”1 even at 31 years of age, despite the grommets in Malé getting better every year.

I met Iboo again in 2002 in Durban where he was leading a small delegation of Maldivian surfers in the World Surfing Games. First time surfing a beachbreak and first time wearing a wetsuit so it was not easy for those guys ! For the last couple of years, after watching some videos, he got into the switch foot thing, willing to go for a change on those perfect peeling waves. Although, he likes to bust airs and reverse tails, still, his favorite move is to get barreled on his forehand as a natural footer. He managed to get a sponsorship from Quiksilver Australia and really plays the athlete game like he quit smoking, which he did fairly heavily for 10 years ! His national ranking entitles him to participate in the Deep Blue O’Neill and now WQS contest at his home spot on Pasta Point.

After 10 years at Dhonveli (now Chaaya Resort) as a surfguide, he’s back in Malé working in the boat operations throughout the country. “Gaafu Dhaalu waves can be heavier than North Malé, there are soft waves too but that’s what I like about Fiyoari or Five Islands, there is real power !” Every year, he gets to travel with his girlfriend in Asia or Australia, wondering then when it will be best time to start a family ! Remember, Iboo has got 6 brothers and sisters and 5 of them surf, so if you go surfing Malé Break, there will be a Areef family member surfing for sure !

WQS 6 Star Pasta Point

2008-05-28T17:33:00.006+02:00

Maldives presents SriLankan Airlines Pro

Men's 6 Star WQS Event #16
Pasta Point Maldives
9 - 15 June 2008Publier le message

Up to 15 of the elite 2008 ASP Top 45 will contest the SriLankan Airlines Pro, including last year’s event winner, Brazilian Heitor Alves, his fellow countryman Adriano de Souza, former World No 2 Australian Mick Campbell and Portugal’s Tiago Pires. Pasta Point has produced outstanding quality surf conditions for the SriLankan Airlines Pro over the previous 2 years and ASP competitors favor the event as one of the best on the ASP WQS Tour.

Pasta Point is located on beautiful newly called Chaaya Island aka Dhonveli Beach & Spa aka Tari Village. The 6 Star Prime Rated SriLankan Airlines Pro is a key event in the ASP World Tour offering bonus in ratings points as one of the limited Prime Rated events conducted around the globe, the SriLankan Airlines Pro is a focus point on the tour for the elite of the ASP WQS tour members.

Follow the SriLankan Airlines Pro live via a superb high quality Webcast beginning 9th June 2008. Live vision, commentary, scores, high quality digital images, daily video highlight clips and press releases updated throughout the event. THE SriLankan Airlines Pro prides itself on being an ASP 6 star Prime Rated event, regarded by many as the World’s Premier ASP World Qualifying Series Events held in possibly the HOTTEST waters on the ASP Tour!

Manaal safari boat destroyed by fire !

2008-05-28T11:40:00.001+02:00

A safari boat anchored off an uninhabited island named Havoddaa in Gaafu Dhaalu atoll was destroyed in a fire Saturday night.

The name of the safari boat involved in the fire was named ‘Manaal’, Police said. There were only five crew members onboard the safari at the time of the incident and they had all managed to escape the burning vessel and go to the nearest inhabited island Dhevvadhoo, Police also said.

According to reports, the four locals and one expatriate man onboard the safari had escaped in the safari’s dinghy and were rescued by a passing boat that had transferred them to Dhevvadhoo.

Police said that the fire was believed to have originated from the engine room.

Surf trip to the Central Atolls, April 2008

2008-05-28T10:22:00.022+02:00

Last 3 years, April had been pretty dry and sunny but 2008, probably plagued by La Nina weather system, has not been usual for the first Central atolls trips of the season. Because April is still diving and high tourist season, boats are pretty busy. Which means less surfers around ! Indeed, we did not encounter any other safari boats in the 13 days out there (not even seaplanes). However, 2 locals showed up quickly for an hour at Hadigilla (a premiere) and Mikado was also flocked on Friday by a handful of locals coming on a speedboat ! Which also means Maha boat is booked by Italian divers. So we took Vindhu-2 along, aka the Aquarium due to its astronomous number of windows.

All 10 guests (mostly british) had arrived the day before for a sundown start from Malé but australian Cdt Geoff was nowhere to be found since he had been sleeping on the beach at the aiport because Hulhule hotel was fully booked ! Again this year, the surf in Malé before the trip was brilliant with uncrowded 6ft throwing barrels.

« Last Stop / Riptides » being too small in South Malé, Vindhu kept on cruising and with cruising speed being more 9 than 8 knots, we managed to hit Muli 1h before dark. At this stage, weather was just splendid. Incoming current was outrageous so the 2-3ft swell was not so much fun in the channel. Next morning was looking inviting but we headed for Hadigilla knowing a SW swell was due. Next 2 days provided flawless 2-4ft surf with glassy conditions making the lineup look like a wave machine in a swimming pool. Then, wind swinged to an uncanny SE which made us surfed a new spot. Although I had surfed those lefts with late Malik Joyeux on the 2004 Oxbow trip, it was some kind of a premiere because 1-2ft lines were wrapping in a very different location of the island reef. Then, west winds started to kick in and it would never leave us until the end of the trip, featured by disputed skies and occasionnal rains, leaving a strong feeling of SW monsoon time (which normally hit mid May).

Mikado did not deliver the goods and remained in the 1-2ft league. Although the onshore lefts opposite the channel would reach 3ft and some good rides could be obtained, we made it to Yin Yang, which was gonna be our base for the last 7 days. The spot lived up to his reputation of being never flat despite small swell supply. A good swell showed up for 2 days and the inside turned into barrel fever on moments. We had a quick check at Machine / Tsunami's but a 15 knots west wind blew out 1ft+ surf. So we came back for more Yin Yang rides. I had told all guests to be careful of the infamous bowl, which produces the most powerful section in the Maldives. I probably did not listen to that advise and I found myself knocked out on the shallow reef. Definitely a mistake to catch the first wave of the set on a small day and my board got swallowed by the suck-up, which resulted in serious head injury. Fair enough, if that had to happen, I had to be first in line ! It did not take long to reach the hospital and get 12 stitches by Indian doctor and nurse. The main change over Yin Yang is that Olhuveli resort nearby will be opened early 2009. Let's wait for the pricing list...

Maldivesurf 4th season continues with Rifu, the new maldivian surfguide (Fayani's brother) who already visited the Central atolls last year with Portuguese surfers on a Turkish Gullet. Trips are booked up until June,7th but despite requests for the some periods in August-Sept, the booking is wide open until October on Maha. Feel free to drop in...

Maldivesurf Blog is born !

2008-05-28T09:42:00.001+02:00

Welcome on the first blog with updated news about surfing in the Maldives ! Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any related info you would like to publish. Stay tuned !

The Maldivesurf team