Report by Richard Kotch/World Surfaris

There’s really not much that I can say about September that I didn’t say in August - it was a very good month. The first week set the pace. It started with the Maldivian staple: 2-4ft of clean S/SE swell and light off-shores that enabled us to surf all the waves in the area.

It then ramped up from the 5th onwards as a long period South swell lit up the region. It was a diffused pulse from the same swell that was delivering 8-10ft bombs to the exposed reefs of Indo. The swell stretched almost the entire width of the Indian Ocean. By the time it reached us it was a groomed 4-6ft and pretty much as good as it gets out here. Our guests here at Hudhuranfushi were spoilt for choice. To the North Cokes was pumping, I mean absolutely going off…there were legit stand up barrels going down, but for once there was a solid crew of guys on it. Across the channel Chickens had long left leg burners that were all about finding the highline and then gunning it into the make or break barrel section! To the South of Hudhuranfushi, Sultans was a big easy takeoff on the outside peak followed by a wrapping barrel on the inside section that some guests found themselves deep inside without even trying but the majority of our guests seemed to have the most fun down at Jails. There the swell was slightly smaller but the waves were breaking perfectly all the way from the outside takeoff all the way to the channel. 

As usual, over the next week our guests surfed themselves to the point of exhaustion. Day after day of surf/eat/surf/eat/sleep/surf/eat/sleep had guests asking when the swell was going to stop so that they could have a rest! The bar staff here tell me they can gauge how good the waves are by the number of surfers who are staying up partying late at night. Needless to say for the first couple weeks of September it was very quiet in the bar.

Things slowed briefly through the middle of the month, though there was still plenty of swell every single day. The only issue was the wind that briefly limited our boat trips to either Jails or Sultans, though it didn’t hang around for long though so I’ve got to keep on talking about perfect waves!

From the 22nd onwards it was all go again. The days are a blur of good sessions up at Cokes before jumping off the boat at Lohis for the uncrowded lunchtime session with Amy and the Volcom crew, who were here filming for a couple weeks and were blown away by how much swell there was. One of their cameramen was actually overheard saying that “they didn’t come here for barrel shots” and that they “hoped the swell dropped off so that they could shoot airs”.

The swell finally dropped early in October, but only in a relative sense. It’s still head high, glassy and really quite idyllic as I type. We have all become rather blasé about perfect waves day after day! The biggest news to come out of October is the decision by the island management and World Surfaris, in the interest of sustainable surf tourism, to limit the number of surfers staying here on the island to thirty-five at any time. In addition the number of Dhonis available for trips to other waves has been increased, so all in all it’s been a good end to our season and we’re all looking forward to next year….oh and there’s more swell on the way for later this week too!

Good times in paradise….

-Richard Kotch