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| Blue skies, rainbows, and uncrowded lineups at Five Islands |
Glorious waves for inglorious bastards! Fully exposed to the swells spat out by the Roaring Forties, the southern atolls of Maldives gets wonderful waves in the small window of February-April or September-November before devolving into wind chop. Less popular than the Northern and Central atolls due to its remoteness (you need to take a domestic flight from Malé to get down here), it's less crowded but no less quality. You still get the clean, turquoise water, easy takeoffs, crisp ridges, thin lips (except at Beacons), and long rides of its northern cousins (which I wrote about in an earlier post).
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| Rows of reef |
I went on a charter boat trip in late March - early April 2024 with nine Australians, mostly from the Gold Coast, so this review is written in the context of conditions at the time. There were 3 charter boats in the area but they coordinated with each other to avoid being at the same break at the same time.
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| Me and the Aussies |
Hazards
The southern atolls are prime fishing grounds (recreational and commercial), which attracts sharks but they generally don't bother humans. We spotted a shiver of tiger sharks and caught a 6-foot long lemon shark off the back of the boat (we released it). We also caught dinner every day.
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| Russell caught a lemon shark off a deserted island |
The reef is a bit sharper than the ones up north but not razor-sharp like in the Mentawais. I somehow left unscathed despite going over the falls and getting pounded into the reef. Others on the boat did not fare so well. One guy broke his ribs. Another broke their board. And scratches or reef kisses on a few others. The reef is dead at the surf spots - a graveyard of staghorn coral pieces, but you can find lots of colorful, live reef at the snorkeling spots.
There are fewer sea urchins here than up in the North Male atoll. No one got spiked and I didn't actually see any sea urchins myself.
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| Dead reef |
Heat stroke can be a risk here. The southern atoll lies along the equator. We had many glassy days but that lack of wind also meant it was really freakin' hot. During the daytime, I had to stay either in the water or inside my air-conditioned room.
Surf Spots
This area lights up with southwest or southeast swells. As all the spots break on reef, mid to high tide is the best time to go unless you're at a neap tide (then it doesn't really matter when you go, as there's not much difference between low tide and high tide). Recommended skill level would be low intermediate at a minimum - there are no beach breaks for beginners here. You should be able to catch waves on your own and turn left and right instead of going straight into the shallow reef on the inside. Below are the breaks we surfed on our trip, except for the one nameless spot I cannot write about here.
Tiger Stripes
My favorite break in the southern atolls and where Hoobs, my surf guide and Maldives' national surf champion, learned to surf. Lohis surf guide, Smiley, also grew up here and is building a lodge for traveling surfers next to his home. Tiger Stripes is a reef break with multiple peaks serving juicy lefts and rights off the coast of Gan, an inhabited island with watchtowers and a pier with stairs to get to the break. The left at the end of the reef is the longest and wraps around to a shallow reef. From the air, the reef looks like tiger stripes, hence the name. This and Love Charms are probably the most crowded breaks in the south, but by "crowds" I mean there was one other boat at the break instead of just ours... so 10 surfers in the water.
Antiques
On the uninhabited island across the channel from Gan is a mixed sand/reef bottom break called Antiques. It's not as popular as Tiger Stripes. I had it to myself when I went. It tends to be smaller than Tiger Stripes but the right can be pretty long if you dodge all the coral bommies before the closeout at the shallow reef on the end of the island. The left is mellower as it has more sand than reef - but still watch out for the occasional bommies. They're like big lumps of coral standing alone in the middle of the water. Their tops are just a foot or two below the surface so you can trip over them or get your leash caught (which happened to me).
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| Itty bitty but empty lineups at Antiques |
Five Islands
Good potential for getting tubed here. It breaks fast along a shallow reef and offers long right-hander walls. You need lots of speed to get past all the sections. Otherwise, it's a yucky paddle out where I often found myself standing back on the reef in knee-high water or less. It's not a very forgiving wave. You miss the peak, you don't get enough speed to get going down the line. My gnarliest wipeout was here. I got sucked up and around a barrel then hit the reef with my back. The other surfers who saw me said it was the most terrifying wipeout of the trip but somehow I came out okay, not even a scratch. The angels were watching me that day.
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| Author at Five Islands |
Blue Bowls
Similar to Five Islands but not as hollow or heavy. It's a long right that breaks on a reef and wraps around an island. I remember the currents were strong and wishing I had a bigger board. I've never had to paddle so hard to catch an incoming wave. They get really tall but also very fat. Most people in my group were frustrated and exhausted by the end of the session. It's more protected from the wind but also a more popular stop for charter boats. The inside break at the tail end can be mellow enough for longboarders and beginners.
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| Blue Bowls at low tide |
Love Charms
Left-hander with two peaks in smaller swells, one peak in bigger swells. Because it has the easiest takeoff, not very steep, and breaks in deeper water, it's one of the friendliest breaks in the southern atolls, which also makes it the most crowded. We shared the waves with another boatload of surfers bringing the grand total to 15-20.
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| Charming wave at Love Charms |
Beacons
Low crowd factor, high fear factor. I did not surf this wave but watched our most competent or confident surfers from the sidelines. It was a double overhead day with beautiful barrels wrapping to the right along a very shallow reef. People broke or lost their boards. There was another boat here but they only added 3 surfers to the lineup and they were all Hawaiian shredders wishing for even bigger waves but had to make do with the few hundred barrels they got that day. Very competent and supportive vibe in the water.
The most advanced surfer on my boat said it was the wave they had been waiting their whole life for. He got some time in the green room, standing up straight. The others from my boat... well, they got thrashed. Boards broken or lost. Reef cuts for all. They all confessed to being scared shitless, especially when they saw dry reef below the takeoff zone.
Food & Lodging
I lived on the Maavahi charter boat on a trip organized by World Surfaris. Maavahi is a large motorboat with wooden interiors. It suffered a few mechanical problems during our trip though that affected the engine, batteries, and water supply and forced us to dock for repairs, which influenced our itinerary.
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| Maavahi roof |
Every cabin is double occupancy (unless you pay extra for a private room) and has air conditioning, and ensuite bathroom. The beds are bunk style - one person has to step on the other person's bed to get to their own bed. My roommate, thankfully, was sober and only stepped on my leg once. The saloon upstairs has a large dining table and some couches to laze on. Outside, you have three levels of decks, two of which are shaded, to hang out on.
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| Maavahi level 2 |
There is wifi onboard but I recommend getting your own SIM card if you plan on working. Every inhabited island has a cell tower so you can get mobile service at every anchorage. As the south is less developed, I found the internet and mobile data were slower and spottier than in the Northern and Central atolls.
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| Maavahi stern |
Hoobs, the surf guide, made sure to distributing the fun equally so that everyone got to surf at waves appropriate for their level (we were a mixed bunch - from the beginner who won her boat trip at a trivia night to the advanced surfer who taught at surf camps in Latin America). Ali, the photographer, will capture your rides with a long zoom lens and sometimes in-water. You can purchase the photos and videos at the end of the trip.
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| Maavahi saloon |
The Sri Lankan chef onboard made all sorts of yummy food (italian, sri lankan, maldivian) three times a day. Every dinner had fresh fish (the ones we caught) and veggies and ended with dessert to make sure surfers had a well-balanced diet.
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| Watching sunset from the stern |
Conclusion
I love Maldives in general and the Southern atolls did not disappoint. The wave quality and lack of crowds has me itching for more time there. I've already booked a return to Gan to make Tiger Stripes my "home break" while I'm there. It remains to be seen how much I'll like living on a local island there. As it is more remote and less developed than the North Male atoll, I may not have as much variety and quality of food nor access to other breaks as I did on the boat. But so far, I can recommend taking a liveaboard surf boat trip to the Southern Atolls.
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| Beach bonfire on a deserted island |
Reviewed by beachplease
on
November 28, 2024
Rating:
