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| The author at Inside Farms / Mikado |
The end of shoulder season doesn't mean the end of waves in the Central Atolls of the Maldives. It just means less crowding and humbler waves - save for the occasional freak swell that sneaks in. Less frequented than the North Male atolls, we (as in, the Surf Tribe on the good ship Madivaru) often found ourselves to be the only charter boat at a break.
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| Madivaru and her sidekicks |
Almost every island has its own special blend of waves: Kanimeedhoo has Inside and Outside Farms; Muli has Mushrooms and F1; Kudahuvadhoo has Mauroofs. There were a max of 15 surfers at a break. Though it was windier this time of year than when I went to the Southern and Northern atolls in March and April, it made for a more pleasant air temp on the boat. Being right on the equator, Maldives is sweltering hot without some wind!
Surf Spots
Below are the spots I surfed, though there are many other spots in the Central Atolls. All are reef breaks and require a boat to access, unless you live on Muli and goose step through the reef. Mid to high tides were the safest times to go out. We saw chest to head high waves for the most part. I only remember three days when we had anything overhead.
Inside Farms (a.k.a. Inside Mikado)
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| Paddling out from the deserted island of Kanimeedhoo |
This was my favorite spot of the whole trip and it literally had my name on it (Mikado is the nickname given to me by my sister). When I get my own boat again, I want to anchor here and live next to the break until I run out of provisions. Located off an uninhabited island fringed with a lively reef, this right-hander gets visited by liveaboard surf charter boats (who coordinate with each other so only one of them is there at a time), fishing charters, and a small dhoni from Thimarafushi when its local break, Finnimas, is not working.
The two breaks of Inside Farms and Outside Farms form a rectangular box around the reef. At the time, Outside Farms was just a bunch of closeouts onto shallow reef. No one bothered to surf it.
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| The rectangle of breaks at Mikado |
The takeoff zone at Inside Farms is actually not at the peak, it's on the shoulder. Take off at the peak and you'll be staring at dry reef and a very brief ride. Incoming waves look mellow until they jack up suddenly then peel cleanly down the line. Paddling into one feels like that Interval setting on the treadmill, where you paddle slowly at walking pace then suddenly you're sprinting. The reef deepens again on the inside, where it's safe to kick out and paddle to the channel. Most waves were suitable for all levels, longboard or shortboard, and the biggest waves tended to barrel.
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| Bird's eye view of Inside Farms |
The currents pull you towards the peak - so don't sweat the paddle. I inadvertently did two sessions when I paddled back to the boat after one session but stayed in the warm water and napped on my board until I woke up to the sound of crashing waves: the current had swirled me around the boat and pulled me back to the peak!
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| The author napping on a giant waterbed |
Seeing only 2 other people out surfing, I figured I might as well go for a second session since I'm there. The two surfers soon left and I had the break all to myself for a glorious hour or so in the sun and turquoise water. I did laps around the break, grabbing anything head high or overhead and surfing until my arms were noodles. It was one of the best sessions of my life, forever burned into memory with sparkly gold glitter.
Muli - F1
So named for the speed you need to get down the line and kick out before crashing onto eerily shallow reef, F1 has two peaks that form when the swell wraps around the reef surrounding the island of Muli. Both are racy right-handers. The one farther inside is longer and terminates at a nice, deep channel. The other one closes out fast into knee-high water unless you generate enough speed to get past the section or barrel and pop out into the second peak.
Muli - Mushrooms
Mushroom is an exposed right-hander that wraps around the northeast end of Muli. Strong winds can turn this into unsatisfying mush. Positioning is key here. Take off too deep, and you get met with a closeout section that pushes straight towards the rocky beach. But just a little farther down the shoulder, you'll get a long, wondrous ride that re-forms over and over again until it gently drops you off in the channel where the ocean enters the atoll.
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| The long wall at Muli Mushrooms |
Mauroofs (a.k.a. Kasabu)
With planes flying overhead from the airport on Kudahuvadhoo, this peeling right-hander on the outer reef delivered head high and overhead beauties that curve around into a deep channel. Never go straight. The reef straight ahead is only ankle deep and pokes out above the water. There's a pole in the middle of the reef to serve as a warning. Take off east of the pole, or away from the airport. The closer you are to the airport, the more the wave gets squeezed up against dry reef.
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| The author tried to surf on a pink donut at Muli F1 |
Mauroofs got crowded with "refugees" from the 5-star Niyama resort when their private break, Vodi, stopped serving them 5-star waves. The desperate resort guests coughed up $125 per person to take a boat out to Mauroofs, where they dropped in on everyone like the rich, entitled kooks they are. Maybe they should go on a liveaboard charter boat instead and score like Surf Tribe did.
Food & Lodging
I was on a group surf trip with Surf Tribe and lived on a charter boat called the Madivaru, a 24m motor yacht with 6 air-conditioned cabins (2 people each, unless you pay extra to have a whole cabin to yourself) and ensuite bathrooms equipped with hot water showers. Wifi reaches the cabins as well as the common areas. Madivaru comes outfitted with a spiffy water slide that attaches to the second story. Accompanying the mother ship are a dinghy and a dhoni to transport guests to and from the breaks.
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| Chilling in the ship's saloon |
The poor dhoni seemed to be cursed. We ran aground on a coral bommie once and had to abandon ship to the dinghy. On the last day of our trip, the dhoni experienced some mechanical problems with the fuel line, so we sat in the water and waited for another rescue by dinghy. Fortunately, the mechanic was able to sort it out just before we were all due to check out.
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| The little dhoni that could (sometimes) |
The Sri Lankan chef onboard makes delicious western and asian meals with plenty of protein and veggies at every meal. The crew caught fish almost every day, guaranteeing fresh seafood during the trip. I was amazed at the desserts the chef could whip up with limited resources. He even baked a cake for a guest's birthday celebration. Though the crew made resupply runs when there was an inhabited island nearby, we ran out of bananas like we were in east Berlin during the Cold War.
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| Catch of the day |
Near the end of the trip, the Madivaru crew sets up a luscious feast on a deserted island near Kudahuvadhoo. While the crew prepares the food and venue, guests were free to surf Mauroof or explore the island. Underwater, the reef was teeming with coral and wildlife. On land, the island was chock full of treasures to the playful inner child: a tree branch that could double as a baseball bat, golf club, or tennis racket; desiccated flip flops and tree nuts for a game of smashball; shrubbery for imaginative costumes. I entertained myself for hours turning the island into a golf course and baseball field.
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| The author going native |
Vibes
Surf Tribe ran the trip so smoothly, I would definitely go on a trip with them again if I could. The two trip leaders handled all the guests' concerns with equanimity, even when one guest realized early on that she could not live on a boat due to seasickness. The crew's solution was to shuttle her to/from various land accommodations during the entirety of the boat trip.
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| Playground at Kudahuvadhoo |
Thankfully, the surfing skill levels in the group were in a pretty tight range between advanced beginner to intermediate, so we didn't have to split surfing sessions between vastly different abilities like my trip to the southern atolls did.
I got lucky to have such a pleasant group of guests and crew to surf with on this trip. I can't say that about all the group surf trips I've been on. This group gelled really well. Though most guests were german-speaking (the others were italian), they took care to speak english whenever there were non-german speakers present. There were three couples, a few solo travelers, and a father and son duo. Everyone was so supportive and friendly in and out of the water. Some of us stayed on in the Maldives after the boat trip and hung out together on Himmafushi.
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| BBQ on a deserted island |
Conclusion
The waves, the scenery, the food, the people - the whole experience was just so fun and relaxing that I only wish the trip were longer. The waves were fun-sized most of the time - there were only a couple days where I wished I had a longboard. I'd love to come back to the Central Atolls when the waves have more oomph, like what the Surf Tribe trip 2 weeks prior to ours had. I would especially revisit the Inside Farms break then check out the spots I didn't get to surf.
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| Coconut, anyone? |
Reviewed by beachplease
on
April 15, 2025
Rating:
