Maldives surfing

Hey all- Here is the skinny on the Maldives (from my own eyes).

Location- Indian Ocean. The maldives are a collection of atolls south of India and Sri Lanka. Most of the atolls are uninhabited. Furthermore-because of the idyllic tropical conditions most of the inhabited islands are now private resorts and many of the world's best hotels are now located in the Maldives making a land stay very expensive.

Surfing- there are many world class surf spots here all accessible ONLY by boat unless you are staying at pasta point or lohifushi (both resorts have perfect lefts peeling on them). Conditions in summer are consistenly head high+ but seldom gets bigger than 12 feet. I spent two weeks there this summer and the biggest it got was 8-10 feet. I later spoke to a couple of locals who served as my guides who confirmed that it seldom gets Bali big. There are three main surfing locations: North Male atoll, South Male atoll, and outer atolls.
I surfed only North Male atoll which is the most accessible and it has several point breaks both left and right. Honkey's (see pictures I posted last month) is a real blast. The wave has a relatively easy takeoff and it builds as it wraps around a full 90% from the start. Great wave for building your skill as it has a good wall section and a couple of thin tube sections. Just 50 meters north and you have Sultans which is basically the same wave but a right and it does not wrap around so much. Anyhow there are 5 world class lefts and rights scattered in the North male atoll all within a 30 minute boat ride. Here is the catch- since staying at any of these islands is prohibitely expensive most sufers end up staying on a surf charter and the way they work is that they will drop everyone off at a spot depending on the tide etc. Oftentimes these boat guides communicate with each other and end up working the same spot so it can get crowded. I was very fortunate as I was there for my honeymoon so I was able to stay in one of the islands and had basically a small "whaler" type boat that we took to the breaks and thus was able to surf empty lineups a couple of times.
The north Male atoll breaks are better known and because they are not too diffiuclt (deep enough reefs, and not too heavy) most boats work this area. However the real stuff happens in the outer atolls where they are still discovering surf spots. The ideal thing is to charter a boat with several friends and hence you can pick where and when to go while you are in the Maldives. Wave hunters seems to have a good handle on this so if you are interested they are probably a good place to start.

Localism- none at all. Surfing is relatively new to the area so the Maldivians are just starting to surf. In addition many of the charters cater to European surfers so you get the idea. Plenty of waves and since most of them are points all you have to do is be at the right spot... Maldivians are pretty cool people. Muslims so very reserved and obviously no drinking etc but pretty laid back and friendly.

Season- Indian ocean so basically same swell energy that hits Bali first but much more groomed as it travels much farther. Summer months are best but April can also be good.

Hope this helped.
Xavi