World Class Waves Continue To Roll Into The Maldives
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Words & Photos by Richard Kotch
Hudhuranfushi In June
Wow, it’s July already! June flew by with a whirlwind of great swells and good times! It really feels that the Hudhuranfushi Surf season is now in full swing. The June started with a week of fun 2-4ft SE swell that gave us mid sized waves on all the reefs in the area. Nothing epic, but really consistent and a good time was had by all, whatever craft was being ridden, especially the short, fat, fun and ‘floaty’ brigade!
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Things improved dramatically on the 7th when we awoke to a stronger long period S/SE swell running down the point at Lohis. The West wind was blowing up the face slightly too strong to call Lohis perfect, but there were some really good moments and the guests seemed to enjoy paddling into some bigger waves and the occasional barrel. Later that morning we pulled up at Sultans to see one of the better waves of the season barreling un-ridden through the inside with a very inexperienced crowd watching from the shoulder. Our boat was mostly Hudhuranfushi regulars, so they were off the boat and straight into it well before we had tied up. All reported that that one session made their trip worthwhile.
The next few days are now a blur of really world-class waves. I think that Jails and Sultans were the pick of the spots but Lohis and Cokes both had incredible lunchtime sessions when the wind veered NW opening up the barrel show! Lohis Surf Guide Hood “Hoobs” Ahmed rode one of the waves of the season – a deep Lohis drainer that had doubled in size by the time it hit the notorious “Dump Trucks” end section! Somehow he squeezed out the doggy door to the cheers from the deck and straightened out to the beach. Later that afternoon Sultans was as good as it gets – a big easy drop into a perfect tube section. Guys who usually make the trek to Indo, but had decided to try the Maldives with their girl instead of Indo with the boys, were calling it some of the best waves of their lives so yes, it was really quite special. The swell stayed around for the best part of a week before fading off for another week of small but very fun surf, Lohis was still really consistent with plenty of waves in the chest to head high range.
The next really good swell hit on the 24th it started off straight south meaning that Cokes was two or three times the size of Jails and Jails was twice the size of the waves in South Male! I like South swells because they make it easier to satisfy a large range of guests abilities – while one of our boats was enjoying good, overhead barrels at Cokes and Lohis, we had another boat down at Jails enjoying the gently peeling 2-3ft walls.
SEE ALSO: It's Close To Perfect In The Maldives Right Now
By the 26th the swell had swung more East but the period had shortened, Lohis was really fun in the peaky conditions with some nice little barrel sections and rippable walls… Once again the Sultans end bowl had some legitimate barrels, Jails had some of the longest waves our guests had ever seen, and the month wound down with more calls of ‘the best surf trip of my life” from our Hudhuranfushi guests sitting on the Lohis deck beers in hand, watching the Maldivian sun slip beneath the waves!
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