Hudhuranfushi Report no.5 2012

Hi all,

Richard and Amy our awesome Hudhuranfushi guides have sent us through the latest. Its the usual fare it seems, good times and better swell in the tropical playground paradise which is the Maldives.

Enjoy,

Cheers WS

From Richard himself.

It’s been almost a month since my last report from Hudhuran Fushi, the ‘Island of White Gold” in the Maldives. It’s now mid-season and I feel like we’ve been going non-stop, with hardly a pause for breath.

Over the last month we have had two really good swells and three or four good swells. There have been waves every day for four weeks. Some sessions have been “pinch me” perfect, others just OK.  Some days it has been a bit busy, other days we’ve surfed perfect 6ft waves with only the surfers from our boat in the water. Some days have been sheet glass, while the next it’s been windy. Some nights have been award winning debauchery ‘till dawn, the next everyone’s in bed with a cup of tea and a book by 8:30PM…What I’m getting at is that there’s no discernable pattern this season…apart from the seemingly endless supply of good fun waves. Being peak season there have been a lot of surfers in the Maldives, but it seems to be backing off now. Thing is, even when it is crowded you can still get plenty of waves out here. The waves are long with many different sections, so if one section gets crowded you just have to paddle further up, or down, the point to find an un-crowded section. But remember that if you’re paddling up the point, past the pack, you should paddle way past the waiting surfers. If you just paddle five meters past them and go the next wave you’ve just ‘snaked’ the guy who was next in line for that wave and he’s not going to be happy and has every right to ‘fade’ you but if you paddle way up the point then it’s all yours….If you really want to be respectful and avoid any bad feelings, as you paddle past the pack you can tell the guy who is next in line that the next wave is his – you’re just going up the point to the next section. This will re-assure him that you’re not trying to jump the que and start a paddle battle further and further up the point. Generally my advice when faced with a crowd is to do the opposite of the pack – ie, if the pack is on the main take off zone, sit wide and wait for the big wide sets, or sit down the point and wait for the classic “take off, call off, fall off”…wave goes un-ridden scenario that we see over and over out here…or sit way up the point as discussed earlier… You don’t have to join the hustle. Surf smart and you’ll find waves every session.

I’m writing this after a great lunch-time session at Lohi’s. There were four of us in the water and the sets were relentless! What crowds!?!

See you soon,

Rich.