I am pleased to report that on the 15th July, the Maldives reopened it’s doors to foreign tourists again.
For a country who relies on tourism for around 30% of its GDP, it has been ravaged by the impact of Corona Virus since the end of March.
But, after nearly 4 months and very low transmission of the virus, the government opened its doors again to whoever was able to travel.
….Enter stage right, Antony ‘YEP’ Colas.
YEP, the ever optimistic surfer out of France had been waiting in the wings for a grand reopening! With 7 surfers on standby ready to pull the trigger whenever they had the chance.
10 days after getting the announcement from the Maldivian government, Yep and his buddies were on a plane and heading towards uncrowded waves in the Male Atolls for 14 days of pure surfing joy.
If you have ever been to the Maldives, especially in July. You would know that it can be one of the best times for waves, but also one of the busiest with surfers from all over the world. A session at Sultans can see up to 50 in the water! Yep and the boys surfed it all to themselves and were able to move from surf break to break with not a care in the world.
“The site of Cokes, 6ft glassy and offshore with 1 boat in the channel was a dream come true. I haven’t seen it like this since the early 2000’s when I started coming here” – Yep said.
A dream that would come true for more surfers out of Europe and the United States over the last few weeks and that will continue into the 2020 season (what’s left of it).
“I’m so glad we got this trip together. It was so worth it! The Corona Virus checks at the airport were a breeze and took about an hour for our whole group to get checked and cleared. We were on the Maavahi an hour later, and surfing that afternoon.
The Virus checks were easy, the waves were pumping, the company was good and so was the food. If you can get over there, do it! “