Thanks for posting this report Stu.
Now I am depressed beyond imagination.

Yours truly,
RR

Having just got back from there last week I can tell you that is a real shame. Those 2 breaks are awesome.

On a side note there is talk that Chickens will follow the same path very shortly.....or so our surf guide told us.

This is the same company that owns Pasta Point isn't it? And Telo Island lodge in North Sumatra? Reckon I met one of the owners once in PNG but his name escapes me....Andrew Shield?

Right you are Stu....it was Shane Peel and not Andrew Shield I met. Was 4 years ago now so the memory is a bit hazy. Cheers

Pay to play! Gee - a concept worth remembering! Kandui X's 3 cost me a pretty penny. Leave tomorrow - Fri. for a month.
It's getting to the point that individual waves will have a pricetag on them. Maybe that will be the wave of the future. Being here in Bali presently, makes me realize the value of uncrowded waves.

Could the definition of "Coastal Land and Coastal Stewardship" related to these small low lying islands across the world be part of the problem.

I found this definition of Coastal Stewardship here for the Maldives:
"Given that it is composed of small low lying coral islands, the concept of ‘coast’ in the Maldives includes the total land area of each island, its surrounding lagoon extending over the reef flat to the outer edge of its reef." http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/papers2/domp11.htm

Seeing as most laws regarding coastal land ownership around the world only extend to the high-water mark, could this revised definition for the Maldives be one of the problems in companies or individuals owning waves?

Say if the definition was changed to only the high-water mark in the Maldives, then no one can actually own a part of reef or wave.

I guess money still talks though..

What are the locals are whinging about? They get two sessions a month - special sessions too! - at the breaks. This is more than adequate for the indigenous people of a sovereign nation to surf their own waves.

On the other hand there is some pretty solid information coming out that the exclusive access to Occy's Left on Sumba is breaking down and that the local Kepala is opening his own homestay for surfers. This is one of the best lefts in Indonesia and has been controlled by a rich American for over a decade. Equally interesting are the stories circulating about the source of his wealth which suggest........ well I'll leave that to your imagination.

But if we don't go down this path of granting exclusive rights to each of the best waves, surely those breaks will soon be overrun with surfers to the point where no one can enjoy themselves (if they aren't already)?? look at the example of tavarua - it would have been an (expensive) dream to stay there while they had exclusive access to cloudbreak and restaurants, now every man and his dog can surf there and it's been renamed "crowd break" for good reason.

I have never travelled for surf and probably never will. If i was going to spend thousands of dollars on a surf trip i would feel ripped off if i din't score better waves than what are available locally with few or no other surfers around. The only way that is likely to happen would be to travel somewhere cold, windy and sharky - like the south oz desert, tasmania or internationally somewhere like the south island of new zealand.

What about the locals scoopmaster - bit rough you are not allowed to surf your own waves.....

At this stage this is all rumours and nothing 100% concrete. I have been involved in lengthy discussions with local Maldivian surfers and businessmen over this and there is still some confusion
This is the latest thread from discussion:
"Hey Shaun, the story of building a resort seems to be fading as the MNDF corporate now decided to sell the island. not confirmed but reports saying an American group is to invest to buy the island but no details are yet given for how many years or any pricing. It's such a shame they planned to destroy the surfing industry in the Maldives." see also attached a report on this http://www.scribd.com/doc/102787735/Surfers-Report-on-Thamburudhoo
******************
No-One wants to see this happen and we will be lobbying to the President to have the house reef excluded from any future and current resort leases.

While the companies who negotiate exclusive acccess and get it are the problem so are the surfers who hand over $ to these companies for the exclusive access. Their complicity and acquiescence = consent to this modus operandi and is also damning. They also should be made aware that their consumption is a political choice and they should be held accountable. And using the "eco" argument to substantiate exclusivity doesn't hold up given that the example of how surf tourism is done in Papua New Guinea keeps an open access sign over the breaks but still manages to (by and large)promote ecological and indigenous awareness. Also, if the eco argument wereto be truly believed the location would become an eco-reserve and tourism stopped (see what is currently hapening in the Galapagos Islands). Otehrwise, this argument can come across as simply rhetoric. Thankfully, to date cold water waves and locations don't fit the surfing stereotype in the same way.

my first thought is that the locals being restricted is bad but the regulation of visiting surfer numbers is a good thing.

twice a month may seem like enough but if you consider how flexible you need to be just to score decent waves at your own local beachie the Maldivian locals may luck out more often than not.

i mean, are their 2 days set way in advance, or do they throw a 'double whammy' and claim the next day after seeing the forecast?

Hope in the future this NEVER happens in our country.

Stu has really opened a can of worms with this article. As per previous post it is all rumours at this stage and trust me we are doing all possible to stop this happening and actually opening up all other waves to all. My office phones are ringing off the hook already with concerned punters that they won't be able to surf Sultans and Honkies. Realistically it wouldn't be for another few years before a resort would be open. The crazy thing is that the resort will be 6 star and out of reach of most surfers anyway and most of their rich European guests who have had no exposure to surfing in the past will love to sit on the deck overlooking the surfbreak watching other surfers whilst sipping their cocktail!

Hey Stu, As you can see by my comments yesterday I've already seen this article and commented. I'm not concerned about the extra work it's just a matter of having the facts straight before broadcasting to the world.

call me naive but what happens if you break the rules and surf there?

I shoulda done that in Byron back, waaaaaaaay back then.

American Claude Greaves has exclsuive access over Nihiwatu in Sumba.
American's Scott Funk and Dave Clark had 20 years of exclsuive access to Cloudbreak and Restaurants.
American Gunner Lee-Miller is seeking exclusive access in The Maldives.

Is anyone seeing a pattern here????

i don't think this is likely to happen in oz as we are a net exporter of surfing tourists. There are too many local surfers here already and not enough cashed up tourists ready to trade large sums of money for the right to surf our waves (well other than bondi beach). it's only the handful of local surfers in the tropical islands semi-popular for surf tourism that lose out. Having said that if numbers of local surfers increased beyond a certain point then you would just end up with another hawaii - you can surf anywhere you like but it's crowded as hell.

PNG has the best plan i reckon - limit the numbers but allow access to all breaks. 20 in Kavieng, 15 in New Hanover. Locals not included as part of plan so they can surf wherever, whenever they like. Monies from the surf management plan go back to island communities. Win, win I reckon....

Not sure anyone else can adopt the plan though - too much money has already been spent on resorts, boats, businesses etc - in PNG they got in early.

Still perhaps a cut-down version of it may be achievable?

@pete I thought you did. I saw the painted signs decaying out by the abbatoirs. It seems people are ignoring your edict!Bring in the heavies. This has gone on long enough.

I personally don't have a problem with the proposed development provided the following two conditions are met:

1. All local (Maldivian nationality) surfers can surf there whenever they want; and
2. The resort is owned and operated by local Maldivian companies/people.

Question I have however, is if #1 is allowed, how does one prove they are a local?

Pasta Point effectively does this now and so does the old Lohis, in terms of only guests are permitted to surf their breaks out front of the resorts.

Yes, passports should be necessary in any surfing locale, as should a driving licence proving your address to surf your local (a bit like the hukou system keeping the rural riff raff out of cities in China). There's a new market there too. Water-proof surfie passport holders that attached to your board replete with logo. C'mon corporates there's gold there. Winners all round.

:-)

"The only development for Thanburudhoo which is sensible is that of a boutique surf resort. The islands only strength is its surfing waves and thus the smartest resort plan would be to cater to these particular water sports enthusiasts."

I hate being called a water sports enthusiast.

When I read the above proposal I can only shake my head and feel nausea.

I must be confused "surfaris" did you say that you are working on opening up all other waves to all, what the &#%@?? I have personally been told to get out of the water at some of these supposed exclusive breaks on several occasions and been threatened with the police and army coming to arrest me and take me away and I told them to go for it. Nothing has come of it yet and the day I do get thrown in jail for it the world will know about it. We have been testing the boundaries for years on this exclusive rights and it is all a sham. I've never thrown guests out there but that's because I haven't wanted a bad experience for them in the Maldives. I've surfed it with my Maldivian mates though and they all don't want any of this exclusive rights bullshit. It's a joke and the truth of it is that anyone associated with these type of ideals about exclusive rights of waves in this world is not a true surfer and lost their way to being all about the money a long time ago.

Can i just take this moment to welcome Surfaris to the forum.

WELCOME

Thanks everyone.
(P.s. Please send me to Sultans on a research trip)

I just got back from up there and for 3 days no one was surfing Honky's. A mate and I paddled out and within 1 hour 4 guys paddled round from Sultans. My point being, what if there is exclusivity and no one is surfing because it's too big/hurt my toe/I'm sunburnt etc? If I'm prepared to shoot this problem with the money gun, I can book the whole joint and surf it on my own. Can I then allow someone passing on a boat to come and surf with me? Another hypothetical, I've booked the place for 2 weeks, and there are 10 surfers on the island, and we decide we all want to go to Jails for something different, where there is 20 blokes already out there, but they can't surf Sultans? I'd feel shithouse if I was sitting on the island and the breaks were empty and boats were passing and couldn't surf.

LD; it's true that World Surfaris send punters to Lohis and that the resort management police the exclusivity of the break as the house reef is legally part of their land lease. Too be honest its a great selling point for a while but the times are a changing so lets open them all up including Lohis. I have no power over the government and big business as an individual but maybe just maybe if the worldwide surf community at large petition this issue and gather 1000's of signatures then the President might listen! take it on Louis! You can start a petition at www.change.org

Btw Liquid Destination ...I thought you only took punters to uncrowded remote locations so not sure why you'd be up Nth anyway?

I don't know how they handle it in the Maldives but at Nihiwatu, a few years ago, a mate of mine snuck out on an absolutely empty day. Solid size, top to bottom. As soon as he caught a wave a Hawaiian staying at Claude's joint, paddled out. Within 15 minutes a boat turned up, and a gun was pointed at my mate telling him to go in, which he did. The Hawaiian guy, unwilling to surf it by himself went in too........that's what $200 a day plus gets you at Nihiwatu! Rich hippies and bad vibes man!

Now where did that Ming dynasty plate go? I must ask Claude about it!

Hey Shaun
I had no idea you were supportive of opening up these breaks. Must off been a message from someone else pretending to be you that Brian received threatening arrest and the police were coming when he surfed lohi's a couple of weeks ago. By the way I thought North Male was remote? Ironically I just got out of the water at cokes, not a single boat in the channel and no one in the water other than us, weird hey. Peak season, NW winds, good size SSE swell and no one here. Might move and go find everyone else maybe they are all at lohi's.

LD: lol !

Hey shaun, louis and all you Operators. No more N male' atoll. Limited S. male'. Everyone is thinking of doing centrals and Gaafu Dhaal now. Imagine 20-30 boats! 2 breaks in Meemu, 2 breaks in Laamu, 2 breaks in Thaa, 1 break in Dhaalu. more than 4-8 hours of cruising between atolls. Thats only central! more than 8 boats in Gaafu Dhaal in early season with abt 1 or 2 waves working depending on swell, wind and other elements. We all are fucked! lets not point fingers now. lets try and stop this bull shit exclusivity and live happily ever after.
cheers,

Btw Shaun, More than 10 years of doing surf operations in the maldives, what have you done to help the local community or surfers here? A local guide on 2 of your boats with a salary of USD600 per month is what you think is giving back to the community? take as much as you can out of this country and you all are no better than the guy who just took another surf break from us!

Chum: Humans- think they own 'everything'.

Anchor: Probably 'American'.

Swim away Nemo...

Nagoobalhaa: I don't think you have read my comments. I want to stop this as much as everyone else does. I will not enter into an argument on a public forum with you but I must say you are VERY WRONG ! I personally employ over 20 Maldivians and pay them a lot more than award wages plus they all share 15% of the drink sales on each trip. I support local boat owners, their crew and send well over hundreds of customers each year to the Maldives which injects money into the community. Local shop owners benefit etc. BTW I pay my local guides more than you state and they also get income from photo sales. Recently we made a nice donation to the locals at Tiger Stripes and we also sponsor local surf comps. You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about mate and if you are a man you will not remain confidential and feel free to email me to discuss this further rather than on a public domain.
THE POINT OF THIS ISSUE HERE IS TO TRY TO STOP THE HOUSE REEF BEING INCLUDED IN THE NEW LEASE AT THANBURUDHOO ISLAND AND ALSO BAN HOUSE REEFS BEING EXCLUSIVE TO RESORTS. FULL STOP!
I've been in pro-active discussion regarding this for 2 days now and we are going to try to present the president with a rational argument on this by next week. What are you doing about it Nagoobalhaa ???

how do they police the exclusivity ?
is there a guy in the lineup with a big stick ?
I know every country has a break that's completely overcrowded, even on small days.
But seriously paying to go for a surf (at a particular break), is this where surfing is going ?
sure locals in poor third world countries with no access to health or clean water, should definitely be exploiting good surf breaks in order to survive. But is this the case with the maldives ? or is it some rich prick trying to cash in on richer surfers(who ever they are). If i were a local maldivian surfer, i think i'd be setting fire to the resort on a regular basis, (unless the resort corp is contributing a lot to the local community.
However on the other hand, the realestate agent who brokered the lease to the singaporean investors should be given the worlds greatest agent award - anyone who can sell a lease for a piece of land that isn't going to be around in 50 years time is a genius.

Shaun, Thank you for justifying..haha!

Cokes Surf Camp Maldives, I can not see it happening. Already the only reason no one surfs Lohis and Pasta is because of the grief that they get from the guests staying at these resorts which is based on the missinformation they are given by World Safaris and Atoll Adventures stating that these surfing points are exclusive. The resorts own the lagoons not the waves outside the reef on the perimeter of the lagoons. This is the truth !! What is to stop any village in the Maldives with a surfing point close by their Island exercising the same rule, thereby excluding free surf from almost all surf points in the Maldives. Sanity will prevail and the present debate will bring the issue to the only sensible conclusion, all Maldives surf points will be free to surf by all surfers, this includes Lohis and Pasta who have had a great run but their time of missinformation is over. Other resorts, such as, Kandooma, Full Moon Shereton, Club Med and Anatara sensibly allow all surfers to enjoy their surfing points. What is the difference between these resorts and Lohis and Pasta. Answering my own queastion, only what their guests are led to believe. I surfed Lohis from a safari boat recently and it was a pleasant experience except for a guest who believed that it was exclusive to only resort guests, he gave me some grief but generally the group in the water understood that the waves and ocean are a free playground and we shared. I later recieved threats from World Safaris stating that I would be arrested if I went to surf Lohis again. Please, World Safaris and Atoll bring this situation to an end, for the good of all surfers. I do notice a distinct change of attitude in Surfaris comments above, let it be the beginning, and you can keep sending World Safari guests to Cokes to enjoy free waves which is the way it should always be.

Localism as a paying proposition, next will be prosecutions, periods of incarceration, fines, confiscation of equipment, visa alerts - this is just capitalism hard at work - a few blokes at Avalon might like this model.

Exclusive?

Are not most folks these days clamoring on about how Surfing needs to "get back to the roots"?

Well, what could be closer to those roots in which surfing began than turning clocks all the way back to days of Polynesian Royalty. Circa 16th century?

"When Hawai'i was ruled by a code of kapu (taboos) which regulated almost everything. Where to eat. How to grow food. How to predict weather. How to build a canoe. How to build a surfboard. How to predict when the surf would be good. Or convince the Gods to make it good. Hawaiian society was distinctly stratified into royal and common classes, and these taboos extended into the surf zone. There were reefs and beaches where the ali'i (chiefs) surfed and reefs and beaches where the commoners surfed".

http://www.surfingforlife.com/history.html

I'd guess the the folks ruling the Maldives. Have their own take on such matters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Maldives_Crisis

Brian at Cokes Surf Camp. Most island leases do currently include house reefs and a perimeter up to 350M from land. Brian is you want to question this you should contact Adaaran resorts who own the lease on Hudhuranfushi (formerly Lohifushi). This is not a new thing and has been in place even prior to surf tourism began 25 years ago. We are talking about dive sites on house reefs also and the mega dive tourism industry don't try to break the laws by taking divers into resort perimeters. World Surfaris and Atoll adventures have no influence in regards to exclusivity of surf breaks and we have simply made smart business decisions to enable us to run the surf program's at these resorts. Obviously thousands of punters who stay at these resorts are attracted to them due to the fact they can surf relatively uncrowded waves on their doorstep. Can you imagine a large resort corporation relinquishing their house reefs and saying to the government "no worries we're happy to let non guests to come and surf, dive or snorkel here?" In a perfect world this would happen but ...World Surfaris and Atoll will continue to promote these resorts and the current situation that only guests of resort can use the house reef however I personally am in favour of opening all surf breaks up to everyone but as I say I have no influence over the government and the resort corporations. I've been running boat charters over there since early 90's (formerly as Maldives Surfaris) and I would love my charter guests to be able to surf all breaks. However whilst the current leases are in place I will not ask my Captains to try to break the rules as I'd prefer my clients don't get harassed. Recently when you took your guests to surf Lohis I received a call from the resort to inform you that they would get the authorities to arrest you if you brought guests back. It's a sad but true fact that their water tight leases can enable them to prosecute trespassers.
With the recent surge of budget guesthouses on village islands in proximity to surf there will be many more surfers at these breaks so our boats are looking elsewhere and virtually playing chess to find punters uncrowded surf opportunities.
Anyway Brian rest assured I am gathering tourism data as we speak to present to the president showing the full impact to the boat charter industry should Sultans/honkies and also Chickens become exclusive to resorts in the future, leaving only a few to share amongst surf charter guests. I do hope to have some influence however it will be a minor miracle if I do? What are you doing about it Brian apart from slinging mud?

This comment thread makes for fascinating reading and reflects the nature of modern media: everyone is welcome to venture their opinion. Much praise to those that have differing points of view yet remained (relatively) civil while debating them.

heals,

As many of these places on the course of devolving from nationalism to tribalism,...

what the crony capitalists signing exclusives. And pulling crumbs from these deals. Won't mention much is....

It's good to be king.

And it's good to be the ones signing long term contracts with said kings.

Funny thing is, if anyone happens to mention old rottkamp. (Shallow be thy name),

And his twatter feed,...

Well,

StuCensorship rules!

uch! but well said anyway, Stu and Heals.

Now back to the topic at hand.

I must say that I've never quite understood why Kandooma et al (but particularly Kandooma, which is a fantastic wave) are free to all, but Pastas and Lohis are not. Can you, Brian or Shaun, shed light on the historical basis for this?

Can you also comment on why more operators aren't venturing much further afield, particularly south and west? There seems (virtually) unlimited potential that isn't being tapped.

Finally, playing devil's advocate for a moment, some of the comments have a whiff of moral panic about them. Frankly, it's not hard to feel a bit of sympathy for the Maldivian government's attempt to extract more direct value from a primary asset. After all, as some commentators above have acknowledged, the Maldive's future is pretty grim The Maldivian government, to its credit, is already taking steps to make sure its people don't have to wear permanent snorkelling gear, and those steps have gotta be paid for somehow.

PS. Belated congrats on the new baby, Brian.

Surfing ain't cheap. Even though most surfers are. So who's not surprised when many be soon price out of the action.

Stu brah, As to Rottmouth's endless rap up on twatter and otherwise, have you ever noticed? All his spewpoints are nothing but rehashed/reworded dribble straight out the pie of of this non surfing bloke?

all that stupid economic stuff is to blame.

Just got last Tuesday back after 10 days at Lohis to see this. From what I saw, privatising more breaks in this area, particularly Sultans, will smash the surf tourism industry in North Male atoll for all involved. Lohis and Pasta are both lefts and more susceptible to unfavourable winds, particularly in the peak swell period July-August(as I just found out with a week of on-shore bumpy rubbish). Many guests at Pasta and Lohis boat across to Sultans or nearby Jails to surf a right or if the wind is better there. Taking out Sultans would leave only Jails, and the heavier and more distant Cokes, the only rights. These would be chockers with charter boat surfers plus surfers from Lohis, Pasta and Cokes island. All would be losers. People will look elswhere in the world for their surf holiday. The Sultans/Honkeys island was about the only one in the area not bastardised with a resort. The Maldivians should keep it that way & make it a reserve or at least free of tourism. The island where Chickens breaks is the same situation.
The private break is a complex argument. It's great to have your own private break (although on Lohis that may be sharing with 50+ other guests!)but if all the breaks end up with a lease on them then surfers will narrow the options dramatically. They don't all work at the same time. That's why people go on charter boats or travel to other breaks from the land based accommodation. Plus most surfers want to visit and surf different waves. Narrow the options and the whole area as a destination becomes less and less appealing.
In regard to the "two sessions per month" for locals, this is pure BS. How
would they ever advance their skills with two surfs a month? And how would this work? "Sorry, it's pumping today but you used your two surfs up in the 2 ft cross-shore last week". These guys are not on a cashed up holiday and can't easily travel to find another wave whenever they want. In comparison to the thousands of tourists their numbers are tiny and they'll have very litle lobbying power in this debate.

I was staying at Pasta Point a few weeks ago, purely for the low surfer in the water count & pleasant surf etiquette. Contrast that with sultans, which was (according to the world surfaris guide) as good as it gets, brilliant wave, but the dropins and people not willing to wait their turn (large crowd) detracted from what was otherwise a memorable surf. I am willing to pay money to surf good waves with low crowds. (It took me 2 years to save for this trip by the way!) Having said that, if there was only 1 or 2 waves you were 'allowed' to go surf, I would reconsider going there at all, as you do need a little variety! (perhaps a 'time share' between resort waves?)

How good is free speech!! Loving this little slinging match, can't wait to jump on a plane to Male on Sunday!! You guys have got me frothing already....

on a recent boat trip to Maldives (thanks Shaun) we battled crowds as 9 boats and a number of homestays meant there were about 140 surfers shared between Cokes and Chickens. Chaos. All of different abilities, all with different surf etiquette (deepest persons turn vs wait in line's turn vs best surfers turn vs toughest persons turn vs drop in on everyone... ) Still a great trip, tropical paradise but borderline crowded mayhem. Especially when the winds cut out half the options...Compared to a 1997 trip of uncrowded perfection, it certainly has changed!

At the moment there are no (apparent) boat regulations or licenses, and in my opinion way too many operators for the waves available. cut out sultans and honkeys and there will be just 3 waves accessible by boat, 2 once chickens resort is finished?

There goes the boat trip option. People will vote with their feet. no one really wants to go on a boat trip for max 2 or 3 surf options, which are also shared amongst resort surfers... resort option sounds pretty good for the financially privileged.

Then again, do you open up all reefs so more boats will operate and once again crowds will prevail? whats the answer?

Maldivian nationals should be able to surf anywhere, anytime. for everyone else? Maldives, like it or not is a tourist destination, and by tourist, it's package deal tourist. Go to Indo for budget or unplanned searching. Open up all spots to everyone but cap the operators/boats/resorts to sustainable levels. Boats should be licensed with max spots available, resorts to also have caps.

In my opinion the boats are a pain in the arse. The boat owners / compaines are just pissed as they are going to lose business, too bad. I was staying at cokes surf camp in May and we had from 6-10 boats sitting in the channel at any given time. Staying on the island with the locals was a great experience however the hordes of kooks on these boats not only gave me a sour taste in the mouth but also the local surfers who unfortunately are accustomed to it. I think there should be moorings that allow only X (3 or at most 4) numbers of boats allowed to gain access to the island at any given time, as well as the people who pay top dollar to stay on the island. Cokes is a great wave when it's solid as well as chickens and I would be reluctant to return unless they control the numbers of boats that are allowed to have access to the breaks. My opinion, give exclusive rights to hotel guests, have say 3 boat moorings for the channel and first in best dressed, the rest can go elsewhere. Locals can surf wherever the hell they want, there's not that many of them. This will control the amount of people in the water to have a relatively hassle free surf !

Wow so different to my experience over there just 3 weeks ago - no more than 20-25 out at any one time - normally only a dozen or so. Max 3-4 boats in the channel at Sultans and Cokes. Glassy or light offshore all day so everywhere was working. Surfed Chickens, Jails and Honky's by ourselves and only a few out at Cokes. I thought it was like that all the time! Guess we got lucky....

All these rules and regulations and 'caps' and costs etc. Surf travel has really become a palaver. If you go to these places I think everyone now simply have to expect crowds (exclusive rights and wanting to exclude others for your own selfish reasons is anathema to the ethos of some).

Given what the 'surf tourism' industry has become I now can't imagine handing over my money and my surf dreams to such interests.

Luckily, there are many thousands of miles of coastline with empty surf (particularly cold water, considering the quality of wetsuits now). It seems better than ever to save up some coin and work hard to arrange some time off from the family/work/responsibilities when you can and go somewhere off the beaten track. It may not be easy and there are no guarantees but the rewards (even if you don't 'score' and only get average waves in spectacular new surroundings and meet new people and cultures)are probably going to be more memorable than sessions in these sorts of crowded (and going to get more crowded as more people surf) surf tourism locales. More profit for the salesmen though,I guess.

methinks these waves have already been bought n sold by surf tourism in one or the other forms, land based or boat.

fucken boat people eh ? tow 'em back I reckon.

surely, we can find someway it can be hung on the BIG 3 and the ASP...

Well there's only one logical truth coming from this thread...

The trip we've been planning to the Maldives, at considerable expense, will not produce the uncrowded, great waves we anticipated. So we'll look elsewhere. We'd heard it had become crowded from a few sources, but this thread really confirms it.

And the spin from the industry that boat charters get you to remote, uncrowded spots appears to be unlikely in the Maldives.

There is nowhere remote in North Male dante - you are surrounded by boats and resorts everywhere you go. No real advantage being on a boat in North Male either I don't reckon except if you want to break up your trip and head to South Male for a few days. Quite a few less crew in South Male but quite a bit less swell as well.

The Central and Southern Atolls might be a different story - a boat would probably be an advantage down there although there are plenty of boats in the Central Atolls as well or so I'm told. Dunno about the southern atolls.

If you want uncrowded, great waves but only get a few weeks holiday a year I reckon you've only got a few choices - go somewhere cold and/or sharkey or go somewhere fickle like PNG and hope you score a swell. If you have plenty of time well that's a different story....

There's a reason all these places (Indo, Mentawis, Maldives) are crowded these days - warm water, consistent swells and perfect waves. Who doesn't want that? Can't see it getting any better either as more and more people try to make money out of it.

Just suck it up and go I reckon - go for long enough and you'll get a break in the crowds.....

Recently did a trip to Mexico. Down towards Salina Cruz we hired a car and found it really difficult to surf all those right hand breaks made famous by Reynolds and crew, as the ‘locals’ have a kind of mafia control on all the breaks and if you don’t pay for a surf tour then you apparently can’t surf those breaks. We got bullied and the like as these breaks are meant to be ‘secret spots’ even though they are on surfline. Without much knowledge of the local economy, from what we could see it looked like it was exclusively helping the guys doing the surf tours and had nothing to do with the local communities that actually live near the breaks. Again I have little knowledge of how the local economy works, the structure of society there, nor any other factor. It’s a difficult argument, but people are probably going to come no matter what and i suppose privatising surf through legitimate or non legitimate means kind of goes against the surf ethos many of us love (getting in car and looking for waves), but that ethos is difficult in places which have very different approaches to land use, economy etc etc.
I’d probably rather put up with crowds then have breaks sealed up for the few. We actually got waves at those breaks as we would just go there as soon as it went onshore, though and i suppose
Apologies if this is not the correct forum Stu but i thought it was worth raising.

From surfline
http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/southern-oaxaca-update_69344/
Quote from Cesar Ramirez in the article

What happens if you come across visiting surfers who aren't with a local guide?
The area is all sand dunes. There are no restaurants right on the beach, hotels or anything. The only things you're going to find are the waves and us. Nobody else goes there, not even the Army. So when somebody shows up in a rental car or something, we tell them: 'It's good you're here, but you need to hire a local guide.' That's only for foreigners and doesn't apply to Mexicans no matter where they're from. But the thing is...if we let people just show up, you're going to have 50, 60 guys in the water. This is one way to control the crowd.

Maddog, don't be fooled by the advertising that the southern atolls are uncrowded. We copped at least 8 boats whilst we were down there and we certainly didn't expect that from what we were told by our operator/travel agent. But in saying that, choose the right operator and they will try their damn best to find you the least crowded options. We scored a break down there with 5-6ft++ swell for at least a day and half to ourselves so we were pretty happy with that considering the number of boats cruising down there.

Thanks for the info Don - not surprising really.

Just wondering how you would rate the breaks down that way - as good as say Chickens, Cokes or Sultans?

Is it a fair steam to get from one to the other or are they close together like in North Male?

Breaks down south are as good as cokes/sultans if not better. Lefts are better than chickens in that they tend to be hollower, at least out the back at the take off on the bigger days.

Distance between the breaks is further than what's in the North Male atolls, but generally enough breaks between say Jails to Cokes distance to spread the crowd out. It's just that when the swell gets small, everyone flocks to the swell magnet and hence crowds are not what you expect on the smaller days. Once there's swell, there's plenty of breaks to choose from.

For those interested there is a petition online.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Say_NO_to_surf_exclusivity_in_the_Maldi...

"Luckily, there are many thousands of miles of coastline with empty surf (particularly cold water, considering the quality of wetsuits now). It seems better than ever to save up some coin and work hard to arrange some time off from the family/work/responsibilities when you can and go somewhere off the beaten track. It may not be easy and there are no guarantees but the rewards (even if you don't 'score' and only get average waves in spectacular new surroundings and meet new people and cultures)are probably going to be more memorable than sessions in these sorts of crowded (and going to get more crowded as more people surf) surf tourism locales. "

Clif, +1

Clif +2

Totally agree and works every year for me ;)

Clif +3 and Craig +2

I just returned last week from a World Surfaris charter in North Male. Honky's & Sultans are such great waves, Honky's especially when the wind is OK. Jails attracts a crowd, usually because it is the most protected from the S winds.
What nobody has mentioned in this thread is the need for the Maldivian people to get their democratically elected President back into power. It is alleged that the puppets that pulled off the coup in March were "backed" by resort owners who didn't want to pay tax, which the elected President had made visible so it would go back to the people rather than into some minister's brown paper bag. It is rumoured that the group behind the plan for Sultan's/Honky's now have a political connection with the current "illegal" government - no wonder it is steaming ahead.
There is apparently a Commonwealth report due to be tabled on Aug 30 which will determine whether the old President was forcibly removed from office or not. If so, he will either be reinstated or a new election will be held. If the report recommends that the current reigeme stays, then all hell will break loose in the Maldives. The elected President remains very popular with the locals, as he gave them free health care, pensions, greater access to education and treated all classes equally.
If the elected President is reinstated, there is much more of a possibility that the new developments can be stopped and that even more resort breaks could be opened up for all. He was involved in talks with the local surfing association just prior to being overthrown.
Look for the ABC "Dateline" show online (screened earlier this year in Aust)about the struggles the locals have had and the amount of corruption in their political system that the elected President was trying to curb. Some of the old fatcats from pre 2008 just couldn't do without their favours & kickbacks....

Who would have thought that going for a surf would become so complicated? I don’t mind pay for waves as long as the majority of the funds are going back to the locals and of course the locals can surf whenever they want. The locals in PNG are mindful of this and don’t hassle and give you room to enjoy your stay so you come back, it's not rocket science. I have 2 weeks a year to go surfing and I don’t want to battle it out with 140 dudes out at Ulu or crowd break, I would like to be guaranteed the No# of surfers there so I can make informed decision to go, or not. For you young blokes out there who have endless time like I used to, go searching there are a ridiculous amount of uncrowded breaks you just have to use your imagination and geographical/metrological skills to find them. If only I had 6 months to burn. That said and done I would pissed off if I was a Maldivian local, it's pretty clear were that money is going, not into the locals pockets. Cheers DaveyD

Re Nihiwatu.

Locals are starting to realise that a $100 plastic tank isn't enough to recompense them for $1000 of lost revenue from travelling surfers and a beautiful beach they themselves cant access. This is not just about surfing, ordinary people who live in the city cant come and swim or walk along the beach because of this rampant plutocracy.

graves and his cash cow Sumba foundation cant keep going on before someone starts to smell the bullshit (love the new "work" vehicle)

Indonesians are the kings of corruption, but even they realise they are being duped by a stupid yank.

New road being built to access the beach so in a short period it will be open to everyone.

the wave is not A-grade so its never going to become the next mecca anyway.

Machado and Banks, please stop pissing in his pocket.

Anyone have any updates on the Sultans/Honkys sell-off situation? Considering a trip but not interested if these waves are off limits.

Looks like the Thamburudhoo Island problem is ongoing.

The recently formed 'Sustainable Surf Tourism In Maldives' group met with the Maldives Minister of Tourism last month, and a 'Save Thamburudhoo' protest is being organised around the Champions Trophy Surf Contest during the last week of August.

More details are available at their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/SaveThamburudhoo

The waves will be free for all to enjoy until at least 2015 and hopefully forever . Hopefully Nasheed will be re-elected Maldives president in September and will overturn the lease on Thamburudhoo !

Has construction started yet?

No construction at all yet. Some interesting comments on https://www.facebook.com/SaveThamburudhoo today regarding exclusivity.

So is this done? Press release from atoll travel say they have the rights as of Jan 1st 2014?

Whats happening with construction?

Not many waves left if Sultan's, Honkeys, Pasta & Lohis are all off limits.

Maybe what people don't realise is that the 2 charter boats that will have access to Sultans and Honky's will only be Atoll travels boats, so they have it tied up. They already have Pasta point and will have chickens in the future. World Surfaris have Lohi's exclusively and The Perfect wave will have Kandooma exclusively. Basically all the big surf travel companies are ensuring their future in the Maldives by being able to offer a service of relatively uncrowded waves, who can blame them?
I'm worried that the boats will be forced to go elsewhere and they will close in on us which could harm what we do mind you good luck finding us though.

It's pretty clear in their press release that two of their boats will have access and their other boats will now be operating further afield. Pretty shit scenario really.

As you say, the big surf travel companies have the rights, I wonder if there will be a further push to roll this practice out in other parts of the Maldives/ the World?

So is this over? Are these waves now off limits as of the 2014 season?

Apologies I’m a bit late to the party. I just saw and read this thread then.

I’ve been to the Maldives and stayed on Lohi’s a few times. My mates and I have also been to a lot of the ‘popular’ surf destinations. Yet on a two week trip we did earlier this year, I have never, ever seen a line up with such aggression, ruthlessness and general un-pleasantries. We had good fun sized surf everyday, plenty of waves for everyone, yet the attitudes seemed hard to escape. Different people / groups from different backgrounds…...yet the same result every session. Brazos wanting to fight everyone, Israeli’s fighting with each other, yanks crashing into everyone and a Newcastle crew taking whichever wave they pleased, irrelevant if someone had already completed two turns on the wave. I’ve never seen so many blatant drop-ins in my life. Don’t get me wrong there were also some lovely people there who were absolute champs. Yet the vibe in the water always felt like I was about to be knifed in the back.

On Lohi’s now they say that unless you book through World Surfaris you can’t surf. I’m not sure they plan on policing that when 20 Brazos and 30 Israeli’s turn up all trying to paddle out at once. That is a great spectator sport by the way !!! Staying there with the whole island vibe is perfect. You can take the misses, surf fun waves and earn brownie points. However, I can’t see us going again as the volume of surfers seems to be continually increasing. There were several boats parked up at each break that all thought the break was solely theirs. The ‘local guides’ on some of the boats also did their best to block you every chance they had.

No idea if we had an isolated two weeks or whether that experience is common. It’s a shame too. Some of my funniest afternoons have been spent out there. I had never seen so many surfers staying on the island, nor so many boats parked up at each break before. I’m guessing the new hotel at Cokes doesn’t help things. As people have paid good money to surf cracking waves with only a limited time frame, the end result is 50 people on each line up going mental at each other.

Just thought I’d share my experiences.

Confused - trying to plan a trip to the Maldives next year and this current issue is frustrating. Had two awesome trips on boats in the last two years but 2014... ?Surf companies are telling prospective clients slightly different versions of the closure of Sultans/Honkys to boats so ask lots of questions. BUT .. the boats are simply going to travel further to the Central and Southern Attols and moving the well-documented crowding of Maldives breaks. Inevitably this will cost more with fuel costs, local flights, etc and will generally take longer There are other places to go - maybe harder to get to but surfers will seek them out, leaving the Maldives for rich Euros and yanks. Simply don't know what to do - but saddened by the whole issue.

What a pack of morally repugnant cunts these surf travel companies are.
Closely followed or exceeded by the dickheads like Clarke/Funk, Greaves who corrupt local communities and the toadies who suck their dick.

Still, as long as some white cube monkey can get his fix who gives a fuck.

In April 1993, I was in a dhoni with Tony, trying to get a few snaps of Pasta's as I had not photographed from a boat at all up to that point and we were having a general conversation between sets.

We had not seen a single other surfer anywhere in North Malé Atoll for several weeks at that point - locals did not surf at that time and the resorts that existed like Lohifushi and Bandos catered to European holiday-makers, not surfers.

Tony asked me "Do you really think people will will want to come all the way to Maldives to surf these waves?" as another empty wave wound down the point at Pasta's. Only two surfers in the lineup, so they were picking and choosing.

"Tony" I said; "That's not going to be your problem. Your problem is going to be too many people are going to want to come to Maldives and surf these waves".

With twenty years of life, a considerable investment in a surf tourism company, no other source of income and a young family at stake, Tony said "I hope you're right, mate".

I was.

I support measures to make surf spots exclusive.
If you don't have the money stay home.

People get their nickers in a twist over anything.
Who wants to surf Pasta Pt in a thick crowd when you can pay extra to get it thinned out?
I wish I could pay a few more extra $$$ to get the crowd at my local to fuck off

Right, so only the rich have access? Seems very fair.

Seems fair that the locals can't surf their own spots..... :(

Pray for another tsunami to flush all the greed off the worlds beaches....

bushido, there will be plenty of wealthy scum to make up the crowd, make no mistake. the only difference is you will be dodging mid life crisis kooks. meanwhile the locals get fucked again. id never pay anyone to surf at a break particularly morally corrupt tour operators like those self interested hypocrites posting on this thread or the resorts mentioned. if given the chance id boycott any of these type operations or enjoy a little civil disobedience while I could. The crowds will sort themselves out, I hate surfing in big crowds as do most surfers, let the dicks who want this sort of experience enjoy it, these places become known as shitty overcrowded holes like Kuta did. Kuta has almost gone full circle now and has had such a shit reputation that you can go there and get less crowds than out on the reefs. no one would want a resort to have exclusive rights over there local break that allowed them to surf it a couple of times a year so if your supportive then your full of shit.

thinking this thing through...the surf guides know who the dickheads out in the water are and they are usually shooting pics/movies to sell their guests when they leave, so...leave it to the guides to make the call. Something along the lines of 'Well mate, I watched you drop in on three guys out there and Ive got it here on the camera. Dont bother turning up to get on boat tomorrow.' Or 'Well buddy...we're going to watch that this evening on the big screen in the back of the boat and show everyone just how many people you ripped off ...do it again and we turn the boat around.'

A lot like the way mining, forestry any finite resource is taken from the little people and fenced off and sold to the big people. Who really owns it? We do of course. If you have to use violence and intimidation to experience riding a wave, then I guess that experience is not worth having anymore. Boycotting these developments is unworkable, there will always be a punter so overwhelmed by the beauty of tropical surfing that paying and playing is irresistible. Perhaps if we can get behind some organisation which already has a lot of clout (ISP, ASP, ASF - what's it called this week?) we could as surfers, pressure governments across the world to stop these strip-mining developments. The only reason this little island in the Maldives is still clean is because of govt protection of sorts.. No doubt the money from the tourist industry is flowing out of the Maldives just as quickly as it is rushing in. Setting up these areas as government overseen conservation areas would keep the dollars in the country, allowing us all to get on a wave or two. Imagine Sea Shepherd looking out for reef areas across the world, or joining with the RSVP and ripaquikbong to make representations at government level. There are enough surfers inside these organisations to get some serious traction and demonstrate that it is in the best interests of island governments to keep the waves free. \\rant

It's 2040. I'm paddling my banannaleaf mal into the rolling left handler that is building off the submerged rooftop of what was once the telos retirement village and fat camp....

I watched a doco on Tony Hussein on a Qantas flight recently, cant remember the name of the doco, it was amasing how he kept the Maldives a secret for so long , just him and his mates.
Pretty good viewing, he ended up passing away on his beloved wave Pasta Point.
RIP

serendipity over on vimeo theres a short one on tony and mark Scanlon.

I've stayed at Pasta twice in the past, 2000 and 2002. I had read of the crazy stuff going on up there so have turned to the southern parts to hopefully find some solace but it seems this may not be the case according to Donweather. On my 2000 trip Mark was there for the whole time and he was a top fella. I met Tony for a brief time on the same trip when he visited for a day from Male, he had definitely assimilated into the Maldivian culture, very interesting to listen to his stories. The second trip back I learned that Mark had fallen foul of the authorities and was in prison...pretty heavy situation, his wife Mandy (if I remember correctly) was stressing in a major way, understandably. A few of the other guys staying at Pasta were lawyers and they went down to the jail to see if there was anything they could do to help his situation but the authorities wanted to be make an example of him. I think he ended up getting out but am not sure of his current whereabouts.

Donweather what time of the year were you down south? I'm heading there for two weeks in March and was hoping to avoid the circus of the north.

If this kind of thing ever happens in the areas of Indo i love, i will seriously start a campaign to ship in a container load of old donated boards for all the local kids (or a heap of cheap body boards) and supply them with a box full of surfing DVD,s and DVD player for inspiration.

Quokka we went in April (early to mid if I recall correctly). There are at least 5-6 boats operating down there if not more now that sultans and honkies is off limits. It's fine when there's swell but when the swell gets small most if not all the boats flock to the main swell magnet, so don't be surprised to have up to 30+ in the water on the small days.

Surfed the M / atols quite a few times, from as far back as 91 I have had Sultans and Honkies as good as they get in the 6 -- 8 ft range, would certainly like to think that I could still surf them in the bigger range maybe 10 ft Jails and a fews secret spots up and down the reefs not that far away ??!!, but i feel that now that wont be possible because of this outrageous development of the islands. However i do feel that the "so called minimising the numbers" is and will always be a joke as they stated that back in when Lohis first started and NOT to mention Pasta's. OH what about the B&B on Cokes now. Where that building now resides used to be dumping site for the island are they going to restrict that surf spot as well. Soon you will be only able to surf paid for spots on your holiday,a tear off voucher system. Going to turn into another Fiji of old with Tavarua / Cloudbreak.
You want to add money to the economy do what PNG do and have surf levies added to your holiday in advance which covers all locations, local government can then subsidise the rest for tourism. OH wait !!!! the Maldives is sinking , how long will all this last, can they rape and pillage the tourism factor before there will NO Maldives at all, maybe thats what its all about anyway, get in before there is nothing ! What happened to the adventure factor ,living on a boat cruising the reefs and islands looking for uncrowded waves in a tropical setting, people come and go, but the mighty dollar factor always hangs around to make more. lets NOT let this happen to this beautiful place or any part of it while its still here, keep it open and free, otherwise there will be tears and pain and water police "Ru you serious "

What shits me is that pasta point already has exclusivity to their left hander out the front and now their guests also have exclusivity to sultans and honkies. How much fecking exclusivity does one resort need!! Greedy cnuts!!!

@slashbash did you avoid the "exclusivity" by being on your own boat? From what I read the Maldivian govt make travelling through these parts under your own steam quite difficult these days.
It is the way of the world, bowing to the almighty dollar, which I agree is bullshit but what do you do, not surf these waves in protest...? The average person will be priced out of the market with the advent of these resorts with competition pushing prices sky high. I won't be going back to the Nth atolls unless something dramatic changes and it sounds as if the Central and Sth atolls are heading in the same direction. Another example of how we continue to fark up what is good about this world. I am very interested to see if the situation @donweather describes is the case on my trip down south in a couple of months...I really hope we luck into a few uncrowded waves.

Quokka who's boat are you on. I have heard of some boat operators who will travel away from the known breaks to get uncrowded waves but this is more so in early and late season when the winds are more light and variable.

Don I'm with The Perfect Wave and that's the idea of going early, hopefully the winds at that time of year will be light NW or non-existent, it's just the potential lack of swell that I'm worried about. I have read that our guide does try to stay away from the other boats. Who did you travel with?

Atoll Travel (Horizon). Was a good boat with a very good and well respected skipper but we didn't travel away from the known breaks. But in saying that we got 6ft love charms all to ourselves for a day an half so I'm not complaining.

Welcome to the future. The best waves reserved for the rich!

Whilst I don't agree with the above, it's really no different to the exclusivity that Pasta and Lohi's have for their wave out the front of their resort.

So this only leaves Jails, Cokes and Chickens for the remainder of the North Male Atolls as open free surfing breaks to all. One would have to think it won't be too long before some large rich company applies for exclusivity to these breaks also.

Let's hope the Maldivian government will one day realise their mistakes and go the way Fiji has gone and reverse the exclusivity rule.

Just a continuation of the trend line don, I don't see any circuit breaker on the horizon. My advice to a young surfer? If you want to surf waves of the quality my generation have surfed.......make sure you can generate a large income.

I never post here, but I thought I'd chime in and give my two cents.

First of all, if you're looking for uncrowded waves, I don't think the tropics are the best place to look. Low cost (or at least more accessible) airfares have opened up all but the most remote breaks around the world. Want to beat the crowds? Slide into a 5mm and hit the spots most fair weather surfers won't go.

What's being done to solve crowding issues, not just here, but around the world? I seem to remember Mick Fanning proposing a cap at Snapper. Having surfed crowded breaks at Bali to Bells, I've yet to see anything done by local or international surf bodies to address this issue.

Can the operators commenting on all this please tell me what they're doing to contribute to local community welfare?

Unfortunately our sport is dominated by brands and private companies rather than organisations focused on solving issues such as these.

I went last year in July, surfed sultan and honky's pumping got some awesome waves,seemed that all the guide's text each other and meet up anyway! Did the central and southern attoll better waves but more fickle!every break down south had a least 3 boats on it so don't think it's going to be empty down there!

I've just spent about an hour writing a whole frickin report on this post but i deleted it because all it ended up doing was slating the Australian based surf travel companies for being behind all of this and the problem is they are business people just doing business.
The reality of it is they have clients who like the sensation of an exclusive wave and don't want it to be crowded and they will pay for it. That region of the Maldives can be ridiculous with crowds so they are just protecting their business. I am not too sure about them claiming being against exclusivity and then advertising/promoting their own resorts with it. I think that is awesome though it is pretty funny really.

I think there are a few misconceptions of the Maldives here that need to be straightened out as well. I must point out here that I have a surf charter operation in the Maldives (Liquid Destination) just to be transparent on all of this. I may come across as a little biased..

1) Take a look at a map of the Maldives please and have a think about the fact that the Male atolls aren't the only places to surf (nor is Hudhuvadoo/Ghaafu Dhaalu for that matter). The Maldives is massive, 10 times bigger than you think.
2) Down south is not South Male!!! Kandooma, riptides etc
3) Everything you read on the web about how the Maldives works is written by people who have never spent enough time there. There are bigger cycles at play here in this country (in all countries in fact). Some years you can go here some years you can go there. Nothing is set in stone.
4) Forecasts for our region have a high level of inaccuracy especially local weather/winds so people who put in their two cents worth be careful you need about $5 000 000 to have your say on how this country works...
5) Be a little careful of people who have done a few trips here and offer advice on the country. It'd be like me going to Noosa or Snapper and telling you how WA works. it's just a hunch but they might be missing a few spots in between as well.
6) Watch out for boats claiming they surf this region or that region and then you step on board and the captain/surf guide says we not going there, there are no waves there at the moment. There's a lot of boats say this and I have never seen them in the region, ever. I've had so many people contact me saying this happened to them. On very rare occasions it is the truth though. I have tried to warn people but they choose the cheaper option and have been told that they get to surf that region. You get what you pay for in this country more than anywhere in the world.

I just wanted to point all this out because I read so much stuff in these forums that blows me away and it seems everyone is writing off the Maldives now and it has such a bad rap for crowds and most of the times we don't surf with anyone. I know years ago we used to surf these regions when the numbers weren't too bad and over recent years we have had to surf the more crowded regions sometimes due to certain wind/swell patterns and we have had some shitty trips but they are rare. There are a hell of a lot of people out there who have travelled with us and have spun out about how we go about things, spewing we can't promote it!
I'd be rich if I could but it's not about that is it? It's about surfing with just you and your mates and I am trying to protect that, oh hang on that's what they guarantee you at the resorts isn't it? Shame the resorts don't pick up all the swell directions and we can.

Hopefully this hasn't come across as a shameless promotion for the most awesomest besterest surferers/guiderers in the world at Liquid Destination if it has I apologise and will balance it out by saying the Maldives is shit and I have no idea where i'm going I just drive round in circles lost most of the time, it all looks the same to me.
The best trick I've found is to leave at night and pull up at the same break from the other direction all you have to do is to have knocked down just one of the palms trees on the point and people go no hang on this is different there were 4 palms at the other spot yesterday and here there's only 3 and all of a sudden your at a new secret spot, if only it was that easy.

L-q, then it be called no palms, different country, different wave, classic stuff.
Had a couple of mates that have been with you, good waves good stories :)

One of the european operators surfed Honky's today. It was shit but he said they had 7 of them and jumped out and surfed without any incident (no police, no coastguard). There were 4 guys out from one of the resorts as well. Going to be an interesting year for you guys in North Male, it's just going to be a nightmare. Guys are going to get either put in jail or more than likely deported out of the country if it gets serious. I'm not too sure how I would feel if I was selling a resort and guys were getting arrested over my backing of the exclusivity law, it's a bit much.

Whilst on board your Male’ atolls charter you will have access to all open breaks in the North & South Male atolls; Including Chickens, Cokes, Ninjas, Jails, Tucky Joes, Quarters, Kates, Foxy’s and Riptide.

Claims being made by Thamburudhoo Pvt Ltd regarding restricted surfing at Sultans and Honkies are currently under investigation by LAM (Liveaboard association of Maldives) and MSA (Maldives Surf association). There is a major outcry in the surf tourism industry over these latest controversial developments. With the new government now in place, LAM & MSA are doing all possible to get an official statement regarding the situation with Sultans and Honkies and as soon as we receive this statement we will publish it.

This is the latest email from the President of the Liveaboard association of Maldives who represent the charter boat industry.

From: Ismail Hameed, Liveaboard Association of Maldives
Sent: Tuesday, 4 February 2014 7:15 PM

We have met with the tourism ministry and they confirmed that they will help us on the issue.

Hence, please bare with us, as all lam executive members are closely working on this with the ministry's legal team.

As of now, ministry haven't made any official statement and we will be using the areas (dive sites and surf breaks).

We assure that LAM will stand up against any act to arrest or block any surfer using those.

Thanks

Ismail Hameed
President
Liveaboard Association of Maldives
Website : www.liveaboards.mv