Spontaneous decisions sometimes are the best
One day in August I woke up in the morning and had this irresistible feeling needing to travel. I am living on the Canary Islands, so usually I am already there where others come for holidays. But sometimes you just want to leave, discover something new and different, no matter where you are or what you have seen and lived already.
Still lying on my bed I took my phone and started looking for flight offers. Lucky me I have a friend who organizes surf trips from Tenerife to Maldives, so the destination was chosen quickly.
When people think about Maldives they suddenly have this perfect postcard picture in there heads. Palm trees, white beaches, turquoise coloured sea – and a mojito. Varunula Surf doesn´t only offer this kind of travelling, it offers you much more: the real local life of Maldives.
That morning I contacted my friend Dany from Varunula and sent him the foreseen travel dates (obviously still lying in my bed, the travel fever got me, and I even forgot about breakfast haha). Only a few minutes later he confirmed one room at the local guesthouse Jail Break Surf Inn on the island of Himmafushi (North Male Atoll) for me, it was an incredible offer including full board menu, air conditioned allotment and surf trips by boat to the local spots. I also booked a private speedboat transfer from Male (flight arrival destination) to Himmafushi (final destination) the very first day since I was travelling on my own not knowing the place (young girl etc. you know) and I preferred a quick and safe transfer.
Anticipating a bit, this trip was meant to be the very best trip of my life!
Welcome to Himmafushi!
Amin, my friend´s partner and one of three brothers who manage the Jail Break Surf Inn with all its services at destination, picked me up at Male and accompanied me by speedboat to Himmafushi. It was a sunny day and the landscapes we passed by on this 30-minutes-transfer made me forget the 24-hours-trip and my tired body. I had never been to such a magical place! We drove through these little islands of the North Male Atoll towards the North and each of them seemed to be drawn and not real. From the boat we also saw some of the 5-star-resorts, the typical wooden houses which you reach by beach walking over long stages into the Ocean. It was interesting seeing it since I knew it only from pictures… But I already knew that I would discover something much more interesting than that :-)
Welcome to Himmafushi!
Picture: Watersports Store @Bikini Beach Himmafushi
Picture: Bikini Beach Himmafushi
Once arrived at the island, Amin´s brother Appi took my bag to the hotel by his motorbike. He asked his brother Amin where my surf board was since Dany told them I wanted to catch some waves. I explained that I was a beginner and would rent one at the local Watersports store. I didn´t want to tell them I was still on a softboard, having this idea to change to a smaller board during my stay. But this was just my secret…:-) We arrived at the Jail Break Surf Inn and started with breakfast. Delicious! And too much! Sina, the third brother at the guesthouse, and an incredible cook as I came to know later, prepared a huge menu for me. The other guest had already left for surfing, so the abundant food on the table was just for me. Fruits, tuna with coconut (awesome, you have to try that!), pancake-like warm bread (could have eaten only that during the whole vacation, got addicted!), marmalades, coffee, juices,… It was a culinary paradise!
I considered the first day a lay day since I was super tired from my 24-hours-journey. So I just walked around the island to discover the place which would be my “new home” for the next 10 days. What a marvellous place! Small little streets, organized as a chessboard, multi-coloured house faces, everybody smiling, driving on bicycles or motorbikes, kids laughing and playing on the streets, their mothers and grandmothers sitting in front of the houses watching them (and me), saluting friendly showing their bright white smile framed by a dark skin. Awesome people, I felt really good!
Picture: Way towards Jail Breaks (local surf spot)
Afterwards Sina accompanied me to the Watersports store, the place where you can rent any kind of watersports equipment or book e.g. a jet-sky ride. The owner showed me the surf boards he had to offer. By chance there was a beautiful one from a shaper from Tenerife (Taz), so my decision was made quickly. Some home spirit might bring me good luck out there!
Picture: Himmafushi harbour with surfboard by tazyassin and pukassurf
After the short discovery and shopping tour I slept a long “siesta” and came out of my well air conditioned and super cute cave in the evening to have dinner with the other guests. The guesthouse has four rooms, so everything is really personal. Although your daily program might differ from the one of the other tourists, at night you all come together to enjoy the delicious dinner created by Sina.
Picture: Dinner at Jail Break Surf Inn
The very first night I knew two Spanish guys who where already staying more than one week at Jail Break Surf Inn and were meant to leave the next day. It was nice to speak Spanish again, being so far away from home. We enjoyed the meal and got to bed early since the boat was scheduled to pick us up the next morning at 7am. So you pasty pale late risers, this trip is not about having much sleep but LIVING haha!!! :-)
Forget about your fear, princess!
Good morning! Although you might be still a bit tired and sleepy at 7am, I swear you gonna wake up immediately when you make your first step on a dinghy boat which drives you directly towards a stormy and rainy surf spot! I was sitting on the boat watching the dark sky, freezing a bit, thinking about my mom and what she might say or do if she saw me like this (better not telling her!), holding on to my surfboard and laughing. This was real adventure – from the very first moment! But the best situation was still to come…
Picture: Time for adventure!
We arrived about 50m from the point break of “Jails Break” (Himmafushi´s local spot, also available from land walking across the reef) when the dinghy stopped. So I tied up the leash at my left foot, prayed silently and jumped into the dark blue water! I started paddling towards the point while the rain was pouring down on my head. I couldn´t stop laughing, it was definitely a situation I had never lived so far. Nevertheless, I felt safe. There were many people in the water already, including the ones of my group who jumped into the water right behind my back. I paddled towards the ones who were already in the line-up and the first one I saw was a strong guy with long hair, laughing – and under his blue swollen eye there was a recently stitched-up long cut! What the……?!? I saw him and felt like being in a horror movie… I asked him if this came from surfing. He confirmed. I said “Wow nice” (not knowing what else to say) and he said “Thank you!!!”… Later he explained to me that a kid surfed right into him, hitting him with the nose of his surf board. He almost lost his eye but was still smiling and: surfing!!! So I knew that I was surrounded by crazy surf addicts, and this made me feel quite comfortable :-)
The very first day I didn´t catch any wave. I was just sitting on my board, staring at the professional surfers at the point, trying to control my emotions and being really impressed by the speed and power of the waves. This was really enough for my Maldivian baptism!
The group <3
Being home again three new guests just had arrived at the Jail Break Surf Inn. Eyal, Elad and Nadav – three surfers from Israel. Welcome to Maldives! The same night one more guest joined the group: Taz from Tenerife. The one who shaped the board I rented at the Watersports store. Lucky break!
A few days later three more people joined “our group”: Melissa and Simone, a couple from Italy, and Louis from South-Africa. We didn´t need a lot of time to discover that we were all “on the same wavelength” at all points. Although we mixed up 5 different nationalities (Israeli, Italian, South-African, Spanish, German) we became like family. I cannot remember having laughed that much as we did during our surf trips, walks across the island, beach times, meals or relaxing breaks watching TV. In one week we had uncountable laugh attacks (until having at least one of us crying) as well as profound conversations about life, dreams, family, relationships, politics, religion, culture and of course travelling. What a rich experience! I am so thankful having met all these awesome personalities in such a beautiful environment.
Picture: The group posing in front of Jail Break Surf Inn
Being the Maldives a territory with Muslim influence, alcohol consumption is absolutely illegal and can be punished with up to 5 years of prison! Of course there were these evenings sitting at the guesthouses´ terrace dreaming of a cold beer, but in the end we didn´t really “need” it. There were some nights we seemed to be drunk by the fun we had – for sure the healthiest booze-up we could ever have! And there was no hangover!! :-) The focus was on having an extraordinary good time, sharing special moments and the same passion for surfing, enjoying the landscape and nature, coming to know the real local Maldivian culture and filling up the soul with pure LIFE!
Boat trip to Thulusdhoo Island
Picture: Day trip by boat to Thulusdhoo Island.
Picture: Melissa, Appi and me
One day Amin organized a full day boat trip to another spot for us: Thulusdhoo Island. His brother Appi accompanied us. As always “the group” started in the morning, all of us full of illusion and happy to discover another piece of paradise. The weather was perfect, sunny and a bit windy. We already enjoyed very much the journey itself. Of course joking and laughing as always about everything. We had a lot of fun with the captain of the boat who was fishing with his toe! Yeah, well read: with his big toe! I´ll copy you the picture as a proof of evidence and the tunas he got out of the water thanks to this procedure. We were wondering if he might loose his toe when a bigger one was biting the bait one day…..
Picture: Captain fishing with his toe
Picture: Happy captain :-)
At Thulusdhoo Island we discovered two new surf spots: Chicken´s and Cokes. While the boys were catching waves the ladies (Melissa and me) got snorkelling. In one of my other articles I told you that I had always been afraid of water, and that having my head below the surface without any panic was quite hard work. When my mom saw the snorkelling pictures she asked me: how did you manage that? And I just replied: forgetting about my fear. When life offers you some new adventures and you don´t know if you´ll have the chance to live them again one day, you have two options: let them pass or forget about your fear and memorize them as outstanding experiences which let you grow!
Picture: Snorkelling at Chicken´s Spot
Picture: The girls having fun.
Picture: Cristal clear water close to Chicken´s Spot
This day we had lunch at a small bar on Thulusdhoo Island, the first and only time we didn´t eat at home. It was nice to do something different and come to know new tastes. But honestly Sina´s kitchen is simply the best of all! :-)
Picture: Feeding hungry surfers :-D
After lunch we had a short walk across the island and took some really nice pictures. Here we go: the postcard images you were waiting for since you started reading the article haha:
In the afternoon the boys had another surf session and the ladies caught some sun at the boat. At about 5pm we had to go back to Himmafushi since the sunset starts at 6pm and we needed to be back in the harbour before night. Once initiating the return trip our boat was suddenly accompanied by a huge group of wild dolphins. What an exciting experience! They jumped out of the water, turned around and dropped into the ocean again, just as if they were telling us how happy they are. Beautiful! We clapped our hands since Appi told us that they like it and like that would stay a bit longer with us. We tried to take some pictures and I took a really nice one I would like to share with you:
Picture: Wild dolphin jumping close to Cokes spot.
We travelled home towards a beautiful sunset and closed another wonderful day at Maldives.
Surfing
Maybe it was this incredible team spirit which finally pushed me to forget about my fear and just surf these big, fast and massive waves. The last day for sure was my very best in the water. Thanks to Louis who motivated me in the line-up! So here we go, Marly surfing Maldives :-)) No more words needed, you will see them written on my face:
Picture: Jumping off the boat at Honky´s, board by tazyassin and pukassurf
Time to say goodbye...:-(
The weather was quite unstable during these 10 days and there were days we couldn´t go out by dinghy. But since we had so much fun just being together we never got bored and always found a way to entertain us. During the surf breaks and hard rain periods we were baking cake, shopping at the Mango´s Shop (biggest souvenir shop of whole Maldives!) or simply smoking shisha and talking. The rain converts to our running gag and we were laughing about the postcard images and perfect sunny beaches people might think about when talking about Maldives. We loved the place in any case. Maybe like that it became even more authentic!
Picture: Team spirit <3
When leaving the island and saying goodbye to “the group”, I was crying. Two weeks ago we didn´t even know each other and now we were true friends. It was an incredible experience at a wonderful and unique place with amazingly nice people! We felt being at home from the very first day, and everything seemed to be flowing and matching naturally.
Thank you Varunula Surf (check out Varunula Surf https://www.facebook.com/maldivessurf/ or contact dany@varunula.com) and Jail Break Surf Inn for the trip of my life! Thank you Amin, Appi and Sina for taking care of us in such a familiar way. Thank you Elad, Nadav, Eyal, Taz, Melissa, Simone, Louis and Louis´ father for the infinite laugh attacks, the shared adrenaline, emotions and endorphins in the water, the profound conversations and incredible team spirit! I will miss you all a lot a lot a lot!!! And we will meet again, someday somewhere!
I hereby highly recommend travelling with this organization. Every surfer who loves travelling to authentic places, coming to know local culture and habitats, having a really good time for reasonable prices and enjoy really good local food will fall in love with this destination at once! Last but not least, Qatar Airlines is amazing. I would always travel with them: top service, lot of space, delicious food, best movie collection, reasonable prices! And if you get an upgrade to Business Class: you´ll be in Heaven!
Talking about Heaven......
Thank you Maldives!!! It was just unreal.
Picture: Bikini Beach Himmafushi
Live your dream,
Marly -