| Paradise Found // Session 20 September 2009 By: Donalee Halkett Location: Maldives Paddling beside your partner amidst turquoise waters teeming with neon fish life, parking your SUPs on the beach of an uber-cool five-star resort, sipping afternoon margaritas together in the sunset lounge as the last golden rays slip over the horizon - rest assured, this was not just any ordinary surf trip.  The days of the boys off surfing for two weeks with the stay-at-home wife playing 'not-happy-Jan' may just be over. In our case, we have SUPing to thank. Yes, times have changed. Especially when the woman of the house has been hit with SUP fever. Once that happens, she is not missing out on the adventure. No way! And if that means hubby getting to take more surf trips - well he isn't arguing with that either! It’s no secret that SUPing has grown in popularity on a number of fronts. A lot of old-time surfers are enjoying it as a breath of fresh air - a great way to enjoy small surf days, cross train, keep fit and just do something fresh and unique. However the ladies are also taking the sport up too, and often with more zeal than the guys. For many novice women, calm water paddling is a non-threatening entry into the world of ocean sports. It is the perfect subtle, full body work-out. And the progression to riding small and safe waves that hard core surfers are not bothered with makes surfing attainable. Enjoyable even. As a SUP instructor, I should know. I see many women getting the bug and becoming increasingly passionate about their new found sport and waistlines. Additionally, this has lead to many couples being able to enjoy some quality paddle time together as well. So what better holiday idea than a SUP trip together to a tropical paradise? Enter The Maldives - the jewel of the Indian Ocean. A country that was surely formed with exquisite precision by a great creator who had SUPing specifically in mind. Twelve hundred exotic islands. Shimmering white beaches floating amidst turquoise waters that teem with an abundance of marine life. Sheet glass waves - peeling unridden. This is the SUPers ultimate playground. A paddle surfing nirvana like no other. Our travel guides from Tropicsurf know the secluded corners of the Maldives better than most. Our nine day live-a-board boat trip was tailored to stand up paddlers of all levels. Beginners enjoyed qualified instruction in the calm splendour of crystal clear lagoons. They could then progress to small, spilling waves without the pressure of crowds. Experienced surfers chose from line-up after line-up of perfect, empty surf. In the nine days, we did not surf or paddle with other people once! There was certainly a lot of pinching ourselves going on. In fact it was a perfect set-up that suited everyone in the group - particularly the guy/girl type of couples whom the trip was well suited to. Depending on the size of the surf, they could choose to paddle and surf together or utilise the two surf guides and tenders to go their separate ways (for a session at least) and ride at their own levels and comfort zones. Herein lies another advantage of the Maldives: it is frequently possible to anchor the boat with a six-foot, ledging, left hander on one side of the channel and a two-foot, rolling, right hander on the other. Thereby keeping just about everybody in some sort of blissful delirium that hopefully sticks in the memory bank and can be recalled for years to come. At around 28 degrees, Maldivian water is warm. In fact it’s downright balmy. Consequently there is an abundance of tropical coral and marine life. However around 1998 the Maldivian reef systems were decimated by changes in weather and water temperatures created by the El Nino current in the Eastern Pacific at that time. Maldivian waters became up to five degrees hotter. Coral polyps that give their limestone encasings their brilliant colours are susceptible to even minor changes in water temperature. Stressed by the heat, these corals expelled the algae that provide as much as sixty percent of their food and endows them with such vivid colors. Subsequently about seventy percent of the coral died, leaving nothing more than a dull, bleached appearance in most locations. However ten years down the track, the corals have started regenerating and flashes of iridescent brilliance are once again a common sight. The wearing of polarised eyewear opens your eyes to the true magical underwater world. More than just the new growth corals, there is an abundance of marine life. Enormous manta rays right beneath our boards dance to the rhythms of the ocean. Curious dolphins frolic with us as we glide past in silence. Vibrant coloured schools of fish are seemingly everywhere. Paddling from one island lagoon to the next, we slide off our boards for a leisurely snorkel. Thereafter a detour via an empty surf line-up brings more fruit. We were living the SUP dream! So the perfect day unfolds - after a sunrise paddle and some playful waves we head back to our boat to be greeted by the divine smells of breakfast, a feast of sweet tropical fruits. The local island papaya, pineapple and bananas seem to taste like heaven compared to what we get at home. It was also a nice change to sit down to a hot breakfast and actually feel like we’d earned it. A range of salubrious cuisine prepared by our ever smiling Sri Lankan chef was the perfect complement to the energy we were expending. His traditional Maldivian fish curries being the highlight.  After a well earned meal, the eyelids become heavy and siesta time kicks in. Resistance is futile. So it becomes a daily ritual. Kicking back on outdoor mattresses watching the islands go by as we cruise to the next surf break is a job I could get used to. Whilst the Maldives has some amazing breaks in the North Male atoll, they can also be quite busy. It was great that we were able to escape all that by travelling to remote areas where we could anchor our boat in secluded lagoons and enjoy pristine surf with not a surfer to be seen. This is Tropicsurf’s ace card. Their knowledge of the outer atolls and secret spots is second to none. Our favourite break was a spot called Betty’s, a dream wave that rolls forgivingly for two hundred metres before ending in a safe, deep water hole. It was the kind of wave we could all enjoy. So we surfed it daily at anything ranging from chest high to overhead. Our band of guests revelled in some of the best waves of their lives. With day after day of sheet glass perfection it was an amazing experience. From a SUP perspective, the absence of wind really made the trip. Tropicsurf had scheduled the trip for October, being a transitional month between monsoons, meaning that light winds were more likely. That was the hope at least and in this instance we were in luck. The glass-offs made the water that much more translucent. The line-ups at times looked surreal.  After a few days of gorging ourselves on un-crowded surf, more paced routines soon developed. Morning yoga, paddle or surf before breakfast, more surf, lunch with good doses of laughing therapy, sunset cocktails, nightly scrabble showdowns, balmy sleeps on deck under starry skies. And so it went.  In between there was plenty of time to just chill out and reflect on life and the important bits. This trip was definitely one of those. A reminder that life is too short. That perfect uncrowded surf does exist. That SUP nirvana is out there. And that sometimes you just need to drink the good wine now.  | |
