We bailed to the Maldives for a month over the World Cup. A combination of work and surf. Always nice having a project in the tropics! If you're wondering about the Gath helmets, we've worn them when surfing tropical reefbreaks ever since our mate nearly died at G-land after getting scalped by the coral. Plus they keep the sun off.

Many of the photo's may look as if they were taken on the same day cos we have the same boardies and rashies - well, we only took 2 pairs each as we had to cut clothes to a minimum cos our baggage was so overweight! 3 boards each, a ton of fishing rods, massive reels, 2 full boxes of lures....there was just no luggage allowance left for clothes! Who cares, we got cooooooking surf. We've solved the board issue now by leaving boards in the Maldives, so no need to carry so many in future.

We did the first half of the trip on our own mission, as we know the area really well. For the second half we hooked up again with Tropic Surf (our 5th trip with them). We splashed out and went on their top end boat, the Four Seasons Explorer. INSANE! Think 35 crew to just 9 guests! It makes the Indies Trader 4 look like a dingy. Ok, not quite, but it's waaay better - only missing the heli-pad. Super large cabins that were like hotel rooms, with a kingsize bed, flat screen tv and dvd player. 5 star food that included steaks, crayfish and prawns. Plus the usual stellar Tropic Surf staff, that got you into great waves and captured it all on video and camera. Regular video analysis during the trip and expert coaching advice is great for improving your surfing. These are the only guys to travel with in the Maldives! Contact me if you'd like to find out about Tropic Surf trips - I'm an SA booking agent for them - that's how much I rate them! Liked em so much that wanted other Saffa's to know about them as well! Check out the bottom of the gallery for some boat shots.