Horizon 2 - Surf Charter Boat

Introduction to Horizon 2 - Surf Charter Boat

The Southern/Outer Atolls of the Maldives, have you heard of all the spots down there? Neither has the rest of the world, because the government of the Maldives is very careful about how they regulate surf tourism outside of the North and South Male Atolls. Special permits are required to visit these atolls and islets directly above the equator, and only a few surf charter companies have gone through the red tape and taken the chance to motor as much as 400 miles south of Male – to see what is there.

Outer Atoll surf charters specializes in the Southern Atoll of the Huvadhu/Gaafu Dhaalu, the land of a hundred islands, and a dozen surf spots and growing. The surf explorer for 2009/2010 will be the beautiful Horizon 2, 75 feet of fully air-conditioned, 300 horsepower, 10 knot, seven guest cabins surf cruising machine. The Horizon 2 spends half the year doing SCUBA charters, so it is equipped with a western dinghy and a traditional Dhoni for more latitude in surf exploring.

For these trips, guests fly into Male and then take a local flight to Kandadu – an islet on the west side of the atoll. Like Kuta and Honolulu and a lot of other tropical surf locations, there is a surf spot near the airport, called Airports. If the swell is big out of the south or southwest and the wind is northeast, your long flight will be rewarded with instant surf. From there you will cruise the south and south east side of this large atoll sampling the variety of right and left reef passes that bless each of the channels allowing the ocean to flow in and out of the atoll with the changing tide.

The Southern Atolls are one of the last frontiers of surf travel – the Mentawai before the free for all – and because of the wise regulation of the government – and the sheer tyranny of distance – they are likely to stay that way.

The Surf Charter Boat

The Horizon II has seven air-conditioned guest cabins, each with ensuite bathroom and two-berth oversized beds. The ideal exploration has a maximum of 12 guests with a crew of captain, chef, two deckhands and surf guide. A 90-foot yacht has room to move, and the salon/bar/dining room offers tv, video, cd, dvd entertainment system and 360° views of the reef, the surf and a tree-top level view of the islands, which really are quite extraordinarily flat.

The Horizon II spends part of the year doing dive charters, so it comes equipped with an inflatable surf dingy and also a 10 meter dhoni support boat – in case there is a left on one side of the mothership, and a right on the other we can split your group between breaks The support dhoni also allows your group to have a very early morning and late evening surf as it will stay with you in the channel while the main boat is negotiating the reefs and passes from the anchorages inside the atoll each night.

Surfing at Horizon 2 - Surf Charter Boat

The breaks in the southern atolls work on a wider range of swell and wind conditions than those of the Inner Atolls so an experienced Outer Atoll guide is essential.

We were the first company to operate Outer Atolls surf tours in the region and our well trained Surf Guides have a vast knowledge of the surf breaks and conditions.

This is a remote region, and our well established emergency procedures have proved to be of vital importance on a few occasions when serious medical problems have occurred.

There are about a dozen breaks in the region, including Beacons (Right), Castaways (Right), Five Islands (Right), Love Charms (Left), Tigers (Left), Bluebowls (Right) and Two Ways (Left & Right).