Shortly after starting with my new job at BGT Structures I left for 5 weeks of holiday. Well, in 2018 I’ve only been to Queenstown couple of times so I think an overseas trip was seriously overdue. Not that the Queenstown wasn’t a blast, but you know…

My first stop was Singapore. Auckland is sort of big, but Singapore… you can tell it’s the fourth biggest financial capital in the world. Of course, I had to do a few touristy things, such as visit Gardens by the Bay, Skypark hotel, and a short wandering around the CBD. Malaysia and Singapore are known for its food culture so I had to try a few restaurants. I even found an affordable Michelin star restaurant, however their meal was pretty average. Singapore was short and sweet… spending a night or two is probably more than enough I would say.

After Singapore I headed to Maldives for a surf. My initial plan was to go to the Mentawai, but after doing some research about the crowd, which FYI I try to avoid, I’ve decided to tweak my plans a little bit. I had to stay the night in Male because my flight arrived late in the evening. I must say that the city feels extremely busy. There’s not much space in the island that’s for sure. People are mainly riding motorbikes because there’s no space to park your car. In the morning I was blown away when my Maldivian Airbnb host mentioned that she’s going to Slovenia this autumn to study math at Primorska University. What are the odds?

I didn’t stay long in Male, and I boarded a speed boat to Himmafushi early in the morning. The atoll is located approximately 20 minutes north of Male, or two hours with a ferry. Amin from the Jailbreak Surf Inn was already waiting for me and greeted me with a big coconut. I only needed 2 seconds to realise that I will definitely have some good time here on the island. Amin took me for a quick tour on his scooter. Of course, we checked the surf first. And holy moly guacamole, the Jails was on fire with perfect double overhead right handers. Insert a smiley face with love heart eyes!

Before paddling out I grabbed myself some lunch at one of the two local restaurants. At the cafe I bumped into a mate from Auckland. What are the odds again? The world is just too small! He was there with a group of Russians and they were just going out for a surf. I joined the bandwagon, and before I realised we were already in the channel watching the peeling waves from a near distance.

We called it a day with an epic sunset session at Jails. My first day on the island and I have already scored the best conditions possible, i.e. perfect offshore breeze with double overhead waves. I must admit I was already thrilled just watching the waves… but to ride them felt like a privilege!

Stay tuned for more!