We’ve Come So Far To Be Here Today! Serendipitous Secrets Of The Maldives

There’s a great documentary on Tony’s life titled Serendipity available through Garage Entertainment.

In 2019 we surfers are all familiar with the Maldives as a collection of 1192 palm-fringed, sun drenched atolls, blessed with white sandy beaches, shallow lagoons, and vibrant live coral reefs home to dozens of now famous left and right reefs peeling off in paradise.

Southern bliss. – Photo Margarita.

The water’s warm, the food’s insane and there’s no terrorism, shark issues or major political or geographical unrest.

We’ve Come So Far To Be Here Today!

The Perfect Wave have been operating the largest fleet of surf charter boats in the Maldives covering every break and atoll for over 12 years now. TPW also run the exclusive surf and yoga program at the Maldives No 1 Surf Family resort at Kandooma, and also book other family surf resorts like Lohis, Niyama and Ayada.

Kandooma in all it’s glory. – Photo Potts.

This interview with Tony Hussein Hinde was recorded back in late August 1995 just before the Maldives became a regular surf trip destination for international surfers. Before charter boats were running, back when Pasta was the only real land camp.

Tony surfing Sultans.

This was one of, if not the the first interview Tony recorded for the Australian Surf Media. It was a very relaxed, informal interview I recorded on a dhonni Tony commandeered to take us from his beloved Pasta Point up to Cokes, whilst I was on location with former touring Pro’s Richard Dog Marsh and Steve Clements for my Surfing Magazine – Underground Surf Australia.

Tony Hussein Hinde chatting with Ben Horvath, Dog Marsh and Clemo back in 95. Photo Bosko Underground Surf

Anthony Hussein Hinde (1953 – 27 May 2008) was a Maroubra boy, a Maldivian surfer and pioneer. Hinde is co-credited with realizing the potential to surf and commercialize the process in the Maldives, along with fellow Australian surfer and friend Mark Scanlon.

Tony’s foresight and discoveries pretty much kick-started the Maldives ever expanding surf tourism industry.

Tony and his buddy Mark ran aground on a North Male atoll in the Maldives aboard a ketch in which they had been hired as crew members. They were en route across the Indian Ocean from Sri Lanka to Reunion Island when they ran aground.

Hinde hung in the Maldives repairing the boat and discovered how good the waves were and decided to stay put.

If every surfer who rides thrusters owes that craft’s inventor Simon Anderson a dollar, then in that spirit anyone who has ridden a wave in the Maldives is similarly indebted to Tony!

Tony Hussein Hinde died on May 27, 2008 while surfing at Pasta Point in Male Atoll. RIP Tony!

I would like to acknowledge Ian Lyon the founder of Atoll Travel Aus, Tony’s business partner who organized the exclusive Underground Surf trip for us back then, and also Sean the CEO of Waterways Surf Travel (USA) who also stayed and surfed with us, and later invited us to LA to stay with him – the legend. Thanks guys, we had a blast and to surf and hang with Tony was monumental.

  A collage of images from the Maldives feature in 95.                                            Cover lines displaying Maldives feature story back in 95.

After surfing a couple of set ups during his initial serendipitous (but unplanned) stay, Tony spent the next 2 to 3 decades exploring the various set ups, pretty much surfing alone. He married a local lady, converted to Islam, became a Maldivian citizen, and opened Atoll Adventures, at Pasta with his buddy Ian Lyon.

Below is a small excerpt of my quite lengthy message i left for Tony in his infamous Tari Village guest book on my last day back in 95:

Tony “Honky” Hussein Hinde chillin with a buddy.

“Having read the guestbook from cover to cover i was stoked to read Occy’s, Margo’s, Flavio’s, Gofo’s and Bernie Baker’s accounts of their early Maldivian stays. However, I wanted to avoid cliches and token back – patting.

Occy ripping at Foxy’s(Kandooma) in the Maldives with The Perfect Wave, 22 years after his first trip with Tony.

So what did i get out of this trip?

Inspiration with a capital I.

I was inspired by a forty something grommet who’s living out his dreams, running a successful surf camp in his dignified way, free from the pressures of modern society, at one with the locals and contributing to their economy and both his and his families future. Everything’s modest, autonomous and pretty enviro – friendly. Nothing’s overdone or over hyped and while i know that progress is inevitable in such a beautiful place, I also know that after hanging with you that the surfing brotherhood and mellow vibes will remain intact.”

Honky’s in the foreground (Tony’s fav wave hence his nickname – Honky.) Sultans background. Nth Male Atoll.

Interesting that “Inspired” was my buzzword back in 95 when i hand wrote my message in Tony’s Tari Village Journal. In hindsight i can pinpoint that particular journey in inspriring my eventual career change from surf journalist to Surf Travel Marketing Manager with The Perfect Wave.

It is amazing how things come full circle in life as I reflect on Tony’s influence 24 years later, the day before I embark on another Maldives “Work” trip with The Perfect Wave.

Interesting also that my impression of the Maldives back then was that it was an amazing natural “Fun park” most likely the ultimate surf trip locale for 40, 50 and 60 somethings. Now that I’m personally right in the midst of that very demographic, I can very definetively vouch for the accuracy of my first impressions now that i have much more experience in the region.

The interviewer Ben Horvath enjoying his return to Sultans in Sept 18, 23 years after Tony took him there. – Potts.

Lets look back now to the August 95 Q and A I did with Tony.

Ben: – What are the secrets of the Maldives?

Tony:- Well Benny boy down in the outer atolls there’s a lot.

There’s still a lot of uncrowded options well south of Male. – Photo Potts.

Ben: – What a lot of totally unsurfed waves?

Tony:- Yeah. Everybody knows there’s plenty of untapped waves in the south. There’s a certain place i discovered down in the south with about 14 breaks and they’re open to anything the Indian Ocean can deliver swell wise. Its a lot bigger down there than up her in the North Male Atolls. Its still really remote.

Still plenty of relatively uncrowded set ups.

Ben: – So it gets more swell down there than here in the North Male Atolls?

Tony: – Yeah. A couple of Atolls south of here there’s a bit dogleg that goes out to the east, so what we get in this region is actually what wraps around that. When you get below that, or south of that, the swell is bigger and more powerful as well, but it’s a really remote area; like, it takes about three days to get there and there’s no communications whatsoever. For example, on our last trip south, an unfortunate thing happened to someone on the trip. A close member of their family died at home. It took us about 10 days to contact them to pass on that message.

Rewards await.

Ben: – So it’s not for the fainthearted, hey? Mainly for hardcores…..

Tony: – Yes, its mainly for hardcore surfers who have done a lot of travelling and don’t mind being right out there where there is no contact with anyone, no people and you have to travel knowing all the implications going to a remote area like that involves. It’s not the type of place to go on your first trip to the area.

Back then the Maldives may not of been ideal for partners, but epic scenes like this are now?

Ben: – Not the type of place to take your chick?

Tony: – No it’s not the place to take your chick, no. Your more or less looking at a three week trip on a boat, with a bunch of mates, if possible, and you’d want to know ‘ em pretty well… you know.

Wow, how things have changed in 25 years. TPW’s Lachy and his partner arrive at Niyama.

Ben: – Does it get wild out there – the weather, I mean?

Tony: – Yeah, it can get very wild, you know. You’ve got a lot of ocean crossings: you’ve got a couple of channels to cross that are really big… you know… some are about 50 kilometres long.

The wind, the storms, the ocean crossings can get gnarly. – epicswells.com

Ben: – Would you say it is some of the most remote unsurfed area left?

Tony: – I think so – in this area, for sure. I think, besides the Phillipines, it has about the last unsurfed virgin waves in Asia.

There’s still plenty, remote uncrowded gems.

Ben: Really?

Tony: – Well Indonesia’s more or less pretty opened up. You know the gold rush has been on there for two decades now.

Ben: – Yeah, Indo’s already a done deal hey. But what about this particular region in North Male here, you would already call these breaks well known, well chartered waters wouldn’t you?

Tony: – Oh yeah.

Ben: – So how do you see the crowds developing here in the next 10 years or so?

Tony: – It’s hard to say, because price wise it’s out of the range of a lot of younger surf travellers, so there’s some discrimination there.

Tony was right all them years back. Pricewise the Maldives does suit older surfers. – Remote bonding. – Potts.

Ben: – Is that deliberate discrimination, due to religous or political beliefs?

Tony: – No it’s the isolation and also the cost of living here, you know. Like, I mean you can go to Sri Lanka or somewhere for half the price and you can stay in a really big hotel with everything, you know what i mean?

Ben: – I’ve read a little here and there that perhaps they want to keep undesirable, lower rent kinda tourism away?

Tony: – No, it is for genuine economic reasons really. It has to be that way because everything is so expensive to import here, anyway. And we have a limited number of surfers here.

Town scenes.

Ben: – Which is what, about 20?

Tony: – Yeah about 20 to 25.

Ben: – When was your first business venture? When did you first start bringing surfers over with profit in mind?

Tony: – 1984/85.

Ben: – Do you see only improvement in terms of conditions? Is your goal to make it a better place for surfers?

Tony: – I think we’ve already got it sussed out now. I don’t think we can do it any better myself. I don’t know, the way it is, I don’t want to go on from here in any way. I want to keep it as it is, like this. People come over and have the best surf trip of their life. It’s as big as i want it to be, because if it gets any bigger it’s not what it started out to be.

Why we love it.

Ben: – The price of progress?

Tony: – It will probably f..k here too, but hopefully there’s no room for expansion here, with the size of the islands and the difficulties of doing business and things like that. Hopefully, a lot of these things are gonna control that development, you know. Like i tell you what, man, when i first got shipwrecked in 1973, and saw how isolated it was here, i thought two things straight away: one, you find waves here there gonna be good: and two, you gonna have them for a long time on your own.

Down south. – Margarita.

Ben: – So you had the waves you discovered to yourself for how long- 10 years?

Tony: – Fifteen with just me and my mates. Out of that 15 years i did 5 seasons on my own and around 10 seasons with my mates.

But of those two things i thought when i first came here two things happened. One i didn’t think the waves would be as good as they turned out to be. Like if you wanted anything better i’d think there was something wrong with you… unless your a gonad man or something. And two, i didn’t think i’d have them to myself for as long as i did. You know, even in those days i used to think, oh yeah, everyone’s gonna come and spill the beans and there’s gonna be hundreds of people here next year and that… the government restrictions came in and they sort of controlled it.

Ben: – What restrictions are they?

Tony: – Well, when i first came here, mate, they didn’t even stamp your passport – you could stay as long as you wanted. I stayed one and a half years one stretch, without going out of the country, and it went from that – from the freest country in the world – to where it is now.

First they brought in that you could only stay in the guesthouses and you had to pay $3 a day- you know, the proprietor had to pay$3 bed tax. You could have guesthouses in the fishing villages and the tourists and travellers could get out and live with the locals at that stage. They did that for about six months and then they said, bang, no – no guesthouses outside of Mali and everyone has to pay $6 a day bed tax. So virtually everyone who comes to the Maldives today pays; the proprieter of the hotel has to pay the government, but in turn thats put on your bill.

Early season delivering size and power down south for Sean Holmes. – Photo Potts.

Ben: – So whats the best time of the year?

Tony: – I think March to November.. any time.. that is the question i get asked by everyone and it’s a really hard one to answer.

Ben: – Can you single out a month or two?

Tony: – Well i have my favourites and …

Ben: – You don’t want everyone flooding in here during a certain month or two, hey?

Tony: – Yeah. That is the best thing, to keep it like that, because it’s really true. Like, a lot of people say June and July are really stormy and no good, but this year (1995) was perfect and we had great waves.

Epic empty set up.

Ben: – I know it is super fickle up here Tony. How are you at predicting the weather – you haven’t totally aced the weather predictions yet have you?

Tony: – No, because it is very unpredictable. Usually if you have swell, there is somewhere offshore.

Ben: – There’s somewhere that will be on hey. In this 9 day period in September we have had the pleasure of surfing with you, we have had waves every single day. It has been minimum 3-4ft every day and there’s been two 6-8ft days at Cokes and Sultans.

Tony: – Yep it has been a fairly typical 9 or 10 day period with you guys tearing it up.

Ben: – What about predominant winds?

Tony: – Once the southwest monsoon comes, in about mid May, from then on you can get good weather, or you can experience really bad weather right up till November almost. You can actually come here and get a bad week or two of bad weather.

Ben: Have crew come up and been completely skunked and had two weeks of trashy weather?

Tony: – Not totally, there’s always a little window here and there. Bad weather makes it difficult to travel by boat, if your on a surfari boat in the outer atolls or something, you can get snowed in for up to 5 or 6 days, it can happen.

Sensational sunset on a TPW surfari boat. – Potts.

Ben: – What about November through March?

Tony: – Cross shore winds limit the potential for sure.

Ben: – Whats the most consistent region here?

Tony: – North Male Atolls. I think Pasta Point is the most consistent wave. Honky’s is the best wave, but it is more fickle than Pasta.

Honkys.

Ben: – Yeah, but the best waves are a personal thing right? Of all the waves you took us to, Sultans was my favourite. Each to their own right? Jails is not quite as good in my opinion?

Tony: – I lived on the prison island for 15 years, mate and that was my backyard break. I didn’t surf it that much; there are 4 breaks; there are four breaks here and that was number 4 on my list.

Jails on a very good day.

Ben: – So why the myth?

Tony: – I guess because you can’t surf it anymore. People like to perpetuate the myth. Forbidden fruit, who knows? The best time it broke big was in a mackin April swell we had in the early 80’s. It got up to 15ft and wiped out the reefs and coral.

Ben: – What so the corals kinda like sand at home: it shifts around on the bottom?

Tony: – Well, when you get a swell big enough, it will break properly, yeah and it moves around. Often when you get a solid run of swell, like if it is 6-8ft for days, you’ll see a whole new line of coral.

New islands.

Ben: – You mentioned there have been incidences of totally new breaks popping up after that massive early 80’s swell. New Atolls?

Tony: New islands.

Ben: – Whats happening with the local surfers?

Tony: – Well, like, there’s second generation surfers here now. The first surfers in the Maldives were from a northern atoll.

Second gen Maldivian surfers are chilled.

Ben: – Were you the first person to surf down here?

Tony: – Yes, and the two boards i brought to the Maldives are still getting surfed up there in that island today. There’s a wave there that breaks – it only gets to about 4ft on that island – but there’s a reef about a mile or two miles off the island with a decent left and right peak.

Ben: – Is that the island you got shipwrecked on?

Tony: – No, no no. Thats one i went to in my travels looking for surf in the Maldives. That was the nicest island i ever came across. The chief had another island a few miles away and we used to go stay over there for a coupla days and i would take my board with me.

Tony and Dara holding the first surf board brought to the Maldives.

Ben: – Sounds like a movie script mate?

Tony: – Yeah. What i was getting to was that while i was there, the chiefs son was born. We were veryclose; he was like my best friend and i named his son. Getting to the second generation surfers, his son is now 17 years old and he’s the best youg surfer in Male. I took him out when he was 4 or 5 years old on the front of a windsurfer, you know, and he stayed at my place for a long time. Now he’s the best surfer here.

Ben: – How good is the best surfer here on an international scale?

Tony: – Well, they’re not up to say Australian standards, and they’re not up to even Balinese standards, because they don’t get enough exposure. You can see guys going off in movies and it looks great and everything, but it’s not as inspiring as if your out there in the water or on the beach watching them. So they would improve a lot if they could see more good surfing.

Street scene.

Ben: – I don’t suppose they see that much in town, because most of the good surfing goes on out here right?

Tony: – Getting back to what i was saying about that island, i’d been up there for about six months or something like that and then i came back and then i went tripping through there again. Like months and months later i went tripping through that area again and we had a chance to visit that island again. As we came in, i could see in the distance all the young kids out there surfing, standing up on their planks and stuff like that. And for me it was like … wow, look at that! You know, like, they’re surfing and the inner core of all the surfers in Male are still from that island up there, sort of.

Ben: – You reckon a few years down the track they could get really good?

Tony: – Yeah, i’m sure. I tell you what. They’re really game, because where they surf in Mali it’s kinda like D’Bah – it’s quite a heavy beachbreak. It’s really wedgy. So they come out to the Atolls and it’s nothing to them – it’s the perfect wave.

Ben: – So they’re not intimidated. The reef doesn’t scare them?

Tony: – They are all seafaring people here. It’s a maritime culture. Everyone knows boats. They’re brought up on the sea.

Maritime life, Maldivian styles.

Ben: – What do you think of surf camps?

Tony: – Hmmm…. i think they’re a necessary evil. Soul surfers don’t like them because you’re supposed to get out there and, you know, look for it yourself. But there’s a lot of people with committed lives who can’t get out there and be as hardcore as that. If you take a situation like this place, if it’s done properly, they do a very good job because the guy who wants to go surfing comes to where it is and, bang everything is set up and he can just go surfing and do exactly what he wants for that whole holiday and jump on the plane and go back home. If they function like that, i think they’re really great. All the groundwork’s been done and it’s just a walk – up start.

Ben: – Yeah, I’m with you on that one. I was thinking of setting up an interesting debate in the magazine at some point about surf camps. Talk to guys like McCabe and those kinda pioneering crew.

Tony: – It would be interesting to hear what they think?

Same, but very different! McCabe at G-Land – a legendary surfing pioneer.

Ben: – Actually i gave him a call before coming up here, to ask him what he specifically thought about the G-Land contest?

Tony: What’d he say?

Ben: – He went on to say you can’t stop progress, mate. We did it 20 years ago, been there done that kinda deal.

Tony: – Yep it’s still out there. Yeah i’ve often thought that if i could get as good surf as i get here in some other country, would i just take off and dive into that culture tomorrow?

Progress. Kandooma Resort offers waves, family comfort, music events, fine dining, kids club etc. – Potts.

Ben: – What kinda do it all again?

Tony: Yep- exactly, do it all again. But i don’t think i could ever pull it off like here. You know, it was such a good experience doing that and getting completely submerged in a culture i knw nothing about. It’s great for your character and things like that. I think it’s a great learning experience, so i’d go again tomorrow, but i don’t think i could find as good a place.

Ben: – I’m sure you could find places that are just as isolated, but you’ve kinda gotta be at that stage in your life to be able to go and do shit like that right?

Tony: – Thats so true, it takes a lot of time. It took me 10 or 15 years to get where i am out here.

Still such an amazing place. – Photo Potts.

Ben: – So in summation you pretty much just stumbled on this amazing place, sailing from Sri Lanka?

Tony: – Yep, spot on. We did plan to stop here: we just arrived ahead of schedule and in completely different circumstances, getting washed up on the reef ahead of schedule.

Ben: – It’s like a movie plot – you know what i mean? It would be a great script for a surfing movie with a twist?

Tony: – Yeah, it would be a good script.

RIP Tony, and thanks for providing everyone with the chance to visit not only Pasta, but everywhere in the Maldives