May 2023 won’t be remembered as the best month of the season, but there will still be plenty of surfers who had great memories of their experiences. The monsoon kicked in during mid May, bringing westerly winds and a few squalls, yet amongst that there were pulses of SE swell and fun sessions around the east facing breaks of Male and Central Atolls.
Riptides on South Male is one of those waves that sucks in the SE trade swells and is groomed to perfections in the monsoon westerly winds.
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Pam Burridge is a true legend in surfing and she returns to Kandooma each season with a crew looking for stoke and uncrowded waves. Here she shows how much fun it can be on the smaller days.
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Season Outlook
June 2023 is showing the characteristics of a classic Maldives season, with an early start to the Monsoon in May. The season has settled down to the consistent moderate westerly winds we expect. There will be the occasional squall as usual, but we do not expect the strong South-Westerlies we had last season. Back in 2022 the Negative Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) became established, a lot like the Pacific Ocean’s La Niña, the IOD can have wide-ranging effects: some good for surfers, some not so good. Last year enjoyed plenty of swell – especially out of the South East quadrant – however, persistent gusty winds out of the South-West favoured some breaks like Kandooma, whereas many others were wind-affected, especially the Male Atolls lefts (Pasta, Lohis, Honkeys) and south- and west-facing breaks of the Central Atolls (Vodi, Mauroof’s). The good news for 2023 is the IOD is now trending slightly positive, which should result in more consistent Westerly winds and more surfing options facing South-East to South-West.
Early June, South Male Atoll turns on: (pics by Jinu)
Forecast 10 – 17 June 2023
It’s all about the SE trade swell window, with a broad fetch of moderate ESE trade winds anchored in the Indian Ocean. This wind field spreads from the Western Australian Coast almost the entire width of the Indian Ocean from the equator to the tropic of Capricorn. With consistent winds of 20 –25 knots unrelenting for weeks over such a long fetch, the resulting Trade swell can outperform expectations.
Surface winds for 12 June show trade winds pointed towards the Maldives covering almost the entire Indian Ocean between the Equator and Tropic of Capricorn. From Swellnet WAMs
The East-facing breaks of the Maldives (eg: Kandooma, Muli, Machines) should light up nicely with 3’ – 5’ of swell @9 – 12 seconds from SSE to SE in direction for the entire week. A stronger pulse should be felt around the 16th June, when it pushes 4’ – 5’ and longer period around 10-11 seconds. Given the nature of trade swells, the swell doesn’t really relent, just pulses and ebbs – there should be some waves throughout, just keep an eye on the tide, wind and local conditions to get the best moments in what should be a good week of waves. Local winds will remain light to moderate westerly, with a trend to WNW winds from 11 – 17 June favouring the east-facing lefts like Lohis, Pasta Point, Foxys and Tucky Joe’s.
Forecast from 18 June 2023
The SE Trade swell regime is forecast to remain in place for the rest of June – which is great news for surfers. Current modelling is suggesting 4 foot at 10 seconds SSE continuing from 18 –20 June, and then a slight lift in energy from 20th onwards to up to 5 foot SSE. The winds are expected to trend SW from 18, to at least 22 June; this combination will favour the east-facing rights such as Kandooma, Jails, Sultans, on the Male Atolls and breaks like Muli and Machines on the Central Atolls.
Another swell source is expected to fire up from the 20 June onwards, when a major round of SSW groundswell is set to impact the Maldives. Starting from 20th, the swell begins at 2’ at 19 seconds SSW, slowly filling in to around 4’ – 5’ @ 16 seconds SSW. The long period of the swell will see it wrapping on to the East-facing breaks, resulting in some stronger infrequent sets amongst the more consistent mid-sized, mid-period SSE trade swells. The South-facing exposures such as Cokes and Mauroofs could see much stronger sets, pushing double overhead at times.
From the 22nd June onwards, the SW groundswells will become the dominant swell train and breaks with exposure to South and West will outperform the East-facing breaks. Hopefully local winds remain light to moderate, and surfers can make the most of what may one of the strongest SW swells of the season, running right up to the end of the month.
MALDIVES SURF TRAVEL SPECIALS
Azure skies, golden sands, and sparkling turquoise waters make Kandooma Maldives the perfect spot for couples, honeymooners and families
Azure skies, golden sands, and sparkling turquoise waters make Kandooma Maldives perfect