The 2021 surf season for Maldives just keeps getting better! Long runs of Solid South to SE swells keep pulsing, with each swell a bit bigger and stronger than the last. The July of 2021 was one for the books, starting out strong with a couple of weeks of solid SE swell lighting up all the east facing breaks of the Male and Central Atolls. The consistent, perfect conditions were the ideal return from injury for Shane Dorian. Wearing a brace, Shane puts his reconstructed knee to the test in the Central Atolls.
If you want to surf like Dorian after you have recovered from injury, it helps a lot to surf like Dorian before you are injured! Shane testing out his reconstruction, note brace on left knee! Maldives Central Atolls, photo Andy Potts
The swell trended more South to SSE around the middle of the month with some larger sets impacting the South Swell magnets. Check out Cokes, bigger than it looks:
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At the same time, the East-facing breaks still churned out perfect lines as a result of the long swell period (13-16 seconds) wrapping on to the reefs.
Central Atolls, mid July 2021. SSE swell wrapping perfectly on to this remote break, photo Andy Potts
Good to epic sessions went down at breaks all over the archipelago. In late July many memorable moments trended from good to epic! Highlights include Shane Dorians birthday wave at Kandooma where he celebrated with one of the longest and deepest barrels ever filmed there.
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As July wound down to August, the non-stop swell trend was straight south groundswell while the SE tradeswell eased to background levels. However the east facing breaks did not miss out, with the long swell period (>14 seconds) sent swell wrapping on to east facing Kandooma.
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The first week of August has continued the party with the Male Atolls celebrating solid round of mid period SSE swell under light and variable local winds. Pretty much every single break was on the pump at the same, just a matter of choosing exposure to the south to select the ideal size and perfect waves for surfers of any level. Check out Foxys, one of South Male’s finer lefts doing its thing in early August.
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Looking ahead – Mid August 2021
The run of swell is not showing any signs of slowing down. From 8 August the SE trade swell hangs in in the 3 to 4 foot range with plenty of east in the direction (140-150 degrees) ensuring super fun conditions across most east facing breaks of Male and Central Atolls.
A new pulse of strong South groundswell (4 foot @ 18 seconds) will be felt from the 11th August.
A broad fetch of SE trade winds has established itself across the Indian Ocean south of the equator. Embedded troughs create stronger winds over an already active sea state, producing solid pulses that light up the south east facing Lefts under offshore west to north-westerly monsoons.
SE Trade winds below the equator push consistent SE swell toward the Maldives in Mid August (WAMs from Swellnet)
A combination of SE Trade swell (green line) and South groundswell (blue line) both pulse in the 3- 4 foot range while winds trend WNW. Forecast from Surfline.
Looking in to the 3rd week of August expect the SE trade swell to slowly ease from 4to 3 foot, fading to background around 20th August. Winds trend more west to WSW, opening up the rights. The South swell window remains quiet over the period before a significant pulse of South groundswell can be expected around 21st.
Surfline shows easing SE swell before a pulse from the South
The trend towards the end of August is more of the same – pulsing swells from both the South and South East under light to moderate offshore westerlies – Woo-Hoo, get me to the Maldives!
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