I finally pulled it together to take my first non-work related vacation in quite some time. Fortunately for me, my cousin Steve had an open spot on his annual guys surf trip. This year the destination was the Maldive islands just off the coast of Sri Lanka. Here's the pics...
Patiently waiting in LAX for my solo flight to Dubai.
Dubai airport.
Water show by Fashion Ave., Dubai.
Ticket to the Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest building in the world.
Burj Khalifa.
View of Dubai from the top.
Top level.
Artist collabs with an exotic chocolate store in the lobby.
Gotta try a hookah sesh while in India.
Outside the Dubai airport.
Shameless work plug.
We landed in Male, the capital of the Maldives. View from outside the airport.
We had some time to kill before they picked us up to go on the boat. So we decided to explore some of downtown Male.
Pretty congested streets with a lot of biz going down.
Dope mermaid scooter. I want that airbrushed on my van.
Lot's of A/C for the sweaty days.
We got picked up around 11pm and went to the boat. Here's the boat we stayed on the morning after.
5am surf check sunrise.
All the small islands around us had these resort cabins on docks you could rent. Pretty dope.
Our surf guide, Cohi, took us to his home island between surf sessions. He owns the only surf shop on it. Apparently there are around 500-600 inhabitants.
Lots of crazy washed out colors and doorways.
The whole island is no more than a couple feet above sea level. So when it rains or the swell's pumping, it floods over.
Can you see it firing at the local break down the way?
My whip. It was getting worked on at the local mechanic.
Papaya.
He wanted to show us a chill spot to watch surf. So we trekked to the beach...
Lots of tour boats out.
...across a bridge...
...through a sketchy trail...
...to some nice benches...
...and some unique hammock set-ups...
...to watch this. Pretty shallow reef break called Coke's with long rollers into the channel.
Crazy doorway.
He took us to the local school he attended as a kid. Homework proudly displayed on the wall.
This is actually the roots of the tree.
Dope coral house.
Our surf guide also designs T's. I enjoyed the literal interpretation of his 2 home breaks.
Reefed boat.
Lineup on a sunny day.
Underwater Native American board.
Probably the funnest day of the trip. Right in the middle of the week, a little overhead and hollow, long rides that was one after another nonstop.
The Aussie crew enjoying the end of the best surf day of the trip.
Complete with an insane sunset.
The trip included meals. This was the standard plate for lunch/dinner. 2 different kinds of Currie, a variation of coleslaw, and white rice with veggies.
One of the older forts converted into a training facility.
Our vessel.
Had some time to snorkel.
Down time with the ugly view.
Board rack on the dongi.
Over 40 hours of flying. 2 evenings in Dubai. 6 days on a boat. All guys, no phone service or internet. 2 books and a dozen magazines. 1 backpack, 2 boards. 3 random drug searches (thanx Dubai airport). And about 30 hours of surfing. All-in-all an amazing trip. Great self-time and I'd highly recommend if you need a break. Now where to next...
On our strut to the bus shuttle over the bridge.
We got there to see the end of Die Antwoord. These guys get the gold star for the perfect balance of weird and awesome.
Here's some of the crew...
Sweet views. Behind the ferris wheel is the SF skyline...
All the bands were sick. Phantogram, Miike Snow, Kruder and Dorfmeister, LCD Soundsystem...
...and all the faces started to melt...
...insane stage presence...
...mind-melting visuals...
And just when we thought the night was over, we hit the town. Going to a new bar that I don't even know the name of, but was awesome. The Classixx were spinning there. They were dope. So we brought them back to my friends kitchen...
Here's a little taste of our eve through a friends vid...
