Sultans of Swing

Looks serene and quiet like Paradise should. Shot from the boat Maha. Photo Bryce Taylor.

The attack on Ali Rehaan Mohamed, a surf guide at Chaya Island Dhonveli, took place last Friday at Sultans, a right hander off the uninhabited island of Thamburudhoo, which is in sight of the busy capital Male.

Sultans is even closer to Lohifushi Point, venue for the Maldives Open Surfing Championship featuring 69 international and locals surfers and bodyboarders, which began on Sunday and ended today.

South African surfer Warwick Jones, who stayed on in the Maldives after a recent surf charter in the area aboard the Maha with other South Africans, including Spike from Wavescape, witnessed the attack.

On Friday, he said, Sultans was double overhead with a lot of hassling: "the crowd was pushing hard. As a set rolled in, a local surf guide was sitting deep on the point and laid himself into a long wall" when a big longboader dropped in on him. Afterwards, the local paddled up to the tourist and suggested he stop dropping in. "The reply was a fist to the face" and two of his friends joining the fray "throwing fists at the skinny local".

Jones, a rope access supervisor on oil rigs off Brazil, was part of a 11-man Saffa crew on the Maha who last week had enjoyed fun waves with mostly minor hassling, but all had noticed and commented on several aggressive breaches of surf etiquette by the same group of tourists, who had said they were from Israel.

The alleged culprits return to their surf charter boat. Picture supplied

After the incident, Jones had heard angry threats of vigilantism from Maldives surfers who claim that authorities are turning a blind eye to surf rage assaults by tourists. They wanted authorities to issue what's known as a black stamp, which blocks individuals from returning to the country, but it was unclear whether this had occurred in this case.

In a post on Facebook that described the attack on him, Rehaan said that although the men had been arrested, it was unlikely they would be charged. “If no action is taken, these hustles will continue. It has happened and been reported before."

Soon after Rehaan's post, the Maldives Surfing Association issued a statement that confirmed his fears, saying it was "deeply saddened and condemns in the strongest way possible, recurring incidents of mistreatment, abuse and violence against our own surf guides working in the Maldives". The statement said that Rehaan had "simply asked" the tourist to "follow general surf etiquette in the water".

"What is gravely concerning to the surf community and MSA is that this scenario has played itself out previously on several occasions and in none of them, had justice been served. Maldives Police Services took custody of the three foreign surfers and transferred them to Himmafushi after the complaint was lodged, with statements taken by the victim as well as a witness.

"However, we have learnt that all three tourists have now been sent back home without additional punishment, sentence or fine. We strongly believe that situations such as these, left unattended and with justice out of reach, it is only a matter of time before such victims and their loved ones take matters into their own hands and rely on vigilante justice.

"Given the safe and welcoming nature of Maldives as a Tourism destination, we urge the investigative and prosecutorial authorities to put a stop to inaction and offer the public an appropriate response and reasoning."

Empty lineups in the tropics are a bonus, but if it gets crowded, keep your cool. Photo Kahchu

Greg Bertish, owner of True Blue Surf Travel, said that in the past year, there had been a big increase in Israeli surf tourists to the busy northern atolls of the Maldives. The surf charter industry has reported before that because Israelis are banned from entering some Muslim countries, such as Indonesia, there have been more bookings to places like the Maldives.

Surf travellers have traditionally blamed Brazilian surfers for aggressive methods of catching waves, with no regard to the traditional unwritten no-nos of surf etiquette, such as dropping in, paddling on the inside, snaking and general greediness. From the views expressed by travellers in the lineups of the Maldives, it seems Israel and even Italy have become the new lineup miscreants there, with a fair challenge from rude Spaniards, and to a lesser extent Brazilians.

"Fat Sparrow", skipper of the Maha, prepares to drop anchor. Photo Spike

On board the Maha with Jones the week before was Arne Fayd’herbe, a French Mauritian who fully appreciates why local communities push back against bad mannered tourists. He said it was "time to re-align the values and traditions of surfing" and to show respect for locals as "our duty of being a guest in foreign land".

Fayd’herbe said that like the Maldives, Mauritians were world renowned for their "kindness and politeness, but for many, and in today's world, it’s considered as a weakness". Luckily, Mauritius had not "sold this way of life and spirit to the tourist so we were free to act".

The Maldive Finest website (http://www.maldivesfinest.com/) urged the Maldives government to "thoroughly investigate the case and proceed to court of law for prosecution in order to establish justice, otherwise future cases could lead to revenge and escalate the situation. Rule of law is important to keep Maldives peaceful for the tourists and people at work".

The Maldives Open - the second iteration of the event - continues until today at Lohis, with 44 international and over 25 locals participating. South African bodyboarder Gavin Botha is the defending champion in the bodyboarding division, and is again participating. The defending champ in the Men’s Division is Garut Widiarta of Indonesia, who last year beat Maldives’ top surfer Hussain “Ibu” Areef.

The champion of the Women’s Division was Rina Kitazawa of Japan, who returns to defend her title this year. Placing second and third in the Bodyboarding event last year were local surfers, Ali Khushruwan “Kuda Ayya” Ali and Ali Shaam Rafiu. Shaam was the surf guide on the Maha charter boat last week.