Surfatoll | Maldives surf trip

Chickens

The northern-most break in North Male Atoll, Chickens breaks off an island that was once known strictly for poultry. That was before Australian surfers Tony Hussein Hinde and Mark Scanlon’s boat shipwrecked nearby in the 70s. With the island’s poultry farm long gone, Chickens is now known as one of the longest and lively lefts in the Maldives.

A nearly mirror image of Jailbreaks, the left at Chickens is a reef break that can stretch almost three times longer than the left at Pasta Point, capable of producing over ten second barrels in the appropriate hands and conditions. The appropriate hands would be those capable of gliding through the strong current and then keeping up with the zipping lip. Considered the fastest wave in the area, Chickens basically has two main sections. The long shoulder starts at the second section, but the initial point hollows out nicely when the wind doesn’t interfere—a southwest wind really impacts your chances for that ten second tube.

Although fairly consistent, Chickens particularly favors clean groundswell from the southeast, meaning it performs best in the summer months. The wave handles all stages of the tide, but the best chances for getting that double-digit barrel are on wind-free days at incoming mid to high tide when there is the least amount of current. Since Chickens gets better with size—best at head high to double overhead—the ideal time to visit is between May to October, with the southeast swells of July and August providing the most consistent surf, typically ranging between 2-8 feet.

Here on the right hand side, we have a beautiful picture from Tristan Guilbaud (Protest rider) getting covered during an epic session at Chickens…