June
New Caledonia
Grande Terre is New Caledonia’s mountainous, cigar-shaped main island, and the South Pacific’s fourth-largest, located in the sunny Coral Sea east of Australia, north of New Zealand.
Here exists seemingly endless outer-reef-pass bliss. Grande Terre’s barrier reef encloses the world’s largest lagoon; the reef is 370 miles long, cleaved with more than 200 passes from north to south, wide open to swell from the Tasman and Coral seas. All of the surf spots are several miles from land and hence subject to erratic winds, so a liveaboard boat trip is the go here.
In the capital city of Nouméa, you could hire skiffs for day trips out to the reefs, but that’s costly, time-consuming, and a basic pain in the ass. Therefore, the best thing to do is charter a boat and have yourself an official New Caledonia boat trip. Quite an exotic thing to do, and with the range and freedom you’ll have by staying on a boat at the spots, you’ll increase your surf time exponentially. Plus, the anchorages are all inside the lagoon, so it’s fairly calm for all you seasickish types.
Face it: you have never embarked — nor do you know anybody who has — on a New Caledonia boat trip. It’s tough to beat French ambiance amid South Pacific idyll; I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather fly to a city like Nouméa instead of Paris. Tropical reef pass barrels miles from land in a warm, turquoise sea hold strong appeal against sandy, semi-closed-out Atlantic beachbreaks. Now, I’m not dissing France or anything, but New Caledonia is pretty doggone nice.

As with most boat trips, all you need to do is show up and let the boat crew do the rest. For starters, you’ll need to buy a ticket to either Sydney or Brisbane, Australia, which will cost you about $1,000. From Australia, fly Aircalin (about $300, three flights weekly, www.aircalin.com) for two hours to Nouméa, New Caledonia’s international gateway.
Pack accordingly for a tropical boat trip, and bring everything you’ll need in terms of surf gear, because there are no surf shops in New Caledonia. To combat the downtime doldrums often typical of liveaboards, bring plenty of reading material, music, swim fins, and a snorkeling mask.
You’ll need to organize your boat charter before you get there, of course, and the best operator to do this with is Wavehunters Surf Travel (www.wavehunters.com), which has been operating two nice fiberglass catamarans in New Caledonia for the past few years.

July
Samoa
You can’t go wrong with a trip to the rugged volcanic coastline of ‘Upolu, Samoa’s second-largest island, smack-dab in the center of the sultry South Pacific. Here is a collection of powerful coral-reef barrels and rich culture right in the heart of Polynesia. Samoa is regarded as the most traditional of all Polynesian nations, and ‘Upolu boasts an incredibly lush, steaming landscape, consistent swell, pristine surf spots, and friendly locals (as long as you’re respectful — there are few things scarier than an angry Samoan dude).

‘Upolu is uncrowded and unspoiled because its waves don’t suit the average Leadbetter or Mandos local’s tastes. Hence ‘Upolu’s epic environs, its lack of local surfers, oodles of swell, and its authentic tropical allure. Samoa is primarily best for shortboarding, especially if you’ve got a penchant for tube-riding, because ‘Upolu barrels and spits and snaps boards with the best of ‘em — there’s probably a Samoan Teahupo’o down there somewhere, but the world doesn’t know about it…yet.
You can fly direct from Los Angeles to Apia for about $1,000 with Air New Zealand (boards fly free). Connections to Apia can also be made via Honolulu aboard Polynesian Airways (Samoa’s national carrier) or Hawaiian Airlines. Once there, you can rent a car (about $40/day for a cheapie, but to expand your options I recommend renting a 4WD jeep for about $55/day), hire taxis, or ride the public bus, which stops near several surf spots and is a fun experience, but not real comfortable.
There are no surf shops on ‘Upolu, so bring everything you’ll need, especially reef booties (unless you’re one of those cool guys who never wears ‘em) and a first aid kit in case you get slammed onto the healthy coral reef, like I did on my first wave of my first session at Nu’usafe’e. Obviously, ‘Upolu is tropical, so you won’t need a lot of clothing; sunblock and hats are always good, though.
By South Pacific standards, ‘Upolu has a fairly decent tourism infrastructure (though it’s quite un-touristy), and you can find lodging within your budget in the capital of Aipa. From there, with a taxi or bus or rented jeep, you can easily access all of ‘Upolu.
Those who prefer a little pre-paid surf guidance and quick access to boats might consider the pleasant fale (bungalows) at Sa’Moana Resort (www.wavehunters.com), Salani Surf Resort (www.waterwaystravel.com), or the plush Coconuts Beach Club (www.quiksilvertravel.com), all three located on ‘Upolu’s surf-rich south coast.

August
Maldives
The southeastern rib of North Male’ Atoll in the Maldives glistens in the sun-drenched and swell-blessed northern Indian Ocean, between Somalia and Sumatra, south of India. The place is a true coralline gem, a jewel of Islamic culture and ultimate archetype of your average Robinson Crusoeism. While it can be a bit pricey, this lung-shaped atoll is also the heart of Maldivian surfing — consistent, perfect, and generally user-friendly rights and lefts looping over non-jagged reef, in 85-degree water, in front of palm trees, beneath endless sunshine.
North Male’ is literally halfway around the world, and you want to be wreathed inside the barrel of a utopian tropical aquarium while your bros are all freezing in crowded, crappy beachbreak back home. Certainly you’d rather indulge in a smorgasbord of playful, thin-lipped turquoise bliss. Hassle-free and exotic, with a good selection of shapely waves, North Male’ is tough to beat, and it fulfills any tropical surf fantasy you may have had, or are having right now.

You can book a room at one of the all-inclusive resorts, or you can charter a live-aboard boat. The former is usually cheaper than the latter, though, and since the resorts have their own boats for surf transport, chartering a boat isn’t really necessary — they generally go to the same spots the resorts can take you to. The easiest way to reach Male’ is via Singapore Airlines, direct daily from Singapore, for about $1,200 a pop.

The resorts might have some basic surf necessities, like wax and sunscreen, but you’ll need to bring everything. A surf hat and a long-sleeved white rashguard are important, because the Maldivian sun is positively scorching. Reef booties aren’t really necessary as the reefs are semi-friendly. Regarding surfboards, bring whatever you’d normally in fun-sized, lined-up waves, and leave the tow board at home.
I enjoyed staying at Lohifushi Island Resort, because not only is the left-hander there perfect, the resort can quickly take you to any of the surrounding spots in one of its comfortable dhoni boats. To the south is the famous Pasta Point fronting famous Dhonveli Beach and Spa (formerly Tari Village), where Maldivian surf tourism all started. Both Dhonveli (www.waterwaystravel.com) and Lohifushi (www.wavehunters.com) are killer places to base your Maldives surf trip, especially if you are a goofyfoot.