Nova Maldives will renew its partnership with PADI this September to co-host Project AWARE Week from 16 to 20 September 2026.

Organised by the resort’s marine team, the programme will give guests, from first-time snorkellers to experienced divers, opportunities to combine marine wildlife observation with practical conservation activities. The initiative is intended to turn time spent in the ocean into an educational experience while encouraging greater awareness of marine conservation.

This year’s AWARE Week coincides with PADI’s 60th anniversary and Nova Maldives’ fourth year of operation in South Ari Atoll. Now in its eighth global edition, PADI AWARE Week has developed into a citizen science movement within the diving community and has helped rescue more than 41,000 entangled marine animals to date.

Through its continued participation, Nova Maldives aims to encourage guests to become ocean advocates and remain engaged with marine conservation beyond their stay.

Guests staying at Nova during AWARE Week will be able to participate in a programme designed for different levels of ocean experience. Activities will include:

• Ocean immersion and storytelling: Sessions inspired by Blue Planet and other ocean documentaries, highlighting the diversity and vulnerability of marine life.
• Dive Against Debris: Underwater clean-up dives in the resort’s lagoon, during which participants will remove plastic and other waste before recording the findings in PADI AWARE’s global database.
• Whale shark snorkelling: Guided encounters that will allow guests to swim alongside whale sharks in the open waters of South Ari Atoll.
• Manta ray and turtle-spotting excursions: Guided boat trips to feeding and nesting areas where manta rays and turtles can be observed in their natural habitats.
• Coral restoration workshops: Practical sessions introducing guests to coral planting and the resort’s ongoing reef regeneration work.

“Some of the most meaningful work happens when you show up year after year. Four years into Nova’s story, we’ve learned that the health of the reef tells us a great deal about the impact we’re making, and that the guests who choose to return aren’t just here for the view,” said Abdulla Aboobakuru, General Manager of Nova Maldives.

“They’re here because Nova reflects something they already care about, including care for the ocean, a sense of community and a more thoughtful way of experiencing the places we visit. That’s what we hope Nova can inspire in new and returning guests alike: less a destination, more a calling.”

The resort’s marine conservation work continues throughout the year. Its coral nursery contains a growing collection of metal frames holding individually secured coral fragments, which are later transplanted onto the house reef. Guests are regularly invited to participate in the planting process, while the marine team monitors the young coral colonies as they develop.

Nova Maldives also maintains partnerships with the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme and Manta Trust. The resort is accredited as a Responsible Manta Tourism Operator, with the partnerships supporting its year-round approach to marine conservation.

From September 4 to 11, 2026, Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa will once again become the island base for the Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy, bringing guests within five minutes by boat of the action at Sultans and into a week shaped by world-class surfing, time with the athletes, Tropicsurf coaching and post-session recovery at ŪRJĀ Naturopathy Island.

Now in its 14th edition, the invitation-only contest will bring together six surfers with markedly different approaches to competition and equipment. Former World No. 8 Caio Ibelli, former World No. 2 Bede Durbidge, Australian big-wave surfer and WSL commentator Felicity Palmateer, former Championship Tour surfer Travis Logie and Maldivian surfer Ahmed Hishaam Shaheem join previously announced Mason Ho to complete the 2026 field.

Unlike a conventional surf contest, the Champions Trophy moves through single-fin, twin-fin and thruster divisions, challenging competitors to reinterpret the same wave through three eras of surfboard design. Technique, positioning and wave choice must change with the equipment before an overall champion is crowned.

For guests at Kuda Huraa, the competition extends well beyond watching heats from the channel. Trophy week brings some of surfing’s most recognisable names into the rhythm of the island, with opportunities to follow the action at Sultans, spend time with the surfers between sessions, explore nearby North Malé Atoll breaks with Tropicsurf coaches and reset at ŪRJĀ Naturopathy Island. And this year’s field gives them plenty to watch.

Caio Ibelli: Back in the Jersey

Three years after his last Championship Tour heat, Caio Ibelli is putting the competition jersey back on. The Brazilian spent nine years competing among the world’s best, building a résumé that includes a World Junior Championship, the 2015 Qualifying Series World Championship, Championship Tour Rookie of the Year honours and a career-high World No. 8 ranking.

His return to competition also brings him back to the Maldives 15 years after his last visit, this time with his wife and son alongside him. “Putting a contest jersey on again feels extra special, in perfect waves, at an event I’ve always wanted to be part of, and this time with my wife and son there watching me,” says Ibelli. “It gives competing a completely new meaning for me.”

Ibelli joins the field in place of fellow Brazilian Victor Bernardo, who has withdrawn following a serious car accident involving him and his wife, Johnni, in California. Both required hospital treatment and surgery and are now recovering. The Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy team sends Victor and Johnni its warmest wishes for a full and speedy recovery.

The three-board format also presents Ibelli with an unexpected challenge. Despite spending almost a decade competing on high-performance thrusters, he has not ridden one since leaving the Tour. “Funny enough, since my last heat on Tour, I haven’t stepped on a thruster again,” he says. “So I feel like my biggest challenge might actually be surfing a thruster again after three years without riding one.”

Bede Durbidge: Competitive Instincts Reawaken

Few surfers in the field bring a competitive résumé quite like Bede Durbidge. The Australian former World No. 2 spent more than a decade on the Championship Tour before moving into elite coaching, keeping him closely connected to the strategy, psychology and pressure of professional competition even after stepping away from heats himself.

At Sultans, he will find himself back on the other side of the equation. “It’s going to be a bit of a trip, to be honest, getting back in the jersey and surfing heats again,” says Durbidge. “It feels like a lifetime ago that I was on Tour. But in saying that, I know when I put the jersey on all those feelings of being competitive and wanting to perform will come back.”

His experience on high-performance equipment is extensive. Twin fins and single fins are another matter. “I’m definitely nervous with the lack of time on the twins and single fins,” he says. “I’m just going to go in open-minded and embrace the novelty, fun side of riding those styles of boards.”

The week also reunites Durbidge with Travis Logie after years spent sharing the Championship Tour, although neither will have the comfort of competing solely on the equipment that defined those careers.

Felicity Palmateer: Freedom Meets Competition

Felicity Palmateer arrives at Kuda Huraa with a surfing career that has expanded far beyond conventional competition. The Western Australian emerged as a teenage professional before moving increasingly into big-wave surfing, travel and WSL commentary. In 2015, she became the first woman to surf Western Australia’s notorious Cow Bombie and later earned an invitation to The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational at Waimea Bay.

As the sole woman in the 2026 field, Palmateer returns to a competition jersey at a stage in her career when rankings no longer define why she paddles out. “The best part about surfing without the pressure of rankings and results is that I’ve come full circle,” says Palmateer. “I’m surfing for the exact reason I fell in love with it in the first place, for the love of surfing itself, the ocean and the way it makes me feel.”

The Champions Trophy format provides another reason for the invitation. Since stepping away from full-time competition, Palmateer has embraced a wider variety of surfboard designs, although the single fin remains less familiar territory. “It’s been a long time since I’ve ridden one, and I think it might force me to draw some different lines and approach the wave in a completely different way.” For a goofy-footer taking on the right-hand walls of Sultans, those different lines may prove particularly important.

Travis Logie: 10 Years Later

For Travis Logie, Kuda Huraa comes with a strong sense of déjà vu. The South African spent a decade competing among the world’s best before retiring from full-time competition in 2014 and later moving to the other side of professional surfing as part of the World Surf League’s competition team. He last competed in the Surfing Champions Trophy in 2016, sharing the event with Taj Burrow, Rob Machado, Shane Dorian, Jamie O’Brien, Bethany Hamilton and Maldivian wildcard Hussain “Iboo” Areef.

Exactly 10 years later, he returns with considerably less riding on the result. “When I used to compete on Tour it was to pay rent, so it was really hard to be in the moment and just enjoy it,” says Logie. “This will be a chance for me to take it all in again and appreciate the challenge.”

The equipment may require some reacquainting. Logie has ridden a single fin only once in his life, at this very event a decade ago, and admits his experience on twin fins is similarly limited. “I’m looking forward to the challenge and learning from the rest of the crew,” he says. “The good thing is at Sultans pretty much any type of board will feel good.” And while the atmosphere may be lighter than his Championship Tour years, Logie expects old instincts to return as soon as the heat begins.

Ahmed Hishaam: Home Break, Global Field

While five surfers arrive at Sultans from overseas, Ahmed Hishaam Shaheem enters the field with something no international résumé can replicate: years spent learning the waves of the North Malé Atoll. The Thulusdhoo surfer and surf guide began surfing at 11 and has spent much of his life in these waters, watching both the local surf community and the Maldives’ reputation as a global surfing destination develop around him.

Now, he gets the opportunity to represent it. “It means a lot to me to represent the Maldives in the Champions Trophy,” says Hishaam. “I’ve spent most of my life surfing these waves and showing visiting surfers around, so being able to compete here against some of the biggest names in surfing is a really special opportunity.”

Hishaam follows a line of Maldivian surfers invited into the Champions Trophy, beginning when Hussain “Iboo” Areef became the first local competitor in 2016. Abdulla “Fuku” Areef, Ismail Miglal and Ahmed “Ammaday” Agil have since had the opportunity to test themselves against some of surfing’s leading names on home waves.

Hishaam’s familiarity with local reefs, swell directions and changing conditions gives him an advantage that could become particularly significant as the three divisions unfold. “I definitely think knowing the waves gives me an advantage,” he says. “I’ll use my local knowledge, but at the end of the day, I just want to go out there, enjoy the waves and give them a good fight.”

Six Surfers, Three Boards, One Sultans

Completing the field is Mason Ho, whose instinctive approach to surfing and willingness to experiment with unconventional waves and equipment make him particularly suited to the Champions Trophy format. Together, the six represent very different routes to Sultans: Ho’s improvisational style; Ibelli’s recent Championship Tour pedigree; Durbidge’s competitive experience and coaching eye; Palmateer’s journey across professional competition and big waves; Logie’s return a decade after his first Champions Trophy; and Hishaam’s lifetime of local knowledge. What happens when each of them swaps the familiar for a single fin, a twin fin and then a thruster is precisely the point.

Where Champions Come to Surf

First staged in 2011, the Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy brings six invited surfers to Sultans, one of North Malé Atoll’s best-known right-hand reef breaks. Across single-fin, twin-fin and thruster divisions, competitors must adapt their technique, equipment and wave choice to three eras of surfboard design before an overall champion is crowned. Past competitors include Mark Occhilupo, Taj Burrow, Josh Kerr, Kelly Slater, Joel Parkinson, Carissa Moore and Maya Gabeira. The 2025 edition saw Michel Bourez return from injury to win the overall title, recording the event’s only perfect 10 along the way.

Kuda Huraa: The Garden-Island Base

Located 25 minutes by speedboat from Malé and five minutes by boat from Sultans, Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa places guests close to the competition throughout Trophy week. Building on more than two decades of collaboration with Tropicsurf, Kuda Huraa offers access to the surf breaks of the North Malé Atoll alongside expert coaching for beginners through experienced surfers. During the Champions Trophy, guests can follow the competition at Sultans, spend time with leading figures from the surf world and balance days on the water with recovery and wellbeing experiences at ŪRJĀ Naturopathy Island.

The 2026 Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy takes place from September 4 to 11, 2026.

To reserve a stay during the Trophy or enquire about the Surf’s Up package, contact reservations.mal@fourseasons.com or call +960 66 00 888.

Following the success of her 2025 freediving retreat at Avani+ Fares Maldives Resort, eleven-time freediving world-record holder and ocean conservationist Hanli Prinsloo will return to Baa Atoll this September with an expanded programme across two Minor Hotels resorts.

Hanli will begin with a Family Freediving Retreat at Avani+ Fares Maldives from 7 to 10 September before continuing to NH Collection Maldives Reethi for Into the Blue, a four-night retreat running from 14 to 18 September. Together, the two experiences offer different ways to explore the Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, from a playful introduction for families to a more immersive programme for beginners and experienced freedivers aged 16 and above.

At Avani+ Fares, Hanli will introduce parents and children to freediving through breathwork, floating, snorkelling, gentle duck dives and underwater games. The focus is not on depth or competition, but on helping families build confidence in the water, understand their breathing and experience the ocean together at a comfortable pace.

The Family Freediving Retreat will open the resort’s annual Ocean Aware Month, a September programme dedicated to marine discovery and conservation. Activities will include coral conservation and planting workshops, underwater photography and videography sessions, beach clean-ups and PADI speciality courses.

On 17 September, Avani+ Fares will celebrate World Manta Day with marine-inspired art workshops for all ages and snorkelling excursions to Hanifaru Bay, known for its seasonal gatherings of manta rays.

“Baa Atoll keeps calling us back,” said Hanli Prinsloo. “Following last year’s retreat at Avani+ Fares, I am excited to return with a full family programme and to continue the journey at NH Collection Maldives Reethi. At Avani+ Fares, we will make freediving playful and approachable for parents and children. At Reethi, guests will have more time to develop their skills through breathwork, training and exploration. Both retreats are about building confidence in the ocean and understanding why this remarkable environment deserves our care.”

In addition, Hanli will host the four-night Into the Blue retreat at NH Collection Maldives Reethi. Open to guests aged 16 and above who are comfortable swimming, the programme combines yoga, meditation and guided breathing with house reef snorkelling, rope freediving and drift dives. Beginners and experienced freedivers can train together while progressing at their own pace.

The retreat will also include an excursion to Hanifaru Bay, approximately 15 minutes from the resort. At Reethi, guests can continue exploring from the island’s house reef, which supports marine life including angelfish, clownfish, reef sharks and sea turtles.

The three-night Family Freediving Retreat at Avani+ Fares Maldives starts from USD 3,160 per person, based on single occupancy. The package includes accommodation, full board, return seaplane transfers and all retreat sessions. Ocean Aware Month activities are complimentary for resort guests, subject to availability. 

The four-night Into the Blue retreat at NH Collection Maldives Reethi starts from USD 4,333 net per adult, inclusive of accommodation on full board, return seaplane transfers and the full retreat programme.

For details and reservations, visit world.nh-hotels.com/en/nh-collection-maldives-reethi, email reservations.nree@nhcollection.com or call +960 660 2626.