Okay so at the moment, Australia's 25,000 kilometres of coastline just arent enough for you and you need some time..apart. Fear not we have you covered, lets start local and move further offshore to see what your options are for the Top 10 destinations.

10. The Superbank - Old reliable has never failed to deliver this winter and August will be no exception. The banks are in great shape with any swell over 5 feet pretty much guaranteeing rides through Rainbow Bay in towards Greenmount at the moment - so in the order of 100M plus. Plenty of nut jobs in the lineup of course as well as serial killers prowling service stations / video shops and beating up female surfers with iron bars - usual Goldy crap - but bring a kevlar vest and you should be okay. Most of the pros will be off on the final year of the ASP tour before it implodes so at least you shouldnt get anyone dropping in on you.

9. Great Ocean Road, VIC - Little more style than the Goldcoast with the sort of locals that will hate you unless you buy crap from their surf shops. Plenty of accomodation this time of year after the Easter nonsense has blown away. Shoot for Bells of course but make sure you go a little further afield in a clean swell. 13th Beach has enough peaks for everyone to play nice - try Beacons first. Grab our Surf Guide first HERE

8. Margaret River, WA Okay, time to pony up and spend some money. Grab yourself the cheapest ticket you can find and muster your guts in Perth. Rent a timebomb and head south. Again, shoot for Marg's if you want but there is plenty of talent along the coast. Yallingup and Gracetown the local stars. Kill yourself at North Point or enjoy the sublime set up at Injidup

7. Bali Get your affairs in order, grab your passport and lets get serious. Bali Hai is calling. The air ticket is the most expensive part of this trip. Just don't book tiger. Settle in to things on the west coast around Canguu and find your legs. The winds are likely to be less friendly for the West Coast this time of year but Nusa dua may be worth an early morning look. Work towards a session at Ulu's. Forget Padang though unless waiting 40 mins for a wave is your thing. Make sure you grab a copy of our Bali guide before you go HERE

6. Fiji Ah, after the rain it shines. American capitalism has come tumbling down in the Fiji Islands with the embarisment dince GW Bush said "Mission Accomplished". It's open slather in the Mamanuccas now. Gems such as Restaurants and Cloubreak once the domain of the privelaged few are now open to the huddling masses. How pissed off would you be if you had booked an exclusive at Tavarua this month? Yep, no more huddling in the channel at Wilkes watching kooks on SUPS taking off on bomb sets. Get Some!

5. Jeffrey's Bay After the Pro Comp dies down in July it only just begins. The Eastern Cape and The Garden Route offer the cold water surfer some of the best uncrowded waves on offer in the souuthern hemisphere. sharky? Well yeah but avoid the noob tricks of surfing with seals, rivermouths and dawn / dusk and you have reduced your chance of being atatcked right back down to the same odds of being hit by lightning - or runover by a car whatever form of checking out you can relate to the best. start at J-Bay and sum up your odds east or west from there based upon the swell / wind.

4. Peru We are into serious territory here. Serious waves as well. Go and camp out on the shore of Chicama and wait...

Basically, this is the longest wave in the world - need we say more?

Yes we should, chicama breaks right out the front of the busy port town of Chicama. The working class town is a little gritty and a little hard to negotiate if you no hablo the Espaniole. With a solid swell here of superior period, the wave is truly extraordinary, 600m plus sets are the norm along with the peculiar sensation of exploding thighs at the end of your ride. Only the Superbank in Coolangatta, Australia comes close to this and Chicama isn't dependant on sand pumping. A schism has formed within the local surfing community with some surferers taking boats back into the lineup after their 10 minute ride whilst others are content to make the 30 minute walk back out ot the point, reflecting on the last ride. Prudence would say the visiting surfer should do likewise to avoid the immediate asshat stamp from the local crew.

3. Tahiti Okay so you have a few thousand to spend on this little outing? The Society Islands, which include Tahiti, are the only group to have been fully explored to date for their surfing potential. The larger Islands tend to offer more variety and better breaks such as Tahiti itself and neighbouring Moorea to the west. The smaller islands further west tend to have several layers of outlying reef systems that attenuate a lot of the prevailing swell but can be classic when all of the conditions come together. Winter (Jun- Aug) is the most reliable swell window for the larger SW swells that feed the south facing points and reefs.

There is more to surfing in Tahiti than Teahupoo so don’t feel compelled to hurl yourself into 10 foot pitching reefbreak if you are not up to it. Tahiti offers good variety including a few beachbreaks for the more casual rider. The northern reaches of the islands experience favourable swell primarily during the wet season (November to March) but this can be very fickle. It would be best to plan your trip around surfing the southern breaks and venture to the northern coast for waves only if a productive cell is in the area.

2. Hawaii Head southside kid. Long range Southern Hemisphere lines are a common occurence along the stretch here - nice shot for longboards along the Queens Waikiki stretch with random reefs and other diversions like Suicides for the shortboarders. Bring the wife and kids - cover all your bases.

1. The Maldives. And so we come to it. If money is no object you would be worse advised than to head to the Maldives in August.

There are many resorts on the east coast that you will want to investigate in using as a base for your surfing on the islands. The known breaks are really divided into three regions. Male, north Male and south Male. Depending on how long you have, spending a week at each destination will place every named location no more than a 30 minute boat ride away.

Having said this, there are a wealth of un named option awaiting the explorer to the north of the islands. The west coast is not as well known for its surfing due to the monsoonal pattern of wind and swell not being conducive to good long period swell and superior surface conditions, the main season for surf on the east coast is generally considered to be April to June which falls within the changeover from the north eats to the south west monsoons, hence you maximise the chance for good long period north easterly swell with offshore south westerly winds – offering superior surfing conditions.

One of the best breaks in the islands is Pasta Point, you will have to be staying here though at either the Four Seasons or Tari Village Resort to surf it though. This break is right next to Sultans, one of the best right handers in the world.