HI Mr G
We went to the Maldives with a 11' and 12' SUP in Aug 09 and I can assure you that:
1. You will have a wonderful time
2. Singapore Airlines dont even blink when you present them with these monsters on check in. Its all no worries at all...until...#$@%^
3. We hung around the terminal during our stopover in Singapore to see our boards being unloaded. The body language of the baggage handlers on the tarmac was SO EASY to read. After a conveyor belt of short boards filled up the baggage cart, they saw our monsters coming down the chute and I swear you could hear them swear and groan and curse and they threw our boards around with NO RESPECT. They must have felt our eyes on them, so they looked up and saw us watching them with a camera handy. From then on all was good. In other words...our boards were dinged lightly on the trip there and seriously on the way back. Think about SUPs from the baggage handlers point of view, and dont expect them to understand the sport and your love for these playmachines...they are just wacking big things they have to manhandle and they dont like them!!!
4. The smaller the SUP, the better they should travel..looking back..taking big SUPS was a mistake and we would not do that again.
5. PACK LOADS OF FOAM ETC ETC AROUND THE RAILS, NOSE AND TAIL. Overdo it and dont hold back...you'll be really glad the other end.
Hey...have a great time coz it will be like paddling over a gigantic aquarium and you will be on sensory overload in no time
PS...If you can...squeeze in the time to visit the capital Male for the day...eat at the local cafes, visit the mosque, go to the market, visit the ancient graveyards of their Sultans....we were very impressed on every level.
