Pasta Point Swell Window
North Malé Atoll, Maldives · part of the Pasta Point spot guide
- Swell window (from)
- 90°–200° (E–SSW)
- Best direction
- ~180° (S)
- Period sweet spot
- 12–16 s
- Open-ocean height (Hs)
- 2–10 ft
- Resulting faces
- 2–8 ft
Open-ocean vs. the face: the heights on buoys and forecast models are significant wave height (Hs) in deep water. What you ride is the breaking face, which depends on period, direction and this break's bathymetry — that's why the two rows above differ. PierMonkey's spot ratings already do this conversion for you.
The deep-water source is south-to-south-southwest groundswell that wraps onto the southeast-facing reef; sources often describe the swell arriving "southeast" at the reef, which is the wrapped local approach rather than the deep-water source, so the practical acceptance band runs from east-southeast through south. The money period is around 12-to-16 seconds; shorter local wind-swell still breaks it but with less push and shape.
The atoll pass strips punch, so the face reads at or below the open-ocean height — softer than a same-height open-coast reef. Read the alert threshold as open-ocean height, not the face.