An empty point just for ladies? Thank you! Photo: Atoll Travel
“This isn’t gonna be a boot camp retreat; it’s way more chill,” Nikki van Dijk told The Inertia. “We will have a great mix of yoga, health, movement and surfing, but there are cocktails in the evening and a vacay vibe. And being an all-girl trip, we’ll have the island and the Pasta Point lineup to ourselves.”
The Australian former Championship Tour surfer and yoga instructor will be curating a surf and wellness week October 24-31, 2026. It includes seven nights in the Maldives at the iconic Cinnamon Dhonveli resort, with just 28 women in the group having exclusive access to the left at Pasta Point. Guests also have boat access to the nearby world-class waves.
“There is a real power in being on these trips with just women,” said van Dijk. “We’ve all felt the intimidation that can come with surfing in male-dominated lineups. When it gets busy, I’ve seen girls coming in after not getting a wave. But this will be super intimate. We’re all gonna be supporting each other, and it’s gonna be a great week. Guests may bring non-surfing partners or family, but the surfing week remains strictly all-female. We may stand corrected, but we can’t recall a surfing trip or destination where that has ever happened before.
Van Dijk now lives on the Gold Coast, but grew up on Phillip Island in Victoria, Australia and competed on the CT from 2014 to 2021. She won the Cascais Pro in 2017 and finished in the top 10 four times.
“While I was on tour, yoga was something that really grounded me on the land,” she said. “Surfing had always done that for me in the water, so to find another platform away from the waves was incredible. I totally committed to it.”
Around 2020, and again in 2023, she suffered two serious concussions. Surfing competitively was impossible. For a long time, any type of surfing wasn’t an option. That serious hurdle and healing process, coupled with the pandemic, meant her competitive desire tailed off. The slack was taken up with her new tequila venture CINCA, which she founded with Stephanie Gilmore, Laura Enever, Dimity Stoyle, and Macy Callaghan, and with yoga weekends, first at home in Australia, and later expanded to overseas retreats. She has curated successful well-being weeks in Costa Rica and around the world.
“I had this lady who was around 55 and a dog trainer. On the first day, she said she had the best day of her life,” said Nikki. “On the second day, she had her first surf and said that was an even better day. To see that crazy smile and energy was so beautiful.”
Nikki, a former world tour stalwart, at Rottnest Island. Photo: WSL
She said that the Maldives was always at the top of her list for retreats. Having done so many good trips there, when approached by Atoll Travel, it was a no-brainer. While she is doing an Indo boat trip version in August, she thinks the all-female land camp offers unique potential.
The week will blend high-quality surf time with performance-focused wellness, designed to help guests surf better, recover smarter, and fully enjoy the environment. In the surf, Nikki will give daily surf guidance, tips, and in-water insight, with her light touch of high-performance knowledge, positivity, and authenticity. On land, there are yoga, mobility, breath-work and mindfulness sessions tailored for surfers, but designed for all levels of age and experience.
“I guess the connection and the community you can achieve in a relatively short time are something that now really fills my cup,” she said. “Having a healthy, super fun week, with incredible waves, with just women, is a really rare experience.”
All-Girls Surf & Wellness Week with Nikki Van Dijk at the Cinnamon Dhonveli Resort, Maldives, runs from October 24-31 and is limited to just 28 places. Find more info here.
