A brother, surfer, filmmaker and pretty nice bloke, Beau
Eastman has moved to the Gold Coast to work with birds of
prey, all the while keeping his lens focused on a passion to
help the best breaks of The Maldives remain open for all …
He’s a 24-year-old surfer who’s mixing
his dreams of travel with documentary
filmmaking for some very noble purposes,
the latest being a piece about the current
tumultuous situation in The Maldives where
pristine reef breaks are being kept for
‘private use’ by tourist resorts. The doco
is called Saving Thamburudhoo, which is
the island home to Sultans and Honkeys
- two of the best waves in The Maldives.
“It is a heritage site and for many it is the
heart of surfing in The Maldives. It is soon
to be developed into a resort, with both
breaks being made exclusive. This will
deny locals and visitors free access to the
waves, affecting the live-a-boards, tour
operators, guest-houses and locals,” says
Beau.
Teaming up with World Surfaris Managing
Director Shaun Levings, who also stars
in the doco, Beau has already been
there once and started to document
the views of the locals and other tour
boat operators. Beau wasn’t looking for
trouble, but it found him.
“At one stage the police took us into
custody because they had suspicions
that we were plotting a protest against
the government and we were held up
for nine hours - of course their suspicions
were wrong!” - we asked Beau more
about himself.
So you’re a Sunny Coaster at heart –
where’s your home break?
“Yeah I have lived on the Sunshine
Coast all my life, on Warana surf break.
I started body surfing with my Dad when
Beau Eastman slides his hand into the roof of a tropical blue cavern | Photo: Trevor Ross