Sun, Sand & Sea @ Maldives Part I

If you ever want to relax on the sand, soak up the sun and enjoy views of a startlingly blue ocean, The Maldives is the place to be in. It is one of the ultimate holiday destinations that I have ever been to. It is a place where you can either be a complete sloth and be as laid back as possible or engage in a variety of water sports and activities – and all the while indulge your taste buds to the hilt.

Choosing the best island

The Maldives is an archipelago located in the Indian Ocean. It comprises of 1192 islands or atolls with an overall length of 871 kms. and only 298 sq. kms. of dry land out of 90,000 sq. kms. Out of the 200 inhabited islands, few are complete resorts on their own while the others have tourist hotels, shops intermingling with local residences.

Tip: Choosing your ideal island will depend on your budget, your preferences of activities – water sports, culture & history, or simply nothing. Check out this link to decide: https://visitmaldives.com/en/places.

Considering all factors, I chose to stay on Maafushi for our time in the Maldives. It is a mid-range island with options of water sports plus a span of empty beaches.

Getting there

The capital city or atoll of Male is the connect to the rest of the world via flight. As we landed, we got our first view of the water, within touching distance – it was so exciting! From Male, we took a shared speedboat to reach Maafushi – it took about 30 minutes. That ride was the first taste of being on the eye-wateringly blue ocean, of feeling the wind in my hair and the freshness of the nature around me.

Tip: The shared speedboat cost around $70 per head for round trip; a private speedboat would cut you back by $185. The other option to travel to your island of choice is by the local ferry from Male. That will take around 2 hours but costs much lesser – $2.

Tip: Visa is free on arrival.

Currency

The currency of Maldives is Maldivian Rufiyaa, however the USD (US dollars) is widely accepted and you can easily carry out all your transactions with the latter. Since Maldives is a tourism-oriented country, all prices be it for activities, lodging or food is listed in USD for your ease.

Where to Stay

There are a multitude of options for accomodation in Maldives ranging from über luxurious resorts spreading over one whole island to mid-range hotels (which are still pretty costly) to budget hotels mixed among the local residences.

We booked a budget hotel called Stingray Beach Inn, which was a cosy hotel with hammocks in the garden and its own parrot!

Tip: Do bargain on hotel prices. Ours was for ~$125/night (after bargaining down from $140), check out the internet for current prices.

Day 1: Soak up the Atmosphere

After reaching Maafushi, we were escorted to our hotel where we freshened up and jumped right into vacation mode. The beach was a stone’s throw from our hotel, and we strolled up to the edge of the water. The sea was like a painting – innumerable, unimaginable hues of blue smoothly blending into each other and gently lapping onto white sands; it was paradise We simply enjoyed the whole atmosphere – the warm sun and the cool water and oodles of leisure time.

Trivia: The different shades of blue signify various depths of the ocean; for e.g. the light blue means that part of the sea is not too deep and the color is derived from the white sands beneath. The indigo is the deepest portion of the sea with marine life underneath. Isn’t that interesting?!

Upon arrival, we had an off-putting experience. We were met by the hotel’s manager who told us that our hotel was full and that they had arranged for alternative accommodation for the initial 2 days. However, their offered one was a pretty good hotel at par with what we’d booked so we were comforted. Tiny blip over.

Tip: The hotels overbook considering they will have some cancellations, so beware of your booking – talk personally to the manager.

The beach was never more than a 5-minute walk from any part of the island since the island is so small – in fact you can actually see from one end to the other width wise!

The rest of the day was spent in relaxing on the beach, walking from one end of the island to the other, peeking into shops and having delicious seafood. We also booked a package of water activities covering the next 2 days.

The day ended with us slurping on cold, yummy ice cream! This eventually became a trend of our stay there. There was this cute little shop selling ice creams for $1 and we just loved them.

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Help Save Our Oceans

The lovely ocean that has given us so much pleasure is in danger; we all need to do our bit to help save and preserve the pristine nature of our water bodies.

• Do not litter the beaches or pollute the sea.
• Reduce your carbon footprint.
• Help conserve our marine ecosystem.
• Reuse plastic and recycle biodegradable items.

I am doing my bit by raising awareness through this post with the aid of Blogchatter’s Cause a Chatter campaign.

Day 2: Snorkeling & Dolphins!

The 1^st of our package activities included a half-day snorkeling outing. This involved a ride out to the deep ocean on a boat, 2 snorkeling forages punctuated with a beach picnic. It took about an hour to reach the deep portion of the sea where the coral reefs were to be found.

In between, we stopped at a dolphin haunt and were able to see several dolphins frolicking in the water, as if performing acrobatics for our pleasure. They were so cute and funny!

For snorkeling, it’s said that its doesn’t matter whether you know swimming or not. We have life jackets on for our safety and the snorkeling head gear in place which helps us breathe underwater. I do not know swimming and when the time came to plunge into the water, I was terrified. I still tried – bravely. But as soon as I dipped below the water, the utter silence of underwater ensconced me from all sides, the pressure of water on my ears scared me such that I swallowed a whole load of salty water and jumped back above, coughing. Though I tried couple more times, I just could not do it.

The rest of our party carried on and were gone for a full hour. As I sat on the boat alone, I resolved to do better the next time.

Coming Up…

So, do I do better? What else is in store in our beach holiday? Watch this space for Part 2 of this Maldivian saga.