29th April - 5th May - Maldives Magic

The flight out was on time but Air Sri Lanka was not good. John’s seat was particularly uncomfortable. The food was not good at all; most of the time our food choices were not available, although mysteriously, other punters seated near to us but served after us seemed to get what they wanted!!

We arrived to a hot but very cloudy Male. Our private launch, took us to our Island in just 30 minutes. First impressions were that the Island looked similar to Coco Palm (Previous Holiday in the Maldives) but was a little smaller.

Our villa was available immediately, it was quite different to other Maldives accommodation, very classy, great location, with a back garden area with whirl pool and seating area, plus a seating area in the front garden and our own shaded sun hut down on the beach. (See photos).

On our first morning we met up with Graham and Helen, our Irish neighbors. They were out on holiday, celebrating a wedding anniversary and Helens 60th birthday. Lovely couple. The snorkeling was wonderful with great corals, the best we have seen to date in this part of the world. We realized that we should have bought an underwater camera case as there is just so much to see, including quite a few large reef sharks.

The food is certainly a touch above Coco Palm. The lunches are just amazing, fresh grilled sea food to die for. More gigantic prawns than you can imagine!! We are being good at breakfast (fresh fruit prepared to order including delicious lychees and the sweetest mango we have ever eaten.)

We had booked on the snorkeling safari and turned up Wednesday morning ready and eager. However, it turned out that the trip had been cancelled but we had not been informed. John had a firm word with the reception staff, who apologies profusely. We had planned our day around this trip so were a little peeved.

A little later in the day, one of the managers took us aside and apologized for the error. In recompense, he offered us an all expenses paid two day trip on their luxury yacht. This one year old yacht is huge, has its own chefs and crew, all air conditioned, with just 6 luxury births. They have their own on board diving crew. We are to visit some of the southern atolls, stopping off for secluded beach BBQ etc. What a result. This boat usually costs over $800 per couple per night, so we feel very lucky indeed.

The next day was Helens 60th birthday, so we met them on the sun set jetty for a champers celebration. (See photos). They then had a romantic private BBQ in front of their villa. Very nice!! Before this celebration, we went for our joint spa massage. It was wonderful, lasted one and a half hours and was the best l have had to date. So good, we have booked to go for another the day before we leave.

We also met with a very nice couple from Japan, Geoff and Katherine. John got talking to Geoff after Fiona pointed out that he was carrying a very neat underwater camera. He showed us some of his photos from the reef surrounding the Island. He also offered to download some for us onto our memory stick. They are a true representation of what we see every day on the reef. They both dive every day, so, so shots are from deeper water. These photo’s spurred John on to book a refresher dive.

The nest day, we had a lesson on the catamarans and the took one out, great fun. The reef is tricky to navigate as there is only one route in and out. However, once outside the inner reef you can sail for miles. Great fun.

The food just gets better and better, lunches are a real gastronomic treat and very relaxed affairs. The evening meal is a la carte, luckily the puddings are just about avoidable!!

We also visited the sister island, just five minutes by boat. We had a great snorkel, seeing turtles and sharks to boot. This island is smaller and less busy, great tea and coffee’s by the lapping sea. John managed to leave his T shirt there, however, the staff had it back within the hour!!

We also met with the islands marine biologist, Robert, who has also offered to supply us with some photo’s. He introduced us to a another guest, Oliver and his fiancé. He lives in Germany and has donated money to the island to help with their continuing quest to manage and conserve the coral gardens. They are actually building new coral gardens using a combination of cement and graftings from existing corals. Every night they feed rays by the jetty.

On Saturday, John went for his dive, which went well. He had to complete a written dive test before hand which he did remarkably well at!! The dive was great and he plans to do some more from the yacht. We chilled out for much of the day, taking another catamaran out for a spin. A sun set drink followed by another wonderful evening meal and a skinny dip finished the day off nicely!!

Sunday began with the snorkeling safari with some new chums, Donald and Shona Nesbit. They are here visiting from Glasgow. Shona chose not to snorkel. We saw, thousands of small fish plus, turtle and very friendly bread fish. Shona was shooting video of us from the boat.

Later on we had a lovely lunch with john eating as many grilled fresh prawns as he could.

Later in the day we took a catamaran out for a spin. However, the wind suddenly turned very squally which made getting back tricky. We just about made it in time as the wind became strong and the arguments flew!! We managed to get the boat back to base just in time.

We met with Geoff and Katherine just after this to go snorkeling. Geoff allowed us to take his underwater camera and shoot as many pictures as we liked. We were originally planning to photo just a bright purple anemone which Fiona has found near the jetty. However, the anemone was fully out, hence hiding the purple cover. We still managed to get good shots of the clown fish and then proceeded to swim out further. We ran off a load of shots but also got sun burnt in the bargain as we had not planned to be out so long. We bought Geoff and Katherine a CD of Banyan Tree music to day thanks.

A Champagne sun set on the jetty (allowing some great sun set shots) and yet another gastronomic evening meal finished off the day.

Monday started off as planned, with a late breakfast and a chill out agenda. We are eating with Donald and Shona tonight, meeting for a cocktail at sunset in the bar to show Shona the underwater pictures, as she does not snorkel.

The weather has been fantastic so far although some rain is falling this afternoon. When it rains hear it pours!! Tomorrow we are off on our yacht trip tomorrow. Fingers crossed for good weather and calm seas!!