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Surfaris, Spacations, and Snorkelooza

Maldives Complete — Fri, 24 May 2013 11:29:04 GMT

In the growing world of travel options, the holiday industry is getting more and more specialised in its offerings and positioning. This trend was one of my motivations to starting Maldives Complete in order to help people navigate the growing range of resort options and styles. Maldives has long been a destination for (a) honeymooners, and (b) divers, but in recent years, it has been also established a worldwide reputation for (c) snorkelling, and (d) surfing. It is also an outstanding destination for families which was one of my earliest inspirations for building the website.

The Maldives has been renowned for indolent seclusion and lazing about in the sunshine with the counter downside perception of there being “nothing to do”. But now many resorts offer extensive water sports centers, underwater features and a range of creative activities and events tailored for the most esoteric interests.

As a result, many of the emerging “travel buzzwords” enumerated in the Telegraph’s recent article “The most irritating travel buzzwords” are on offer in the Maldives…

Spacation – spa trip
Floatel - a hotel on water
Voluntourism - combining a holiday with charity work
Spafari - safaris combined with "wellness"
Flightseeing - viewing an attraction, the Grand Canyon, for example, from an aircraft
Digital detox - a holiday without your mobile, tablet or laptop
Twixmas - a short break between Christmas and New Year

The Maldives is also a center for another term – the “Surfari” – as described in the recent Newswire piece “The Rise of the 'Surfari' Highlights the Maldives' Potential to Appeal to Active Holidaymakers”. I think that the Maldives’ biggest world-leading activity of Snorkeling also needs its own buzzword. “Reefcation”? “Snorkelooza”?

Best of the Maldives: Flower Name – Mirihi

Maldives Complete — Tue, 21 May 2013 07:48:59 GMT

100^th Chelsea Flower Show, one of the bellwethers of sunshine and blossoms in climate-challenged England, opens today. To mark the occasion we have our own online exhibit of botanical curiosity. Mirihi not only has it’s very own blossom, but it is its namesake. GM Martin Vossen describes, “Mirihi is named after the flower! :) I think it can be found on other Islands as well, but I have never seen it anywhere else and I would not be aware of where else it can be found, so it is really quite unique.”

Best of the Maldives: Fresh Lobster – Kandooma

Maldives Complete — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:50:41 GMT

Luxury + Seaside = Lobster

Wherever you place luxury next to the seaside, at the top of the restaurant hierarchy will always be lobster. It pretty much defines the pinnacle of seafood cuisine. Today being Lobster Day, perhaps a few of you with be donning the plastic bib and wielding the nutcrackers and silver picks.

So no surprise that lobster dinners are pervasive throughout the Maldives. Especially since they do live in profusion just metres away and just about any diving or snorkelling excursion will stumble upon one or more hiding under a crevice. But if you don’t want to get wet checking out these crustaceans in their native environment, then check out Kandooma’s lobster pen. Set in the resort’s lagoon by their pier, they have set underwater fencing in an area about the size of a pretty ample swimming pool and they keep their lobsters there. No piles of lobsters crammed on top of each other in a restaurant lobby fish tank. Their final days awaiting their dining table fate is spent in a spacious and natural home environment.

It also means that you can get some pretty big boys into the pen. The specimen in the photo above is about as big as my thigh (and my thigh is not small). And the number to choose form is just as large as we counted several dozen when we sat observing them crawling about.

I’ve never found any variety of lobster to be as tender and sweet as the famous Maine Lobster from where I grew up, so I don’t splurge for these delicacies very often in the Maldives. The most tempting preparations are those dishes prepared with a bit of local and gourmet flair that bring something extra to this exquisite ingredient. Kandooma’s luxury restaurant specialises in lobster dishes offering a broad range as well as a very tempting Lobster Gourmand Menu. It also offers a number of lobster dishes as part of its ‘Fishermans Market’ event held every Wednesday.

Free range lobster!

Maldives Virtual Film Festival

Maldives Complete — Wed, 15 May 2013 07:42:00 GMT

Cannes Film Festival starts today which is a great showcase of fine smaller, independent productions like Norway’s “Kon Tiki”. Which as it turns out features the Maldives as the setting for the final scene (at the resort of Biyadhoo it seems). It’s no surprise then that it was film director Francisco Negrin who alerted me not only this Maldivian cameo (“Just watched kon tiki, this year's oscar nominated norwegian film. The final scenes, when the raft hits Polynesia, were filmed in the maldives...”), but also all the films ever set in the Maldives.

If you want to have your own Maldivian Film Festival, then if you search IMDB for “location = Maldives”, you will get a list of over 33 films such as ‘The Island President’, “Caught Inside”, and “Dhinveynugehithaamaigaa”.

If I hadn’t saved up all my vacation time for visiting the Maldives, I might be traipsing about Cannes flogging a script myself (yes, like any self-respecting Los Angeles resident, ‘I have a script’). A script of a Maldivian story. If anyone is interested in producing a paradise-set cinematic tale, then drop me a line and we can do lunch. Plot: “Accountant becomes pirate.”

Best of the Maldives: Live Aboard Combo – Four Seasons Kuda Huraa / Landaa Giraavaru

Maldives Complete — Sun, 12 May 2013 07:46:20 GMT

Maldives Complete also doesn’t do boats in its profiles or ‘Best of’ reviews. I’ve shied away from getting into the whole ‘Live Aboard’ segment of Maldives holidays because, like Guest Houses, I’ve never been on one so I wouldn’t know which criteria to feature or how to write about it.

But, this post’s distinction is sort of a resort/cruise hybrid so it just passes. It’s sort of the ultimate water villa. A mobile water villa.

We have always fantasized about taking a cruise boat actually as a way to see lots of nooks and crannies of this mystical archipelago. Having been to many resorts and enjoying the discovery of new gems, the notion of touring along a stopping at all sorts of little islands off the beaten path and then retiring to the ultimate in ‘water villas’ sounded entrancing.

We can see the appeal of such a floating holiday…

If you ever wanted to try out the mega-yacht life for the experience of your very own (ever see those gigantic yachts parked in swish harbours with ports of call on their bow for ‘C.I.’ and ‘V.I.’ and wonder what staying on them would be like?).
If you’ve ever thought of going beyond even the picnic island excursions of resorts to the most secluded and far flung hidden parts of the Maldives strung together like your own customised ‘virtual’ resort.
If you are thinking of an extended (time and budget) holiday over say two weeks and definitely want to split into two resorts

Well, any of these have crossed your mind, then the Four Seasons has an offer for you with their Four Seasons combo offer on the exquisite Four Seasons Explorer offers a brilliant option.

22 guests
39 meters
1 suite
10 state rooms
Wi-fi (this surprised me…I thought I would have to forfeit my digital connection for the tour)
Underwater videography
Kayak, snorkel, water-ski
Spa therapist on board

Another possible title for this post is “Billionaire for a Week”. Like my “Billionaire for a Day” post. The price of chartering the Four Seasons Explorer is $16,000 per day (last I checked) for whole yacht. For 22 people that’s a bit over £500 per day which isn’t exactly billionaire price bracket. But it certainly is the billionaire lifestyle.

Best of the Maldives: Power Snorkelling – Keyodhoo

Maldives Complete — Sat, 11 May 2013 07:17:40 GMT

I don’t do Guest Houses, but I do do Snorkeling.

I’ve shied away from adding the new Guest Houses in the Maldives to the Maldives Complete database for a few reasons. First, I’ve neverstayed in one so I have no real first-hand experience to understand the key characteristics to profile. Second, there is less information on them on the web for me to research. They are often small mom-and-pop operations and comprehensive websites are not often provided.

But I have been a big advocate of Maldives being the best place to Snorkel in the world. And from that perspective (and in the spirit of ‘Best of the Maldives’ distinctives and uniques) I just had to add a post about the Keyodhoo guest house’s new ‘Power Snorkeling’ activity…

“Power Snorkeling – Only available at Keyodhoo. If you like snorkelling, you’ll just love Power Diving! With Power Dive’s free-floating Power Snorkel, you can dive to 6 metres with a friend for more than an hour on the 35 a/h battery. There are no tanks to carry, wear or refill and, after your dive, simply recharge or exchange the battery and do it all again! You don’t need a dive ticket to use it. View video in sidebar. $35 per couple, or $20 per person.”

Best of the Maldives: Lowest Population Density – Soneva Fushi

Maldives Complete — Thu, 09 May 2013 10:44:03 GMT

Not a person in sight.

What most of the prospective visitors on Forums ask about is the lowest population density. Perhaps burnt by crowded beaches and resorts elsewhere in the world, they are drawn to the Maldives by the tranquil seclusion. Relative to these other sardine seasides, even the highest density Maldive islands we have visited always seem sparse by comparison. Seeing fellow guests on the beach and around the island is always a bit of a rare event. I often ask ‘where is everybody’.

But if you want the ultimate in Robinson Crusoe human isolation, then Soneva Fushi is the expanse for you. Unlike most resort profile pictures, the pervasive natural landscape is evident from its aerial shot (see above). Mathematically, Soneva has 65 rooms on a 688,500 square meter island which is an agoraphilic 10,592 square metres per room. Perhaps not surprisingly, the ‘Population Density’ filter was suggested by a friend (Mark Richardson) who happens to be a Soneva Fushi devotee.

In my ‘best of’ filtering, I’ve excluded resorts that are not on their own island (eg. Equator Village on Gan, Traders Hotel on Male) because even though the ‘rooms per hectarage’ is small, there is lots of other infrastructure and ‘residents’.

To be low in density, the trick is to (a) be rather large in size (the numerator in the equation), (b) not have water villas (which add rooms beyond the land area). So for some who prefer the smaller more intimate islands and the luxury of a water villa, a low density is not a big appeal.

And if that density is still too crowded for you, Soneva has their distinctive picnic island (see below) where the density drops right down to nada.

Best of the Maldives: Highest Population Density – Safari Island

Maldives Complete — Mon, 06 May 2013 08:30:01 GMT

One trick to SEO is ‘keyword density’, ie. packing each page with the words ‘Maldives Resort’ every where. I didn’t think you folks would appreciate such gratuitous, self-serving clutter so I’ve avoided such contrived measures.

One trick to ‘Population Density’ (ie. rooms per square metre of island) on a Maldives Resort is lots of water villas. And the new leader is the new kid on the block. Safari Island now wins hands down in the ‘Population Density’ stakes. Maldives Complete has all the population densities of all the resorts. The previous king of cozy was Jumeirah Vittaveli with 91 rooms on 14,000 sqm for 154 sqm per room. Safari has 84 rooms on 8,000 sqm for 95 (!) sqm of island per room. Another relative newcomer has also opted for the jam them in approach, Centara Ras Fushi (140 rooms on 29,000 sqm for 215 sqm per room).

But on the horizon is a resort that Dutch Docklands is building whole resorts in lagoons with no island at all. Mathematically, a population density of infinity (that’s what you get when you divide by zero). Actually, the other Maldivian Jumeirah, Dhevanafushi, already sort of has an ‘all water villa’ feature with its complete detatched ‘Ocean Pearls’ villas set out in the middle of the ocean (see below), and Gili Lankanfushi pioneered the boat-only water villas with its collection of residences.

Help Me Help Others

Maldives Complete — Thu, 02 May 2013 23:48:00 GMT

I need help. Despite the steadily increasing traffic, the regular fan mail, the positive words from Facebook and TripAdvisor forums, and the resort support, Maldives Complete still does not rank highly in search engine result pages (SERPs). The site has a very credible Page Ranking of ‘3’, more than many pages that seem to come higher in the results.

The issue is that lots of people investigating the Maldives as a destination for the first time often won’t find Maldives Complete unless someone in-the-know tips them off to it. That means that those prospective visitors get lured to crappy commercial sites that just provide a little bit of generic tantalising information and then bombard them with holiday offers.

One of the things that first frustrated me driving me to develop Maldives Complete was the vacuous and shallow commercial websites that always barged to the top of the search engine results when I searched for “Maldives resorts”. Because Maldives holidays are so expensive, there’s a lot of incentive for operators and website cowboys to produce mediocre websites with a few stock images and then put lots of money into Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) that will thrust them to the top of the rankings. Everywhere I go in the Maldives travel industry, most experts and aficionados now know of Maldives Complete and share generous and kind praise the work it is doing. Still it’s a cut-throat world when lots of money is involved. Even the well-done sites that I promote, link to for their quality and get praise from in private, don’t put links to me I guess out of fear that I will draw lucrative traffic away from them.

The praise for Maldives Complete is backed up by the stats. Its web traffic has grown steadily since its launch with a particular surge in recent months (eg. 20% traffic growth just last month). Since the outset, an average of over 40% of the daily visitors were ‘Return Visitors’ meaning that people like what they saw and have come back for more.

But the most telling and also curious statistic is the referrals from search engines. For most websites, this is one of the most common sources of people finding the site. But with Maldives Complete, only 27% comes from search engines. The rest come from (a) ‘No Referrer’ meaning they typed the name straight into the browser, or (b) email sites (eg. mail.yahoo.com) meaning someone emailed them the link). Despite a very respectable Google Page Rank of ‘3’, MaldivesComplete doesn’t show up in the top 1000 results of a search on ‘Maldives resorts’. By contrast, Adrian Neville’s authoritative site SevenHolidays has a Page Rank of ‘2’ but still shows up at position 26.

One of the key drivers to search engine position is links backlinks. Because I don’t make any money out of this site, I haven’t had any resources to go out with PR campaigns and SEO initiatives to buy or market such ‘link juice’ (and the SEO gurus call it). Since so much of the popularity of MaldivesComplete seems to be driven by word of mouth and regular readers, I thought I would send out an appeal for links. If you have an appropriate site (eg. something to do with travel or the Maldives) and you think that MaldivesComplete is useful, then any link you can put on the site to MaldivesComplete will help the search engine bots to value it as highly many of you seem to. Thanks for any support you can provide. Hopefully it will help others to find and benefit from this tool to find just the right resort for them.

Best of the Maldives: Employees Choice Employer – W Retreat

Maldives Complete — Wed, 01 May 2013 06:57:27 GMT

“W” is for “Worker” on today’s International Worker Day. And in the Maldives,”W” – as in ‘W Retreat’ - is for workers too. According to the definitive source, the Maldives Resort Workers themselves…

“MRW congratulates W Maldives for being the best employer in 2012 and urge other resorts to make a fair attempt to get the title of the best employer in 2013. For most of the resorts, it’s just a matter of coming clean through accounts to give a fair distribution of service charge to the staff, which is by law entitled to staff.”

This ‘Best of the Maldives’ accolade was actually already awarded to W Retreat back when Maldives Complete first started in 2009. But this updated and comprehensive survey provides both quantitative validation and fresh recognition for W Retreat’s enduring focus on this area.

Today’s post has also prompted the addition of yet another Category tag for the site – ‘Management’ (which is actually a bit of a pet subject for me).

Best of the Maldives: Astronomy Week – Gangehi

Maldives Complete — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 14:35:00 GMT

Most of the special events in the Maldives take one down into the water (like Six Sense Laamu’s Water Wo/Men event). But equally as sparkling as the turquoise lagoons and shimmering reefs is the firmament of stars above. Usually at least once during our Maldives visits, we lie down on the warm sand after dinner to gaze at the night sky packed with stars with a flourish of Milky Way across the middle.

Resorts are catching on to this night time showpiece with increasing numbers offering telescopes, beach star gazing sessions, eclipses, observatories and special events. In fact, today’s post has prompted me to add a new category tag – ‘Astronomy’.

Gangehi is going a step further with an entire ‘Astronomy Week’ devoted to celestial celebration. The line-up includes…

Stargazing
“Astro-millionaire” game
Brief after-dinner astronomy talks
Let’s take a shoot to the moon
Astronomy walks

As it happens, tomorrow we enter the ‘Lagu’ period of the ‘Seed Moon’ which is Celtic for ‘Flowing Water’ (!). The Runic Calendar of Nordic traditions, which is governed by half months rather than full months, divides this moon of the year by Man (Human) from April 14th through April 28th, and Lagu from April 29th through May 13th.

If you are interested in marking other big astronomical events in your diary, then check out this handy reference chart for 2013 of "13 Must See Star Gazing Events in 2013".

Star attraction!

Best of the Maldives: Twitchers – Sun Island

Maldives Complete — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:21:41 GMT

Another sanctuary for the airbourne is Sun Island’s Kovelivaa park, the biggest bird sanctuary among the Maldives resorts.

As it happens, today is Audubon Day established on the birthdate of the world’s leading ornithological illustrator, John James Audubon. Sometimes, Audubon Day (celebrating wild fowl) and Arbor Day (celebrating wild foliage) are celebrated together by planting trees in bird sanctuaries like Sun’s.

There is more to the Maldives fowl than herons (it seems as it every resort has its resident heron who combines stalking the lagoon shallows for fish with posing like a fethered statue for hours on end to charm the guests). Two lesser seen examples of Maldive bird life found on Sun Island are described below by the resort…

White Breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) - “These white breasted waterhens are very calm and like to go along doing their work silently, unnoticed. As the name suggests, these birds are the water counterparts of normal hens and can be seen mostly near edges of water bodies. In [Sun Island’s] IIT, the best places to see them are the lake behind SAC and IITG lake. When no one is around, they are bold enough to venture on the roads, so watch out for them! Local names: Assamese”

Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopacea) – “Asian Koel is a large cuckoo which feeds mainly on fruits and berries in trees, feasting on the ripe fruits. It also consumes insects and caterpillars. Adults often frequent orchards.”

Megatick!

Best of Maldives: Airport Terminal – Shangri-La Villingili

Maldives Complete — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:15:18 GMT

One of the best ways to see the otherworldly images of the Maldives is by taking a seaplane transfer to your resort. In the beginning, such transfers were cumbersome affairs where you sat in a sweaty, open-air hangar. But now, most of the 5-stars have developed their own swanky lounges at Male airport for seaplane transfers with cappuccino, tropical juices and other amenities. Shangri-La Villingili have gone one step further building an entire dedicated terminal…

“’The terminal, at Gan International Airport in Addu Atoll, is a five-minute speedboat ride to the resort and is for the exclusive arrival and departure of the resort's guests. A private lounge offers one-stop immigration, custom and baggage screening services. ‘With Gan airport, we have found the ideal partner to provide guests arriving by private jet a unique experience, unmatched convenience and privacy,’ said Rene D. Egle, the resort's general manager. Guests taking advantage of the new private jet terminal also can try the resort's ‘Private Jet Experience,’ which features a stay in a 10,000-square-foot presidential villa with a butler and daily massage. Those who fly by private jet can now land five minutes from paradise. Shangri-La’s Villingili Resort and Spa is the first five-star resort in the Maldives to open its own private executive airport terminal.”

Best of Maldives - Online: Interactive Map – Dreaming of Maldives

Maldives Complete — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:37:00 GMT

Like the resurgent corals, the vibrant inter-web thingy just gets richer and more colourful every day. When I launched Maldives Complete, there was a really dearth of good, useful information about the resorts. The resorts themselves had weak and limited websites. Nowadays, things are much more sophisticated.

Probably my second favourite Maldives website, after Maldives Complete, is Sakis Papadopolous’ ‘Dreaming of Maldives’. Just as I started with an anchor of a comprehensive database, Sakis’ starts with simply the best collection of images on the Maldives around. But like Maldives Complete, he hasn’t rested there and has branched into a range of other areas. His section on families, “The child-friendly Resorts in Maldives, all the Kids-clubs,’ remains one of the most comprehensive reviews of resorts on the Maldives. He has started to move into videos with dazzling results. And his latest innovative addition is this ’Maldives Photo Map’.

When I first launched Maldives Complete, one of the fun bits I added was the DeepZoom control of the British Admiralty Maps of the country. As I launched it, you can zoom into the charts to exacting detail. I had fantasized about pushing this party trick even further. I had pictures for both aerial shots of the island and prominent features like the swimming pool. I had thought that once one zoomed into an island, you would see an aerial photo (see directly below). And if you zoomed in on the photo, then it would take you to a shot of the pool (see bottom). A bit like a Russian doll photographic drill down reminiscent of the second half of the iconic film, ‘Powers of Ten’.

In the end, I didn’t see a lot of traffic on my interactive map and Microsoft never really developed the Deep Zoom technology much. Its editing tool, Deep Zoom Composer, remained klunky and incomplete. So I decided it would be too much work to add these extra layers of images. Also, soon the Google and Bings maps caught up on the imagery and so the aerial shots were pretty good. And now Sakis has taken the final step of allowing you to zoom even closer into gorgeous shots of island highlights.

Pol-ypdate

Maldives Complete — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 08:27:07 GMT

They grow up so fast.

The Four Seasons have always had a website that allowed you to look up your Reefscaper coral frame and see how it was progressing, but now they have just relaunched a special website, Marine Savers, to provide not only frame update lookups, but also detailed information and updates on the ever broading range of their Maldives-leading conservation initiatives.

Above is our frame (KH0327) we planted in November 2010 at Four Seasons Kuda Huraa. Toddler-sized growths are looking pretty attractive compared to the collection of broken pieces that we affixed to the iron frame. Curiously, our frame (LG0729) planted during our visit to Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru that same week is doing notably less well, but still clear healthy growth from the fragments first affixed.

Best of Maldives: Sand Castle Event – W Retreat

Maldives Complete — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 08:05:47 GMT

Nowhere in the Maldives are the sands shifting so creatively as at W Retreat last week. The W hosted a Sand Sculpture event with artist Peter Redmond…

“Sand sculpture is no longer a children’s only activity. As the sun shines over the Indian Ocean Peter Redmond, Australian Sand Sculpture artist, will be assisting guests at the Retreat to create and customize their very own sand art…Guests at the Retreat can stop by for sand sculpting workshops while Peter reveals the art of sculpting. With a background in Graphic design and illustration, Peter Redmond’s passion for sculpture came at young age while competing with his brothers on who would finish the first sand sculpture on Frankston Beach, Australia. Peter stated that the only difference today was the size of the sculptures as they are now bigger…W Maldives will reveal Peter Redmond’s final work, and will select the best sculpture amongst the retreats guests.”

You can check out some of the creations on the W Retreat Facebook album of the event here.

As I noted before, I grew up by the beach of Crane Beach in Ipswich, Massachusetts where sand castle building is an annual highlight so I have a special nostalgic appreciation for this oceanic art form.

Bucket list.

Are the Maldives Really Sinking?

Maldives Complete — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:03:00 GMT

My first ever guest post and it’s written by Maldivian born and raised Ahmed Shareef who looks at the shifting sands of the Maldive beaches…

Maldives are the poster child of a sinking world. If the world is to be inundated by rise sea-levels, the low lying Maldives, will be the first to go under. The islands of Maldives are about a metre above sea level. Now the question is if it is really sinking or is it a myth? What can the Maldivians do if it is really sinking?

Cruises offer an alternative way to enjoy travelling in Maldives and you can experience the changes taking place every few years. I'm not a scientist. But, I have been travelling around in Maldives for nearly 15 years and I could notice some obvious changes to the climate. Many islands of the Maldives suffer soil erosion making them considerably smaller in the past 20 years.The place that was once beach where we played beach volley is now a part of the lagoon. Its speed is not fast, but the islands being so small, the small change seems to make a big impact on the country, over a span of many years.

Another effect of the global warming is coral bleaching. Tip of the colourful coral becomes whitish and dies. Again this is not common and usually happens in the hottest periods of year and in some particular reefs that are shallow enough to be affected. Corals are an important of the island ecosystem. Some scientists believe coral could help the islands tackle sea level rise while some don’t event believe in sinking theory.

The islands that suffer soil erosion are erecting barriers to protect sand. The capital Male’ itself has a protection wall all around. The protection mechanism is largely based on the effects. Government has limited funds and it is giving priority to worst-hit islands. Most of the inhabited islands currently have some form of protection against soil erosion, sea swells etc. But, it is usually not enough to protect the entire island.

From my current observation and government’s stance, there is a remarkable chance of Maldives getting submerged in coming 200 years. In the last stage the Maldives would probably pump sand from island to another to form higher land for people to live. This way Maldives could last for more centuries and ultimately may end up in a water village with floating houses and speedboats for transport. It is highly unlikely that the residents would abandon the beautiful paradise, even after many centuries.

About the Author: I was born and raised in the Maldives. Joined a resort as front desk assistance in 2001 and been moving to different resorts and cruises. Prior to starting my first job, I was cruising and visiting different islands for fun. I got weekends to enjoy like that during my studies. After working for many years currently I am doing freelance works for resorts and travel companies.

The very definition of ‘Atoll’

Maldives Complete — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 00:41:00 GMT

Maldives Quiz night – What is one word in English that comes directly from the Maldivian language of Dhivehi? Answer: Atoll.

Today is Dhivehi Language Day. I’ve always been a bit of word buff. I used to look up the meaning of every word that I didn’t know write down their definition on a small slate (probably was a big contributor getting into such a good school for me).

The other official word that is in the Oxford English Dictionary that also comes from Dhivehi is ‘Dhoni’. But to me, it’s not quite the same since ‘dhoni’ seems almost like a proper name of a specific thing in from this specific place. Furthermore, I never heard of a ‘dhoni’ until I travelled to the Maldives. But ‘atoll’ is a much more generic term in widespread use in common parlance.

But my favourite Dhivehi word is one I came across on our visit to Sun Island - “Araamu”. It is the name of the Villa resort spas and is dhivehi for “Total Relaxation”. Just like in the artic, Eskimos purportedly have 100 words for ‘snow’, in the Maldives, they seem to have multiple variations on the word ‘relaxation’. As a part of that relaxation totality, the spa offers you a ‘noni and tamarind’ welcome drink which is one of the most therapeutic welcome drinks I have come across.

Best of Maldives: Underwater Dance – Maayafushi

Maldives Complete — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 06:24:33 GMT

Con los terroristas. Ey Shake. Ey Shake. Ey, Ey, Ey, Ey.

I’ve enjoyed a number of the Harlem Shake renditions sweeping the net recently, but had to give a special nod to the Maayafushi dive centre at TGI Maldives for their underwater performance.

This month’s video has prompted me to add a ‘video’ tag to the Maldives Complete as the Blog now boasts 14 different video posts.

Shake, Ta. Ta. And do the Harlem Shake. Ey Shake, Ey.

Best of the Maldives: Badminton – Reethi Beach

Maldives Complete — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:54:32 GMT

For complete protection from trajectory altering breezes, the indoor badminton court is the convention answer. Indoor courts are relatively rare in the Maldives, but Reethi Beach’s extensive racquet facilities includes two (2!) shiny courts with arching ceilings to accommodate the highest lob shots.

Best of the Maldives: Beach Badminton - Kanuhura

Maldives Complete — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 19:40:46 GMT

While it’s called ‘Beach’ Darts, it’s actually set inside the island underneath of copse of shady palm trees. Admittedly, it’s a bit of semantic pedantry since in the Maldives, everything is ‘Beach’, inside and out. Not just the inside of the island, but even many of the buildings of the best resorts have talcum-soft sand floors.

Not only does the inner island setting keep the sun out of your eyes, but it also shields the match from ocean breezes. Another ‘inner beach’ sport is ‘Beach Badminton’. I’ve come across a few set ups on the proper beach, but Kanuhura has set up on inside for the same protections. The feather-light shuttle-cocks are even more susceptible to breezes which makes the setting superb.

Furthermore, Kanuhura offers other bonus features. First, the ground chosen is a good balance between firmness so you can move easily and soft layer of sand so you can play comfortably in bare feet. Second, the boundaries are marked off with fixed lines to regulation size so you can play a proper match. And finally, Kanuhura offers a badminton player on staff who can provide both a worthy opponent or some instruction.

Smash!

Best of the Maldives: Beach Darts - Mirihi

Maldives Complete — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 07:52:31 GMT

If you prefer your gaming activities more natural, then you can’t get much more so than Mirihi’s unique Beach Darts. Mirihi resort itself is distinguished by its ‘natural’ feel with so much of the island kept in a pristine state unencumbered by excessive infrastructure or artificial contrivances.

Darts are a relaxing game so suitable for the pubs and taverns in which they usually reside. Mirihi’s white sand, palm copse fits that mellow vibe just right. You can have some fun games without having to take yourself away from the gorgeous Maldives weather.

Bulls Eye!

Best of the Maldives: 3D Simulator – Niyama

Maldives Complete — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 07:42:26 GMT

Some of you figured out that Monday’s post had a little simulation in the graphics department. However, if you like your resort experience enhanced with a touch of electronic simulation, the NIYMA is the destination for you. It has a simulator room which a collection of games that include…

Golf - 10 golf courses
Laser Shooting - 10 shooting games
Basketball – shooting baskets
Baseball - pitching
Ice hockey – penalty shooting (goal target & shot speed)
American Football – kicking and throwing
Soccer – penalty shooting

Prices range from $35 for 30 minutes to $200 for unlimited use (during opening hours 10:00 am – 11:00 pm) during guest’s stay.

Wii on steroids.

Best of the Maldives: Underwater Pool – Maaprolfulshi

Maldives Complete — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 08:14:40 GMT

Underwater marvels are some of the signature features of the Maldives paradise. And with the flood of underwater restaurants, bedrooms, night clubs, function rooms, spas, cabinet meetings, golf courses, Christmas trees, art, and even scuba massage, innovative new offerings are demanding more and more creativity. So many are there that I have introduced an ‘underwater’ tag to the blog today (not the natural features and creatures, but the man-made stuff).

The lesser known resort of Maaprolfulshi has tossed its hat into this watery ring with its newly introduced underwater pool. No, not a ‘pool’ that is underwater. That would be just silly! But an underwater pool table. It also accommodates games of billiards and snooker (see above).

Break!

Best of the Maldives: Bunnies – Soneva Fushi

Maldives Complete — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 09:59:00 GMT

Maybe another title for this post is ‘Best for Easter’. Actually, Soneva Fushi isn’t the only resort with free roaming rabbits. Kuredu also has rabbits, but Soneva is really the most famous. Only for Soneva Fushi has several folks who have been there have talked to me about the rabbits. They even feature the bunnies on their website (see photo above)…

“Every visit makes you feel like a child again. Cycling round the island, never knowing when you might have to swerve to avoid bunny rabbits or lizard…Nesting turtles and bunny rabbits co-habiting happily on a jewel of emerald green in a vast ocean of turquoise.”

There are also lots of accounts in places like TripAdvisor (“rabbits that are everywhere”) and YouTube (see below).

Happy Easter!