August 2011 - Posts

Best of the Maldives: Nurse Sharks - Dhiggiri

Published 25 August 11 7:5 PM | Maldives Complete

  These creatures should get an endorsement contract with ‘ Night Nurse’ , the cold medication to help you sleep. It seems all these Nurse Sharks do is sleep. During the daytime when most dives occur that is. My wife Lori got to see a couple of them...

Filed under: best of, Dhiggiri, ocean

Why Do I Do It?

Published 23 August 11 7:59 AM | Maldives Complete

What is most common question I get from folks at resorts when I visit? What’s my favourite resort? What do I enjoy doing the most in the Maldives? How many times have I visited? Nope. By far the most prevalent question is ‘ Why do you do it...

Filed under: site

Best of the Maldives: Fish Feeding – Reethi Beach

Published 22 August 11 9:18 PM | Maldives Complete

    To feed or not to feed. That is the question of an increasing number of eco-activists. Certainly one problematic area of fish feeding is visitors taking it upon themselves to feed fish bread and other items purloined from the restaurant...

Filed under: best of, Reethi Beach, activity

Best of the Maldives: Aroma – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru

Published 20 August 11 11:53 PM | Maldives Complete

Walking along a sandy path under the canopy of coconut tress. Lori and I love our sunset walks around the island when we visit the Maldives. How could it get any better? Well, that’s what Four Seasons prides itself on. Those little touches that...

Filed under: best of, Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru, ambience

Best of the Maldives: Iconic Island – Soneva Gili

Published 18 August 11 8:42 AM | Maldives Complete

When people ask ‘What are the Maldives like?’, my first response is always, ‘You know those pictures of a tropical island that is a plot of sand with a single palm tree like in the cartoons? That is the Maldives. Just think of over a...

Filed under: best of, Soneva Gili, landscape

Best of the Maldives Online: Resort Stories - Maldives.net.mv

Published 17 August 11 8:7 AM | Maldives Complete

I wish I had said that. That’s what I keep find myself saying following Maldive.net.mv’s Twitter stream of, among other things, great scoops and stories on Maldives resorts. Fortunately, my pride is not so strong that I am beyond a plenty...

Filed under: best of, online

What I Didn’t See

Published 16 August 11 1:50 AM | Maldives Complete

My 2011 summer tour was a huge success in ferreting out all sorts of impressive and quirky distinctions of the resorts I visited and elsewhere. After last week’s follow up round of new posts, I am now up to 180 ‘Best Ofs’ with that number...

Filed under: best of, Sakis Papadopoulos, industry

Best of the Maldives: Beach Canopy – Club Med Kani

Published 15 August 11 10:55 AM | Maldives Complete

  When it comes to Club Med Kani , it is not all go, go, go. But even if relaxing on the beach under the shade of a palm tree is your thing, then Kani does that ‘big’ too. Palm vistas surround the island, but beach side is the most dramatic and about...

Filed under: best of, Club Med Kani, landscape

Best of the Maldives: Fish Frenzy - Velassaru

Published 14 August 11 8:6 AM | Maldives Complete

A perfectly tranquil lake-like ocean with shimmering shades of mottled blue...then suddenly it erupts with a hundred tiny splashes. What the...? This is fish hunting. Big fish going after little fish. The little fish congregate in big schools for some...

Filed under: best of, ocean, Velassaru

Best of the Maldives – Nautical Restaurant: Meeru

Published 13 August 11 6:24 AM | Maldives Complete

The wooden deck of a classic schooner...the perfect romantic complement to a ocean adventure. Many resorts offer various boat trips for sunrise and sunset cruises with a whole range of boats. But if you don’t want to pay a supplemental excursion...

Filed under: best of, Meeru, dining

Best of the Maldives – Music: W Retreat

Published 11 August 11 5:44 PM | Maldives Complete

  Music is as integral to the W Retreat as the colour blue is to the Maldive waters. It’s certainly not just background. Nor is it merely a special touch (some resorts do get the music horribly wrong with dated pop which is almost more grating than...

Filed under: best of, W Retreat, ambience, music

Best of the Maldives – Pre-Schoolers: Kandooma

Published 11 August 11 11:50 AM | Maldives Complete

As I have written before , I was originally going to call Maldives Complete by the name of ‘Maldives For Families’. There were so many websites heralding it as a destination for romance/honeymoon or diving, but I always thought of it as an...

Filed under: best of, Kandooma, kids

Best of the Maldives – Sports: Kuredu

Published 8 August 11 6:50 PM | Maldives Complete

Usually, Best of the Maldives has to focus in on quite particular if not peculiar features in order to justify calling them the ‘Best Of’ among such high quality offerings in the country. So calling Kuredu something as broad and bold as the...

Filed under: best of, Kuredu, sport

Best of the Maldives – A Capella Greeting: Komandoo

Published 8 August 11 3:28 AM | Maldives Complete

All of the Maldives resorts welcome their guests with various treats from tropical drinks, scented cold towels and even music, but Komandoo is the first I have seen to have their own welcome song. Delivered with heart and enthusiasm accompanies by bodu...

Filed under: best of, Komandoo, greeting, music

Best of the Maldives – Italians: Palm Beach

Published 7 August 11 9:23 AM | Maldives Complete

Italy has one of the strongest heritages in the Maldives along with the British and the Germans. At least half a dozen resorts are primarily Italian in clientele and background. But the ‘nonno’ of them all has to be Palm Beach . Over 85% of...

Filed under: best of, Palm Beach, ambience, nationality