OUR TRAVELS TO DATE
Maldives
writtrn by ed; photos by jayne; videos by shant
The Maldives are comprised of nearly 1200 islands (of which only 200 are inhabited) in the southern part of the Indian Ocean, spanning across the equator, stretching nearly 871 km. The islands are grouped into a double chain of atolls. (The word “atoll” originated from the language of the Maldives -Dhivehi.) This unique geography can mesmerize those who have seen advertisements for the Maldives with the clear turquoise-colored waters, colorful reefs and fish, and pristine, white sandy beaches – idyllic, to say the least.
A year ago, Jayne and I saw a deal on Travelzoo that we couldn’t resist. It was in the middle of the pandemic and destinations were enticing potential travelers with incredible savings. This particular one was for the Maldives, a place that neither of us had been, but was on our list of potential destinations. We jumped on it and built much of our itinerary around the dates we had chosen coinciding with Jayne’s birthday. Well, like the Buddha said, everything changes.
While dining in Kandy, Sri Lanka, we shared a table with three Egyptian women who had just spent some time in the Maldives. They told us of the island-hopping they had done, which sounded like fun, so we started to investigate that option as an add-on to our stay at the resort we had booked. Since we had decided to extend our visa in SL, Jayne’s birthday would now be celebrated there rather than in the Maldives.
As we were doing our research on the Maldives, Jayne saw a posting on a Facebook group we belong to, Senior Nomads, that asked if there was a couple interested in purchasing a half-price tickets for a 7-day catamaran trip in the Maldives, since one of the couples had to cancel. We jumped at the opportunity, but we were too late, someone beat us to it. But, it was something we hadn’t considered doing originally, so we began to research other similar opportunities that worked with our timeframe. Many sounded interesting and expensive. Although we are not really adhering to any type of budget, we were able to rationalize this plunge by telling ourselves how much money we were saving by extending our stay in SL. Rationalization is awesome!
These types of trips are called liveaboards, which means that you stay on the boat for the duration, room and board included in the price. We found one that suited our interest and timeframe (before our resort stay) on a Turkish gulet, a traditional wooden sailing vessel, although most gulets used for tourist purposes are not rigged with sails. The 6-day cruise would include snorkeling twice each day for a minimum of 45 minutes, scuba dives for those interested (at an additional cost), all meals, and a cabin. One of the highlights would be swimming with whale sharks. There is no other place in the world, other than the Maldives, where swimming with these fish can be done year-round….assuming you find them!
We flew directly to the Maldives from Sri Lanka and decided to arrive one day early just in case there were any issues with connections. We met the rest of the group at the airport that next morning, all of whom were arriving from the UK or Denmark. There would be a total of nine of us (3 couples and 3 solo travelers), not including the tour guides (2), captain, and crew (4) that would be onboard. You never know how small groups in tight quarters will work out, and given Covid, what attitudes and behavior they might display. Thankfully, with just a couple of exceptions the group got along just fine and whatever small issues arose, our tour guides, Ub (pronounced You -Bee) and Zaff handled them adeptly.
After the first night of sleeping on what was possibly the hardest “mattress” I had ever experienced, I decided, with Ub’s approval, to sleep on cushions on the deck. The night air was beautiful, and I had the largest “room” on the boat. None of the others cared, as everyone agreed the mattresses were ridiculously hard. (Jayne moved some cushions onto her bed to be more comfortable). I would wake at the crack of dawn, see the sunrise on most days, and feel like I could do this for a while.
Our typical day, which Ub would review the night before was:
- 6:30 early morning scuba dive for those interested
- 7:30 breakfast
- 10:15 snorkel (or dive)
- 12:30 lunch
- 2:45 snorkel
- 4:30 afternoon tea (snack)
- 7:30 dinner
- sleep
With only the whale shark safari on Day 3, there really wasn’t much variation from this “hectic” schedule day-to-day. The gaps in the day afforded you the opportunity to relax on the sundeck, read, or whatever.
On Day 1, Ub wanted to get a sense of our swimming/snorkeling abilities. As I had told Ub at the outset, I don’t feel totally comfortable in the water (unlike Jayne who is a fish in the water), even though I’ve snorkeled many times over the years. My discomfort was evident to Ub so Zaff became my personal snorkeling buddy, which was especially useful when we were going against the tide. After snorkeling twice a day for six days, my confidence dramatically increased.
The snorkeling was sensational! One day, we saw well over 100 spinner dolphins. As Zaff would point in the direction of one pod, I would point in another direction where another pod was. After the snorkel, Zaff was delirious, saying how that was the most number of dolphins he had ever seen! A big statement from someone who has probably snorkeled and scuba-dived thousands of times in these waters.
Another highlight was snorkeling amidst manta rays at least 3 meters in length. At one point, I was just hovering above one of them with what I know was a huge smile on my face. While I was snorkeling, I could see Jayne scuba diving below them. It was quite the sight!
The final highlight was on the last day when we were snorkeling in what was called “the fishbowl”. Aside from the colorful array of different fish, many stingrays were present. And we got to finally see a hawksbill turtle, a highlight for our friends from Denmark.
During our last dinner together, we all shared the highlights (many) and lowlights (very few) of our time together, a fitting way to say goodbye to our fellow wanderlust travelers.
We knew that it would be a big ask for our week at the resort we had booked to top the experience we had on our liveaboard, and we were correct in that assumption. In order to reach the resort, we had to fly from Male to the island of Gan, a bit more than an hour’s flight away. We were greeted at the resort with welcome drinks and given a short talk about the resort and its amenities. Because the offer they had on Travelzoo was so inexpensive, we never really checked the reviews of the resort until it was too late – rookie mistake.
The resort was relatively new and had remained open for the most part during covid. We were booked in a beach villa for five days and an over- the- water villa for two. We also did not purchase the all-inclusive package; our package was breakfast only and free drinks from 4-6 pm. On our first night, we tried their dinner buffet and were not impressed, so we opted for large breakfasts and a late lunch at the bar, given the high price of the lunch and dinner buffets.
Our villa was steps away from the beach and the beautiful turquoise Maldives water. It wasn’t the white sandy beach we had expected, rather it was man-made filled with white rocks and broken coral, something we had read from some disgruntled guest reviews, again too late for us. The dining area for breakfast was not air-conditioned and had a limited number of fans. Considering it was pretty warm there, it wasn’t an ideal dining environment. There was also no house reef, meaning that to snorkel you would have to take a boat ride to some reefs. (Man, I’m really complaining/whinging right now! You’re in the Maldives! Appreciate the setting!)
The resort did have some positives, the biggest one being that it was in the Maldives. We never grew tired of looking at those colorful waters. Our room in the Beach Villa was well-appointed, as was the room in the over-the-water villa. In that villa, we were also able to walk down the few steps from our back porch and enjoy the warm waters of the Indian Ocean, whether it was to cool off or do a bit of snorkeling. Not too shabby! (OK then, I am able to appreciate the moments!)
The bottom line was that nothing was going to surpass our experience on the Felicity. Even if our resort had the white sandy beaches and fantastic food, it would not have approached being out on the sea for six days, snorkeling twice a day, scuba diving, and being with a nice bunch of people and terrific guides and crew.
The Maldives can only be described in photos, and, of course, photos and videos don’t do the islands full justice. All I can say is if you like snorkeling and/or diving, incredibly beautifully colored waters, have the liveaboard experience, but maybe not one with hard mattresses!
Enjoy the photos from Jayne and the videos from Shant, one of our new friends from the liveaboard!
