Maldives Tour 2012 – Day 10: Sun Island

Grand.

Not large, but ‘grand’. Sun Island is the largest resort island by just about every metric. Largest acreage (for a dedicated resort island versus the multiple resorts on Gan and multiple tourist hotels on Male) and number of rooms to start. When it comes to infrastructure, there is about twice as much of everything. Four tennis courts, 4 table tennis tables, even 2 snooker tables (when it is rare to find a solitary one on a resort). The scale of the resort means that there is simply much more on offer that you don’t typically find on a resort island – a pharmacy, a small tourism college, a hyperbaric chamber, a dozen shops. Also, different outdoor areas feature unique areas – a bird sanctuary, a nature park, many gardens for growing fresh produce for the island.

The whole resort has more of a ‘resort town’ feel to it. Sort of Martha’s Vineyard with palm tree. You get around on elegant black and red brick boulevards. And the staff facilities aren’t hidden away behind fenced off secluded areas, but instead the staff live in garden villas similar to those of the guests.

Lori commented that it had an old world ‘grand’ charm. Like something out of a E.M. Forster novel.   Instead of the outdoor reception with beach-style seating, Sun invites you into a lavish air conditioned room with rich drapes on the windows and plush sofas.  Carrying on across the island, through the lantern lit, palm-lined avenues decorated a various turns with elaborate carved statues, the mystique carries on throughout .

While the characteristic charm of the Maldives are the small islands, Sun shows that big can be beautiful.  And I uncovered a big number of Best of the Maldives possibilities with 17 distinctions identified which makes it the 5th highest in the Maldives to date.