Best of the Maldives: Largest Inflatable Toy – Kandima

Kandima - largest inflatable toy

The biggest Easter display this year was Kandima’s giant bunny complete with shades…

  • Kandima will break the record for installing the highest inflatable toy in Maldives! The inflatable Easter Bunny sculpture will be erected on the Breeze beach and will offer great photoshoot opportunities for everybody on the island.”

Sort of a cross between the Energizer Bunny and Pink Marshmallow Bunny Peeps.

  

Best of the Maldives: Jet Pack Display – One & Only Reethi Rah

Spinning around One & Only Reethi Rah this past Easter was “world-renowned, real-life Iron Man, Richard Browning, also known as ‘the flying man’ [soaring] above the lagoon with his jet-powered super hero suit.”

Best of the Maldives: Palm Friendly – AaaVeee

AaaVeee - palm friendly 3

Today Earth is celebrating Earth Day to appreciate the special blessing that is this spinning ball of rock and water. Its fragility as a home to humanity and millions of other species has becoming increasingly clearer in recent years and more people are looking for ways to live in harmony with the planet rather than conquering new frontiers. I’ve always described the Maldives as “that iconic plot of sand with a palm tree on it”. The palm tree is very much symbol of marooned life floating in the ocean and palms are indeed the centrepiece of the island ecosystem. And if one island exemplifies and nurtures this Arecaceae appreciation, it is AaaVeee.

There must be more palms trees per square foot than any island I have ever been to. The resort goes to considerable lengths to keep and foster even more. Many of the buildings were simply built around the trees with their trunks sticking through holes in the roof. The main bar has 5 palm trees piercing the rooftop rather than removing them.

In fact, the palm trees themselves do their bit as well. Nazeeh showed me a few seedling “twins” on the island (two trees growing out of a single pod). And the island features a very curious specimen which refuses to shed its fronds when they die (see photo at bottom) creating quite a striking collection of old fronds.

AaaVeee - palm friendly 2

AaaVeee - palm fronds

Best of the Maldives: Instagram Post – Conrad Maldives

Conrad Maldives - Kim Kardashian

Maldives has always been a celebrity magnet from movie stars to world champion athletes, but there very definition of the term celebrity might just go to recent visitor Kim Kardashian. I’ve covered the top Instagrammers invading this tropical paradise using the Follower count. But the resort marketing directors will be quick to point out that it is all about engagement. And that metric starts with “Likes”. When I consider posts for inclusions in my various “Fashion” collections, popularity is a consideration (ie. a borderline photo with an amazing number of Likes might get included). A few hundred likes is pretty typical for a fine shot even among the more popular fashionistas. Four-figures raises an eyebrow, 5-figures is quite amazing and anything beyond that is quite jaw dropping.

So what it the most popular Instagram post from the Maldives of all time? From what I can determine in my pretty extensive research, it is Kim Kardashian’s “shallow wallow” (a class Maldives pose) Conrad Maldives at with a stratospheric 3,323,466 Likes

The next closest (the only other 7-figure post) I have seen is Kriti Sanon’s (19.2 million Followers) post with 1,289,564 Likes.

    

Best of the Maldives: Skating Museum – Jumeirah Vittaveli

Jumeirh Vittaveli - skating museum

Possibly one of the most unexpected “best ofs” in my decade of writing about the Maldives, Jumeirah Vittaveli’s ice rink, just got a bit more so. The resort has opened an ice skating museum! It feature memorabilia from the career of Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko. Maldives Insider covered the opening

  • “Jumeirah Vittaveli has announced plans to open an ice skating museum at the resort’s ice skating rink in honour of Olympic gold medalist Evgeni Plushenko. Plushenko will honour Jumeirah Vittaveli with a performance for the first anniversary of the opening of Ice Ice Maybe…, the first eco-friendly artificial ice rink in the destination…Plushenko inaugurated the ice rink on March 20, 2018, and is returning this year for the anniversary celebrations of the ice rink, as well as to launch an Olympic gold medal winner ice skating museum at the ice rink. The museum will showcase costumes and skates from Pushenko’s famous gold medal winning performances.”

For those who don’t think there are cultural activities in the Maldives, I’ve added a new “Museum” tag to the blog (though I wouldn’t go expecting the Smithsonian).

Best of the Maldives: Luxury Cone – Kuramathi

Kuramathi - luxury ice cream cone

Epicurean extravagance doesn’t have to be as elaborate as a chauffeured odyssey, but can be as simple as an ever so slightly decadent ice cream cone. Well, really decadent in Kuramathi’s case…

  • “Savour our new ice cream cup selections and customized cones at The Palm in #Kuramathi #Maldives. With less #sugar, you can now have healthier ice cream and enjoy them (almost) guilt-free.”

”Guilt free”? Who’s feeling guilty?