Best of the Maldives: Personal Yoga Mats – Joali

Joali - yoga mats

Another way to perk yourself up in the morning is a bit of sunrise salutation. But why trudge all the over to the fitness centre, jetty or beach where the resort is leading a session when you can have do your own practice in the privacy and convenience of your own villa. That is why Joali provides personal yoga mats in each of its villas for guests to use. Complete with carrying strap if you want to take them to some special spot on the island you spied ad thought it would be particular soothing and inspiring.

Best of the Maldives: Biogradable Coffee Cup – LUX South Ari Atoll

LUX south Ari Atoll - biodegradable coffee cup

For short lattes or long, LUX South Ari Atoll offers eco-friendly coffee cups that allow you to have your coffee and take it away too…

  • Coffee lovers can also have their favourite ice blends to-go in a biodegradable bamboo cup at the resort’s signature Café LUX*. Made of bamboo fibre with biodegradable silicone lids that are dishwasher-friendly, these cups are also in their retail shop for guests to bring home a piece of eco-friendly memento of their tropical getaway.”

Best of the Maldives: Seaside Tennis Court – LUX North Male Atoll

LUX North Male Atoll - seaside tennis court

One of the myths about the Maldives is that there is nothing to do there. One glance at the sheer scale of the Best of the Maldives “Activity” listing dispels that notion. There is a big difference between “you can do nothing” and “you have to do nothing”.

When you do decide you feel like a bit of stimulating action, there’s no better place than the picturesque surroundings of this tropical utopia. Where else can you play a few games of tennis framed by the dazzling ocean? LUX North Male Atoll’s uniquely positioned seaside court even features blue playing surface for the full azure effect.

  

Best of the Maldives: Photo Points – You & Me

You & Me - photo points 1

In the Instagram era, if you don’t get your social snaps, then did you even go on holiday. Now nearly every resort offers a photo point (motivated by the free publicity as they almost always have the name of the resort plastered prominently on them. But no one has more than You & Me with its five different points:

  1. Arrival logo (below)
  2. Lagoon logo
  3. Frame (above)
  4. Swing (bottom)
  5. Special hammock (coming soon)

The snappiest resort in the Maldives.

You & Me - photo points 1 2

You & Me - photo points 3

You & Me - photo points 1 4

Best of the Maldives: Largest Nursery – Reethi Faru

Reethi Faru - nursery 1

Not all the tropical landscape just happens upon the islands. Most resorts have a nursery to germinate a range of the more colourful plants and flowers with which to accent the property. The largest we have come across is Reethi Faru’s extensive garden. Spread over a number of acres, the various saplings and young plants are organised in an inviting way. And you can explore the greenery from top to bottom as the resort has added an elevated platform in the middle to survey the lot as well as a hundred meter arbour (see below) to stroll under the shade of various flowering plants.

Reethi Faru - nursery 2

Reethi Faru - nursery 3

Best of the Maldives: Beach Dining – Shangri-La Villingili

Shangri-La Villingili - beach dining

We always describe the Maldives to people who have never been as “that iconic image of a plot of sand with a palm tree…1000 of those!” The diminutive sandy dots in the middle of mill pond still lagoons provides an intimacy with a gently inviting ocean. When we first visited, the resorts all sequestered us into dining rooms at mealtime. Eventually we asked if we could move our table out onto the beach by the water and they were happy to oblige. By the end of the week, a bunch of other diners had followed our lead and joined us under the stars with the mini waves lapping nearby.

These days all resort understand the charm of beach dining and offer a number of seating areas on the sand close to the water. But no standard dining venue (as opposed to specialty beach dining experiences) get you closer to the water than Shangri-La Villingili’s Javvu restaurant. Partly this proximity is due to a bit of erosion that has brought the water closer to the dining as much as the dining has approached the water. The tables are all set under a canopy of shore lining palms to that cosying up the seaside experience.