Back in 2010, I was on a crusade to get the Maldives recognised as the best snorkeling in the world. One of the classic PR tactics for getting some visibility is to get declared a national holiday (eg. Scotch Tape Day and Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day). But when looking for a “World Snorkeling Day”, I couldn’t find one…so I declared it. I was a bit presumptuous of me, but (most) every 30 June, I posted a celebratory piece of the nascent (celebration) with a nod of the Maldives’ pre-eminence in this domain. Well, as it turns out, the initiative as stuck, and now National Today has acknowledged World Snorkeling Day.
May your Snorkeling Day be filled with exciting snorkel spottings and the tranquil dazzle of underwater grandeur.
First ever transfer through Doha on Qatar Airways as it had the best timings and the cheapest far by a considerable margin.
Departure – Qatar Airways seems to continue to be a laggard in computer systems. In 2020, I had tried to book Qatar for our annual Maldives tour, but the online booking experience (and subsequent human support) was about the worst I had ever experienced (and BA sets a pretty low bar in this regard). Online check-in didn’t work, the airport kiosks didn’t work. The result was an over 1-hour queue to check in making it a rush to even make the flight (see photo below).
Doha Transfer – We had a significant 4-hour layover, but I remember Hamad Airport from a previous business trip to Doho. It is massive and modern packed with 24-hour amenities. I looked online and there were lots of lounges, spas and sleeping facilities so I figured it would work nicely to break up the long flight, stretch our legs and even get a bit of reclined kip. As it turns out, such relaxation is much harder to sort out than meets the eye:
Sleep & Fly – The first option was to try to this sleeping pods facility, but they want $125 per person for a single bed (or $220 for a double, but they weren’t available). A bit of a pricey nap. The website quotes a $45 entry, but that is not for the beds and isn’t even available until after 8:00 am.
Oryx Lounges – The airport has a number of premium lounges for those with premium credit cards or travelling business/first class, but the pay-per-use lounge, Oryx, charges a more affordable $75. Unfortunately, you don’t get much for that. Refreshments, yes, but we were looking for a place to relax and the few lounger chairs were taken in their “Quiet Space” and frankly most of the lounge was packed as well
Be Relax – This spa service offers reclining massage chairs ($35 for 30 minutes) and table massages ($60 for 30 minutes). We did both and found it the sweet spot for us in terms of price and a the bout of relaxation that we were looking for.
Public Lounge Chairs – Despite the main information desk telling us that there were no lounge chairs in the public areas, we found several places where they were readily available:
Main concourse by the Sony shop
Quiet Spaces set up in the various concourses (though they are segregated into men and women).
· Flights – The food was okay, but the “Comfort+” seats, which we available for a modest charge of $75 (comparable to a extra legroom seats in most airlines) were essentially “Premium Economy” with both the extra legroom and a very commodious and comfy seat.
We arrived at Male airport in the same building we arrived at on our first trip 27 years ago (though it had a number of modest enhancements), but it is likely to be our last time through it as the sparkling new modern termial is due to open in a few days. Another “end of an era” milestone in the evolution of the Maldives tourism industry we hve had the privilege of a front-row seat to witness over 3 decades (a drill down on this history to come later this month).
A joy to be back “home” in paradise tinged only by the frustrating news that O2 doesn’t roam in the Maldives any more (so you need to purchase a local sim). Fortunately, there is a big desk right new the arrivals area for “Tourist SIMs” by the largest telecom provider in the Maldives so it is pretty convenient to get one if you want (see photo at bottom). All the resorts have very good wifi so we just passed on the bother and extra expense as the only time we would use it is if we were off the resort on an excursion or transfer (in which case, we are happy to be digitally disconnected).
Lori and I have started packing for Tour #22 on which we embark tomorrow and I have my latest semiannual wish list of things to see which is also coincidentally in its 22nd edition:
Bucket Shower – An al fresco alternative with that Swiss Family Robinson aesthetic that I was charmed by during my stay at Caves Branch, Belize. [PHOTO AT TOP]
Coral Song– Love the idea of the Little Mermaid’s voice rejuvenating polyp undersea audiences.
Ulti-Shower – The Maldives has seen an odyssey of shower revolution from standard showers, to outdoor showers, to pulsating massage shower units, to rain showers. Now the super luxury properties seek out the most decadent amenities and this seem like peak shower technology.
Lighted Whale Shark – I always love me a bit of shark aesthetic an whale shark all the more so.
Whale Shark Fidget Toy– If the kids are getting fidgety while the parents are relaxing, then this might pass a few hours of idle time.
Whale Shark Hair Clips– According to Lori, and vital item on a Maldives packing list to pull back hair from the neck to be much cooler.
Playground Shark – A fun version of “Land Shark” for the kids club.
Remote Control Sand Trucks– One of the biggest myths of the Maldives (and deterrent for stir-crazy blokes, mostly) is that there is nothing to do. Well, this activity for land-lubbers might just keep them occupied for hours.
Ocean-Themed Wine Glasses– I’ve seen some amazing wines being offered by the luxury properties, but not wine glasses as appropriately elegant as these…
Face-Printing on Cappuccino– There was a time when we struggled to get a posh cappuccino in the Maldives, but now they are pretty prevalent so this photo-printing machine (printed with powdered cocoa) is a way to produce some particularly caffeinated images for your IG.
Pool Buffet– Floating breakfasts at your villa have become a fairly common (and highly Instagrammed) occasion, but I have not seen floating treats in the main. A great way to serve some treats to the pool loungers.
Knit Shell Purses– You aren’t supposed to bring home seashells as mementos (hermit crabs use them as homes), but you could bring home one of these even more styling Mali Bags by Rita.
Pirate ship Floats – I always love (a) good float, and (b) anything pirate themed, so naturally I couldn’t resist this…
Soneva Secret is Soneva’s completely private island which not only provides its own personal chef for your party, but actually offers 14 (!):
“Guests can expect bespoke menus courtesy of their own private chef (there are 14—one for each villa).. We have 14 Chefs de Partie assigned to each of the 14 villas. They each are of a different nationality and come from a different type of cuisine. We will swap the Chefs de Cuisine to offer our guests variety. This level of personalization and destination dining is unique.”
Like having 14 different restaurants on your own islands.
One of your questions in our “Interview Game” is “If you could take anything that you saw on the trip home (any size – a piece of art, a device, etc) for no cost, what would it be?” On our Oaga visit it was definitely this pull down hanging rack (that we used multiple times for our wet sim suite). In fact, just today we were Googling these racks as we plan for our utility toom renovation.
Many people go to the Maldives to escape from it all. Well, at Kandima they can keep escaping during their stay in the first ever Maldives escape room (or “EsKape Room” as the “K” branded property dubs it).
“Featuring exciting themes like Pirates and Jungle where you can solve puzzles, unravel mysteries, and race against the clock for an unforgettable experience.”
Recently, a video about an abandoned resort in the Maldives went viral and I was curious to find out which one it was as I have come across several. My further investigation has uncovered five specifically:
J ALIDHOO – We actually had the distinction of staying at J Alidhoo went it was in the final stages of decommissioning. Our tour report mentioned “operational issues” as we thought that the property was having a bump in the road as resorts sometimes do, but I guess it never recovered. Our visit was actually quite surreal. We arrived and the marketing manager who had invited us had left the company a couple of days ago and had not passed on our visit details to the staff. So we arrived at the jetty and they were all a bit surprised (but they saw the correspondence I shared with the invitation and they happily welcomed us especially and the island was 95% empty with only a handful of other customers there. The spa was closed and the F&B operation was severely constrained (as mentioned in our earlier report). We were happy to see the place being in the neighbourhood so far up north, but it was a bit of an eerie experience even before it fully shuttered a few months later.
FARU – Faru was one of the earliest resorts in the Maldives and was a renowned budget property (pretty much one of the cheapest resorts in the 1990s), but they never invested in some of the basics (eg. air conditioning) that the new waves of Maldives visitors were looking for and got left behind it seems. I heard rumours of the island being revamped, but nothing specific seems to have emerged.
J RESORT RAALHUVELI – This is the one that is causing all the fuss recently with the Kale Brock video (see below).
VELIDHOO – I’ve long heard about Velidhoo, but couldn’t find much about it and the video directly below explains why.
Another piece of Oagaaesthetic woodwork is something we would love to take home are their bathroom barn doors. In fact, one of the questions in “The Interview Game” is “If you could take anything that you saw on the trip home (any size – a piece of art, a device, etc) for no cost, what would it be?” We couldn’t get Oaga’s into our baggage, but we will be integrating these style doors into our bathroom renovation.
The move away from environmentally unfriendly plastics to more natural materials isn’t just good sustainability, but it is also great aesthetics. I love things made out of wood. Every year, I gave my godson a Christmas gift that was always wood. Oaga is giving away completely wooden sets of toiletry amenities for its guests which are as kind on the eye as they are on the environment.
