Even after a decade of exploring the Maldives in person and online, with my 14th edition of the “Haven’t Seen Yet in the Maldives” series there is still no shortage of candidates keep on popping up. If you think you have seen it all in the Maldives…no you haven’t.
- Baby Shark Abs Workout – Ok, some resort NEEDS to offer this in their kids club AND their adult fitness classes! [ABOVE]
- Whale Shark Kites – Or octopus, or manta ray, or sting ray, or dolphin, or turtle.
- Sunshine Guarantee – Offer for free rooms (or some system) for ay vacation more than 50% rain (or could do, if you have more than one day of rain, then each additional day is complimentary for a future visit).
- Plot of Sand and a Palm Tree – When people ask me to describe the Maldives, I respond, “You know that iconic image of a deserted island with a plot of sand and a single palm teee? That’s the Maldives. A thousand of those.” And while the image captures the diminutive, tropical, aquatic topology of the Maldives, curiously, I have never actually come across a sand bank with a single palm tree on it. If a resort would transplant a palm tree, they would have instance Instagram bait.
- Faux-fluencer Photoshoot – Some resort needs to host Celeste Barber to do all the classic Maldives Instagram poses (eg. lying on the edge of the infinity pool, walking up the water villa ladder, pink flamingo float, coconut drink, sitting on a palm tree, backfloat, wallowing in the shallow water, etc).
- Underwater Photo Spot Frame – Photo frames have popped up all over the Maldives resorts, but none where all the action is – underwater.
- Vilebrequin Outlet – One of the finest makes of swimwear in the world with styles just perfect for the Maldives.
- Bird Baths – The enchanting tropical birds from the ubiquitous Makana to Rihiveli’s famous Crab Plover bring a colourful creature dimension to enjoying the natural charm and beauty of the Maldives destination. On a number of occasions we have found the Makanas visiting our pool for a fresh water drink. Which made us think that the tiny desert islands must be a classic case of “water, water everywhere, but not drop to drink.” So why hasn’t a resort set out a stylish birdbath to both help the feathered friends out and provide an attraction where guest can observe them regularly. Many resorts still do (controversial) fish feeding to show the marine creatures up close, so why not the ornithological ones? (thanks Lori)
- Naturist Holday – A friend of mine works at UK travel agency, Eton Travel, which among other things is a UK leader in naturist holidays (yep, hanging out with it all hanging out). She said that the UK has 5 million naturists and it is one of the rapidly growing segments. There is an obvious reason why naturism hasn’t hit the Maldives and that is because nudity is prohibited (mind you, that hasn’t stopped a slew of exhibitionist Instagrammers). But the resorts have always been given some discretion about how non-Muslim visitors want to behave (like drinking alcohol and eating pork) and so perhaps there is something that could be done in this area. One concern would be to shield the Maldivian staff from exposure to such, well exposure. But maybe the resort could give their local staff a holiday for a week where they devoted the property to a special naturist week, or the resort could limit the naturism to a nearby picnic island.
- Spa Sommelier – “After guests perceive the aromas of a selection of oils and taste several wines from our Abadía Retuerta winery, the Spa Sommelier analyses their tastes and aromatic preferences and recommends the best spa experience for their individual wellness needs.”
- Seaweed Flavoured Butter – Flavoured butter is becoming a bit of a thing with variations such as Moose Maple Butter, Abernethy Smoked Butter, Ampersand Cultured Butter, and the appropriately luxurious Black Truffle Butter. But I think the mist apropos flavor would be Le Beurre Bordier’s Seaweed Butter.
- Maldivian Harvested Sea Salt – Use on tables, in spas and sell in boutiques.
- Cut Fruit/Veg Crafting – A step beyond just carving to actually construction.
- 3D Decorated Cake Scene – Could a birthday cake be more appropriate for the Maldives?
- RGB Intelligent Light Faucet – Just because.
- Roll-Outside Bed – The lavish La Terraza Suite comes with a king-sized bed that can be rolled out onto the open-air at La Valise Hotel, Mexico City. (thanks Paola)
- Glass-Bottom Rooftop Swimming Pool – How can the Seychelles have a resort feature this amazing without the Maldives having it?
- Underwater Restaurant Mermaid – Resorts like Finolhu have hosted professional mermaids for photoshoots, but this underwater performance is especially enchanting.
- Deserted Island Laser Tag – Whenever you have a variation of the capture the flag game (eg. paintballing, laser tag, or simple old capture the flag) the boundaries are critical (and often a source of dispute as to whether an opponent has crossed of them). But setting up a laser tag game on an uninhabited picnic island would provide a natural boundary. Your very own Hunger Games re-enactment.
- Snorkeling Guitar Solo – An appropriate act to celebrate International Snorkeling Day.
How about a resort with fewer than 20 rooms? They seem to have vanished (except for the exclusive use resorts like Coco Prive etc) . So it would totally be Haven’t seen yet for the younger Maldives visitors… 😉
Good suggestion. I suspect those days have long passed. In order to get the best return out of a plot of land, an increasingly expensive lease, and quite expensive infrastructure (eg. more carbon neutral and eco-friendly electricity generation, waste disposal, etc) you need scale of either number of guest or revenue per guest. Probably the most accessible small island at the moment is Kudadoo which is under 20 rooms, but you don’t have to rent out the whole island (like Kudahithi or Voavah).