Best of the Maldives: Underwater Wine Cellar – Anantara Kihavah Villas

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Anantara Kihavah Villas - underwater wine cellar

The Maldives oceans harbour treasures of all sorts. The vibrant house reef of Anantara Kihavah Villas hosts a trove of colourful gems from sparkling beauties to full-bodied crimson rarities. And you don’t need to get wet to view these treats. As they are found in the world’s only underwater wine collection. En route to the Kihavah underwater dining and function area, the resort keeps its finest wines shielded from sunlight and temperature variations in its unique cellar. Sort of a connoisseur’s version of a Marine Protected Area.

 

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Best of the Maldives: Zebra Shark – Gangehi

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Gangehi - Zebra shark

Shark Week!

The Discovery Channel’s annual Selachii celebration of these always intriguing ocean characters. In the Maldives, every week is Shark Week especially for the ubiquitous reef sharks (black-tipped and white-tipped). But the waters also are home to some more exotic varieties. One of these is the Zebra Shark. Native to the Indian Ocean, but nonetheless quite uncommon on the Maldives reefs. The best place to spot on is Gangehi resort where several have been spotted (pun intended) with considerable frequency. They are quite similar to the Nurse Sharks with their long caudal fin at back and their lazy daytime habits on the seafloor, but they are distinguished by their many spots along their back.

In honour of Shark Week, I have added the new “Shark” category tag to Maldives Complete so you have your own Maldivian virtual shark extravaganza any time you like.

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Best of the Maldives: Largest Infinity Pool – Dusit Thani

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Dusit Thani - infinity pool

Dusit Thani puts the “infinity’ into the infinity pool? 52 metres I length (over half a football pitch) and 32 metres wide, it is the longest infinity pool I’ve found in the Maldives. It also features a faux-beach (see photo below) which provides a graduated entry. Very appropriate to have its own “beach” since the pool is big enough to be its own mini-ocean.

Dusit Thani - infinity pool beach entrance

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Best of the Maldives: Pool / Jacuzzi Combo – Ayada

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Ayada - pool jacuzzi combo 2

Jacuzzi or pool? The soothing bubbles in the intimate confines of a Jacuzzi? Or the placid, tepid pool where you can stretch your legs a bit? The top villas offer one or the other option for your own personal plunging. Some more extravagant ones provide both though it’s quite rare. But Ayada’s Royal Ocean Suite has an integrated Jacuzzi/pool combo.

Still and sparkling in one.

Ayada - pool jacuzzi combo

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Best of the Maldives: Hoverboarding – LUX Maldives

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LUX Maldives hoverboarding

Way over the water active fun with LUX Maldives latest topical thrill. The resort is certainly keeping up is lagoon cred for adventure adding to “hoverboarding” to its slate. Not the Marty McFly “Back to the Future” verion. Actually, a natural extension to the Flyboarding which LUX pioneered (though I see other resorts offering it now). Flyboards have very short platforms with nozzles out the bottom, while Hoverboard have larger platform “boards” with nozzles out the back (you can find a good description of the difference in this article “Flyboard versus Hoverboard”. Expert Hoverboarder and Flyboard Damone Rippy describes the former as, “Hoverboard was more natural because I am a snowboarder and flying on the Hoverboard feels very similar to snowboarding on water…The Hoverboard is used to soar across the water and glide along side things while being able to elevate to a maximum height and do barrel rolls, spins and carve.”

Like a game you would expect to see on the Jetsons. Or should I say, it is like frolicking in the water with “jets on”.

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Best of the Maldives: Overwater Gym – Huvafenfushi

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Huvafenfushi - over water gym 2

If you want work on your Olympic form without tearing yourself away from the signature Maldives sunshine and seascape, then Huvafenfushi is the fitness centre for you. Set out on its very own jetty with 360 degree views of the ocean masterfully exposed by floor to ceiling glass walls. Nice to see a bit of healthy activity given a place of prominence. So often the resort gyms are tucked away in some remote corner of the inner island. Probably because exertion and effort is sort of the antithesis of what the Maldives is all about.

Also Huva features a fine set of kit from high-grade machines to often-omitted Olympic free-weights and racks (one of my pet peeves is when a resort’s fitness centre is a running machine and a few dumbbells).

When we visited last summer, it was one of the few gyms that inspired her to work off a few of the pina coladas and reef fish curries she has consumed on the trip (see below).

Huvafenfushi - over water gym

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Best of the Maldives: Windsurfing – Anantara

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Anantara - windsurfing 1

Olympic Day today. Celebrated since 1947 to promote the ideals of the Olympic movement of sport bringing people together from across the world. The day also focuses on getting people to try new athletic endeavours. If you are looking to exploit the calm Maldive waters to just try your hand at the Olympic sport of Windsurfing (aka Sailboarding) or want to ride the waters to an Olympics standard, the the Anantara resorts provide the best windsurfing kit around.

I conferred with Maldive veteran and expert Catherine Watkinson who is both an active contributor to the TripAdvisor Maldives Forum and whose son is an accomplished windsurfer. The genesis of this post here was a posting she made to TA commenting on the troubles her son had finding top grade kit. Most of the gear you find in the Maldives is designed for beginners. That post prompted an investigation by us to find the best kit out there. The tops came out as Anantarta who described their inventory…

  • “We do offer a big range of top brand equipment, sails from North Sails and Neil Pryde and boards JP Australia and Mistral. Having sails from size 1.9 to 7.3 and board sizes from 094 to 205. Different harness sizes also available, gloves and booties. New equipment has been ordered from the brand Starboard.”

Catherine and her son comments, “These are good quality brands and would suit all levels of windsurfer from beginner (including children) up to the experienced wave sailor or free sailor. If we had been visiting these islands with our son we would not have needed to have flown windsurfing equipment out with us – he would have been very happy with what these [Anantara] islands have to offer.”

Anantara - windsurfing 2

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Best of the Maldives: Staff Greeting – One & Only Reethi Rah

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One and Only Reethi Rah greeting

 

Nearly all of the resorts have special greetings for arriving and departing guests, but One & Only Reethi Rah shares a distinctive greeting every time you bump into one of their staff. It is a subtle gesture of placing one’s right-hand on one’s chest. American’s will recognize it as the “pledge of allegiance” pose. And it is sort of a gesture of the staff’s allegiance to your exceptional experience. But more simply, it’s token of affectionate respect expressing the heart they put into all their efforts on your behalf. It’s almost like you are one of the family with your special ritual.

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Best of the Maldives: Family Business – Nika

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Nika - Giampiero Bellazzi

Happy Father’s Day.

The “resort father” has to be Nika’s, Giampiero Bellazzi. In 1983, he took over the island that had 10 villas on it. But a resort couldn’t survive on that number so when Bellazi took over, he built more but based on the original design concept. Now his daughter Giovanna now runs it the resort as one of the truest veterans in the industry there as she grew up with the Nika resort.

My own father is a big fan of the sun. When we lived on the west coast of the USA, one of my few memories of that earliest age (pre-school) was waking up to the top of the hill to watch the sunset. Later in life we moved to the east coast in the seaside town of Ipswich, Massachusetts and watching the sunrise at the famous Crane Beach was a regular ritual for him. We wrote a small book of quotations, “Days Alive”, illustrated with an animated sun passing across the sky and celebrating the blessings of every day. For years growing up, the tradition has been to give him a card with a sunrise on it and sometimes some curious sun curio as a present. And in 2000, we were able to give him the ultimate sun gift of a trip to Conrad Maldives Rangali for a week.

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Best of the Maldives: Glass Table – Six Senses Laamu

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Six Senses Laamu - water villa glass table

 

 

Glass floors have become a signature design feature in Maldives water villas, but Six Senses Laamu has literally raised the concept to a new level. Their Lagoon Water Villa has transparent portal into the colourful lagoon below, but by making it a table, it’s easier to sit down and enjoy the spectacle with a tropical cocktail.

Today’s post has triggered the addition of a new category tag of the best “Tables” in the blog.

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