My wife can live without her computer in the Maldives and even her phone, but her tablet is still standard equipment. It’s handy light reading and comfortable way to check on email and update her Facebook posts in the comfort of her lounger.
Park Hyatt Hadahaa has embraced the iPad with its own rich resort app. And each room is equipped with their very own iPad which includes useful information such as dining menus, activities, spa menus, island map, etc.
Paradise?…There’s an app for that.
A bit slow posting this week working my day job at the International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam where we at Ericsson and 1,500 other firms were showing off the latest electronic gadgetry to hit the home screen.
Probably our biggest tech pain when visiting the Maldives with this suitcase full of tech toys is charging the battery of batteries – computers, camera, ipad, phones, GoPro, dive light. We always seem to miss one out and it dies right when we need it most.
Cheval Blanc Ranheli recently announced its new iPort LaunchPort service which not only provides a leading edge villa control unit, but also performs the magic of wireless charging…
“The world's first and only wireless charging and magnetic mounting system for the iPad. LaunchPort is available in all 45 villas on the property and for use at the front desk, concierge, spa and on-site restaurants and bars… The custom-branded LaunchPort for Cheval Blanc Randheli consists of a sleeve and a magnetic mounting and inductive charge station for the tabletop or wall. Initially created for residential home automation, LaunchPort allows guests to operate all electronic controls in their villa including door locks, TV and lighting. An iPad is easily mounted and dismounted via discrete magnets that are embedded into the case and charging station…LaunchPort will also be available throughout the resort for staff to update and charge their iPads used to provide concierge services including booking reservations in the on-site restaurants and scheduling appointments in the spa.”
Today’s post prompts a new “Best Of” category that I am seeing quite a bit more of recently across the archipelago – Technology.
(thanks Francisco)
One of the new items on House Reef profiles is the “Resident” field. This notes if there is a particular creature who is regularly found on the house reef and who can be distinctly identified. The first “Resident” I met in the Maldives was “Camilla”, a turtle on the Vakarufalhi house reef.
Turtles are quite readily identifiable by their shell markings which has allowed a few marine biologists to take Snorkel Spotting to a whole new level. The most spottable grounds might just be the eponymous “Turtle Reef” in the North Male atoll. This terrapin terroir is closest to the Makanudhu resort, but the the nearby One & Only Reethi Rah really gives the excursion the first class treatment (see video link above). Reports Reethi’s Scott Le Roi…
“Turtle reef is where we go for the Turtle Adventure trip (every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday). It is one of the most popular reefs we go to. The reef is next to Makundhoo resort, which is about a 25 minute dhoni ride or about 7 minutes in a speedboat from our resort. We take lots of private trips there as well and the dive centre also do there evening snorkel there on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s a hawksbill turtle feeding ground so there is always a good chance of seeing lots of turtles there. The most I have seen in one snorkel is 23! The turtles here are pretty relaxed. As it is their home territory, they don’t feel threatened by people, so our guests can have a really amazing encounter with them; Swimming alongside them or turtles coming up to breathe right in front of them! It is also a very beautiful reef. Nice corals and fish life, sometimes sharks and eagle rays.”
In the spirit of Snorkel Spotter, the Reethi Rah marine biologist also runs a spotting program (see pictures below)…
“Since February 2012 our resident Marine Biologist has been identifying the different turtles seen during the Turtle Adventure Snorkel at both Turtle Reef and West Point Reef. Every turtle has a unique scale pattern on each side of the head which it can be identified by. Photographed turtles are uploaded into a photo identification database to try to establish their population size, foraging sites and migration patterns. So far over 100 different Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) have been identified at Turtle Reef and over 40 at West Point Reef. Many of these turtles are common residents of the reef and can be seen regularly.”
For people interesting in “Turtle Spotting” across the Maldives, the Four Seasons Marine Savers’ Turtle ID Project takes this ID programme to Maldives-wide level.
As promised, I have now completed my own list of post-tour challenges of getting all of the research material consolidated, profiles updated, notes organised, and as promised, expanded information on the resorts’ House Reefs. I’ve added a row to the Resort Profile devoted to House Reef details (see below).
Mostly, I have broken down the very crude “House Reef Rating” into several more granular ratings…
As a part of my enhancing the House Reef information, I’ve also added a second video link to the resort profiles of footage taken on the house reef. Very often, the TripAdvisor Maldives Forum refers to such videos for first hand documentation of the reef quality. I’ve gone through the videos on YouTube and selected the best I could find in terms of showing the most of the reef (ie. not all close ups of fish and other sightings).
Through my house reef YouTube research, I came across a whole range of quality from grainy camera clips to Hollywood-style editted GoPro productions. The one that rose above as “Best Picture” (among some very worthy competition I must say), was “Maldive – The Movie” 39 minute feature film of the Maayafushi house reef.
Other special mentions include…
Never mind the scented cloths and tropical cocktails, Anantara Dhigu has introduced an even more refreshing way to cool down…
As a marketer, I have been intrigued by the dynamics of the whole Ice Bucket phenomenon which has spread across the world. I think there are some who seeks to inspire a fraction of the engagement and excitement that the challenge has.
Kudos to the Dhigu team for embracing the phenomenon with such gusto and creativity. Bill Gates would be impressed.
The past few months have been a smorgasbord of tour posts – resort visits, tour “best ofs’, updated ‘not seens’. And every filling feast needs a bit of a digestif to cap it off. Since today (the last Sunday in August) is one of the traditional open distillery days for the Grappa makers. Grappa comes from Bassano del Grappa in the northwest Vicenza province in an area known as the Riviera del Brenta. So it comes at no surprise that the grappa abbondanza in the Maldives is that Venetian inspired resort, Nika. The Kandu Bar serves no less than six different grappas including…
Cin-cin!
“Salt” is not just a thematic name to Anantara Kihavah Villas’ signature over-the-ocean restaurant, also its star attraction. Sort of the Thelma Ritter of the dinner table – a record 6 Academy Award nominations for “Best Supporting Actress”. ‘Salt’ restaurant is sort of salt’s “New Girl in Town” (the lead stage role for which she won the Tony Award).
The restaurant is part of the Sea, Fire, Salt, Sky is a dining concept at Kihvah providing a distinctive perspective on the Maldivian world from the elevated “Sky” roof deck down to the underwater “Sea” spectacle.
When we ate, we were presented the salt range by resident “Salt Guru” Julius (see photo above) on their “salt trolley”. They also have a Himalayan heated pink salt bowl for certain preparation. Out of the 16 varieties from all over the world – Tasmania, USA, Croatia, France – we chose the wild porcini mushroom salt…
You can also buy the salts to take home (see below). They make great gifts that are unusual and more useful than trinkets or t-shirts (everyone loves a dash of salt on their food and if you are worried about your blood pressure eating here, check out this latest report “Pour on the Salt”).
Worth its salt.
If there is one “Best of the Maldives” innovation that I would like all resorts to emulate it is Dusit Thani’s snorkel safety programme. We were taken through it by the resort’s dive centre instructor Manon (photo above).
HINT FOR THE TEST – We knew the first technique for checking current, but hadn’t thought of the other two which are quite obvious on reflection…
Happy (and Safe) Snorkelling!
Reflecting pools are a regular feature in the Maldives echoing the encompassing aquatic aesthetic. Royal has taken such shimmering pools a step further with a gigantic coral and fish pool. It provides a colourful close up appreciation for the sea life for landlubbers in the main restaurant area.
The exhilaration of the Maldives begins well before you land. It actually begins about 30,000 feet above the Indian Ocean about 20 minutes before arrival at Male airport. As you cross the first of the northern most islands, you are treated to an ultramartine vista that seems like you are descending on different planet with some bizarre aqueous landscape.
The Maldives are defined by their geography. They occupy a rare “Goldilocks” point right at the sea level’s edge. Not mostly below the water (like the Great Barrier Reef and Red Sea reefs), and not relatively high above the water (like the South Pacific islands). But right AT the water surface’s edge. As a result of this topographical anomaly, the islands paint a cobalt tapestry of colours. You can’t help but ask ‘how did all of this come about?’
The magical formations didn’t happen over night. They are the products of eons of plate tectonics, volcanic eruption, implosion, erosion, and coral formation. Many resort marine biologists cover this subject as a part of their routine bar presentations. But Park Hyatt Hadahaa has taken this odyssey a literal step further with their Island Creation excursion.
The guide walks you through millennia by taking to to an island that is partially submerged and then to another less so, all the way through the various phases of island formation until you finish at a large inhabited one. They show how different formations are representative of different stages of island (or thila or reef, etc.) development. A gee-whiz geology lesson.
The whole concept reminds me of our expedition in the Grand Canyon (another one of those rare destinations where you feel that you are on another planet). You start at one end and as you progress, you don’t just get a history of the canyon, you get a history of the Earth itself.
All of the most stunning places on this planet are so because they provide a glimpse to the ancient miracle of the Earth, its majesty and its mystery. Maybe they should name this excursion ‘the Majesty Mystery Tour’.
