Best of the Maldives: Twitchers – Sun Island

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Sun Island bird sanctuary

Another sanctuary for the airbourne is Sun Island’s Kovelivaa park, the biggest bird sanctuary among the Maldives resorts.

As it happens, today is Audubon Day established on the birthdate of the world’s leading ornithological illustrator, John James Audubon. Sometimes, Audubon Day (celebrating wild fowl) and Arbor Day (celebrating wild foliage) are celebrated together by planting trees in bird sanctuaries like Sun’s.

There is more to the Maldives fowl than herons (it seems as it every resort has its resident heron who combines stalking the lagoon shallows for fish with posing like a fethered statue for hours on end to charm the guests). Two lesser seen examples of Maldive bird life found on Sun Island are described below by the resort…

Sun Island White Breasted Waterhen

White Breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) – “These white breasted waterhens are very calm and like to go along doing their work silently, unnoticed. As the name suggests, these birds are the water counterparts of normal hens and can be seen mostly near edges of water bodies. In [Sun Island’s] IIT, the best places to see them are the lake behind SAC and IITG lake. When no one is around, they are bold enough to venture on the roads, so watch out for them! Local names: Assamese”

Sun Island Asian Koel

Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopacea) – “Asian Koel is a large cuckoo which feeds mainly on fruits and berries in trees, feasting on the ripe fruits. It also consumes insects and caterpillars. Adults often frequent orchards.”

Megatick!

 

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Best of Maldives: Sand Castle Event – W Retreat

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W Retreat sand manta

Nowhere in the Maldives are the sands shifting so creatively as at W Retreat last week. The W hosted a Sand Sculpture event with artist Peter Redmond…

“Sand sculpture is no longer a children’s only activity. As the sun shines over the Indian Ocean Peter Redmond, Australian Sand Sculpture artist, will be assisting guests at the Retreat to create and customize their very own sand art…Guests at the Retreat can stop by for sand sculpting workshops while Peter reveals the art of sculpting. With a background in Graphic design and illustration, Peter Redmond’s passion for sculpture came at young age while competing with his brothers on who would finish the first sand sculpture on Frankston Beach, Australia. Peter stated that the only difference today was the size of the sculptures as they are now bigger…W Maldives will reveal Peter Redmond’s final work, and will select the best sculpture amongst the retreats guests.”

You can check out some of the creations on the W Retreat Facebook album of the event here.

As I noted before, I grew up by the beach of Crane Beach in Ipswich, Massachusetts where sand castle building is an annual highlight so I have a special nostalgic appreciation for this oceanic art form.

Bucket list.

 

W Retreat sandscape

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Best of Maldives: Underwater Dance – Maayafushi

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Maayafushi Harlem Shake

Con los terroristas. Ey Shake. Ey Shake. Ey, Ey, Ey, Ey.

I’ve enjoyed a number of the Harlem Shake renditions sweeping the net recently, but had to give a special nod to the Maayafushi dive centre at TGI Maldives for their underwater performance.

This month’s video has prompted me to add a ‘video’ tag to the Maldives Complete as the Blog now boasts 14 different video posts.

Shake, Ta. Ta. And do the Harlem Shake. Ey Shake, Ey.

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Best of the Maldives: Beach Badminton – Kanuhura

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Kanuhura beach badminton

 

 

While it’s called ‘Beach’ Darts, it’s actually set inside the island underneath of copse of shady palm trees. Admittedly, it’s a bit of semantic pedantry since in the Maldives, everything is ‘Beach’, inside and out. Not just the inside of the island, but even many of the buildings of the best resorts have talcum-soft sand floors.

Not only does the inner island setting keep the sun out of your eyes, but it also shields the match from ocean breezes. Another ‘inner beach’ sport is ‘Beach Badminton’. I’ve come across a few set ups on the proper beach, but Kanuhura has set up on inside for the same protections. The feather-light shuttle-cocks are even more susceptible to breezes which makes the setting superb.

Furthermore, Kanuhura offers other bonus features. First, the ground chosen is a good balance between firmness so you can move easily and soft layer of sand so you can play comfortably in bare feet. Second, the boundaries are marked off with fixed lines to regulation size so you can play a proper match. And finally, Kanuhura offers a badminton player on staff who can provide both a worthy opponent or some instruction.

Smash!

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Best of the Maldives: Beach Darts – Mirihi

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Mirihi beach darts

If you prefer your gaming activities more natural, then you can’t get much more so than Mirihi’s unique Beach Darts. Mirihi resort itself is distinguished by its ‘natural’ feel with so much of the island kept in a pristine state unencumbered by excessive infrastructure or artificial contrivances.

Darts are a relaxing game so suitable for the pubs and taverns in which they usually reside. Mirihi’s white sand, palm copse fits that mellow vibe just right. You can have some fun games without having to take yourself away from the gorgeous Maldives weather.

Bulls Eye!

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Best of the Maldives: 3D Simulator – Niyama

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Niyama 3D simulator

Some of you figured out that Monday’s post had a little simulation in the graphics department. However, if you like your resort experience enhanced with a touch of electronic simulation, the NIYMA is the destination for you. It has a simulator room which a collection of games that include…

  • Golf – 10 golf courses
  • Laser Shooting – 10 shooting games
  • Basketball – shooting baskets
  • Baseball – pitching
  • Ice hockey – penalty shooting (goal target & shot speed)
  • American Football – kicking and throwing
  • Soccer – penalty shooting

Prices range from $35 for 30 minutes to $200 for unlimited use (during opening hours 10:00 am – 11:00 pm) during guest’s stay.

Wii on steroids.

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Best of the Maldives: Bunnies – Soneva Fushi

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Soneva Fushi bunny

Maybe another title for this post is ‘Best for Easter’. Actually, Soneva Fushi isn’t the only resort with free roaming rabbits. Kuredu also has rabbits, but Soneva is really the most famous. Only for Soneva Fushi has several folks who have been there have talked to me about the rabbits. They even feature the bunnies on their website (see photo above)…

“Every visit makes you feel like a child again. Cycling round the island, never knowing when you might have to swerve to avoid bunny rabbits or lizard…Nesting turtles and bunny rabbits co-habiting happily on a jewel of emerald green in a vast ocean of turquoise.”

“In 1989, Soneva Fushi’s caretaker, Abdullah, gave his son a little pet bunny.  The bunny happened to be pregnant, and cute fluffy little babies were soon born.  their great-great-great-great-great-grand-bunnines have made the island their home ever since and are now little mascots for Soneva Fushi.  Eva’s sister Amie even wrote a book about them.”

There are also lots of accounts in places like TripAdvisor (“rabbits that are everywhere”) and YouTube (see below).

Happy Easter!

[POST SCRIPT] – When we visited Soneva Jani and their bookseller, we got a copy of “Lost and Found in the Maldives” a children’s story about a couple of Soneva bunnies and their adventure on the island (available exclusively on the resort).

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Best of the Maldives: Staff Community – Rihiveli

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Rihiveliu staff quarters

From a vibrant online ‘tribe’ to one of the most distinctive resort communities – Rihiveli Beach. Another gem from Francisco (from the same email as the sandbank) also highlights the spirit of openness. In this case, the Rihiveli staff quarters.

“Staff quarters are open to the guests and make a sort of real maldivian villages (only men though) that you can actually go to and interact with the maldivian staff. Like having a local island visit on your resort island.”

We do enjoy the abundant hospitality that flows effortlessly from the Maldivian staff who work tirelessly to make our visits memorable and flawless. We enjoy our chats with them to appreciate more about their lives and their community. Rihiveli’s approach of opening up their quarters would seem to make a subtle but significant difference to the resort ambience where everyone on the island is together.

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Best of the Maldives: Seth Godin – Mirihi

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Mirihi - purple cow

Seth-urday today.

Probably one of the more bizarre Best Of’s I have come up with. The Best for Seth Godin.

Seth Godin is one of my favourite writers and one of the world’s top marketing maven’s. In many respects, his perspectives on marketing served to inspire much of Maldives Complete. He has written 11 books, a daily blog post and countless articles, presentations and ‘projects’. Most of his work revolves around the notion of finding and embracing your ‘raging fans’ (aka ‘tribes’). And while I have come upon passionate followings for a number of islands (Athuruga, Biyadhoo and Kuradu come to mind) none seem to be quite so fervid as Mirihi.

Furthermore, Mirihi operates and does a number of things straight from many a Godin books that reinforce and foster this fandom.

  • Purple Cows – The Maldives itself is a ‘purple cow’. Something truly ‘remarkable’ in all senses of the word especially in the ‘remarks’ that it inspires from people lucky enough to visit. In the 100+ strong herd of purple cows that is this archipelago paradise, it becomes a bold challenge to stand out even further. Mirihi has achieved it not with big, flashy ‘wow’ features (like underwater restaurants), but with a subtle combination of distinctive characteristics. It is more like a masterful blended whiskey capturing the ‘spirit’ of the Maldives than a single malt that stands out with a particular feature. Even Mirihi’s tag line reflects this individualised distinction – ‘Mirihi, a unique as you’. Though, I have to confess, it would have been fun if ‘Moo-fushi’ was my pick for ‘best purple cow’.
  • Firing Customers – By obsessively catering to your raging fans, Godin talks about ‘firing customers’. It would seem anathema to some businesses to explicitly turn away any business, but the point is that trying to be all things to all people simply turns away even more implicitly. For example, Mirihi ‘fires’ people wedded to poolside entertainment or their fix of television by having neither pool nor TVs on the resort. It harkens to my common refrain to my most common question posed to me, “What is the best resort?” I always respond, “There is no ‘best resort’, just the ‘best resort for you’.” Mirihi doesn’t try to be everything to everybody. It knows what it is and sticks true to that sense in both its operation and marketing.
  • Online – Godin is one of first and most prominent marketing authors to appreciate the power of the web for bringing together ‘tribes’ of enthusiastic customers. Not just bring the customers to the company, but bringing the customers together. For Mirihi aficionados, the place of congregation is the Trip Advisor Maldives Forum where Mirihi is often cited as a top choice among the aficionados.
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