If your kids want to immerse themselves in an imaginary world of a less virtual type, then Soneva Fushi’s kids club is as out of this world as any level of Tron. Sort of like what Tim Burton would design for kids if he was stranded on a tropical island. Other creative offerings include yoga for kids (kids sitting quietly and contemplately…that is a magical fantasy world!).
Fantastic!
For those who are really more interested in powering up than in powering down on their Maldives holiday, Sun Island offers an arcade as a packed with the latest video games and simulators as you would find on any UK high street or beach boardwalk.
Another surfer’s Paradise in the Maldives. This time for ‘web surfers’. And offered up by the eponymous Paradise Island. The resort not only offers wifi that extends to the beach in front of their reception, but also they have run power outlets to the tables. As a result, you can surf for hours without running out of juice (well, you might need a top up for your pina colada).
Okay, maybe not a ‘resort’, but to many surfers, still absolute luxury in paradise.
‘Coke Island’ is one of the first local island guest properties and has a special focus on surfing.
I read about it in the Maldivian Air Taxi in-flight magazine piece by Donna Richardson. I tend to keep the focus of Maldives Complete, especially the ‘Best of the Maldives’ section focused on the official resort islands. I have added a few of the Male hotels that do have a fair amount tourists (eg. Traders, Hulhule, Nasandhura). Recently, the government opened up the option for non-resort islands to host visitors in guest house as way to offer more possibilities to guests, generate direct income to local islands, and to provide more low-cost budget options. The Maldives heritage was actually in low cost diving lodges. Also, I see the Maldives becoming a more and more prominent surfing destination and I am trying to document many of the surf features. Richardson describes it…
“Just two hours dhoni ride from Male or 45 minutes by speedboat, this charming island offers a different experience to laid-back resort life. It gives backpackers the chance to live as the locals do. To boot you can get to grips with one of the best surf breaks in the country – ‘Cokes’ which too is named after the [nearby] fizzy drink factory. The first port of call for weary travellers is a new guest house specifically aimed at European backpackers called Surfers World. The camp itself features a five bedroom hostel with comfortable and clean beds with sleeps between two and four people per room.”
Every time I go to the Maldives, I am struck by the relentlessly rising tide of quality. Refurbishments, extensions, additions. Not just at the super-premium deluxe end of the market where the ever escalating arms race for wow factors marches on. But, also at the ‘regular’ 5-stars and even middle market properties. More and more resorts are playing more tasteful and appropriate soft jazz and acoustic rather than the pop chart songs which all too often jarred a sundowner. Tasteful colours and décor have replaced pervasive white walls and pedestrian prints/drawings of tropical scenes.
Some features were innovative when introduced, but are now getting more and more commonplace, eg…
With such constant change, it is not surprising that after nearly 4 years of Maldives Complete, some of the early assessments on the ‘Best of the Maldives’ would reshuffle a bit. It is coming time that some of the ‘Best’ crowns get passed on to successors. I did choose the blog format so people could alert me to rivals for these distinctions. As time goes on and more research is accomplished, I’m starting to uncover some instances that trump the incumbent.
On my latest tour, I come upon a number specific features where the resort arguably surpass the reigning ‘Best of’ such as…
Could be dubbed ‘Best Curb Appeal’.
All of Holiday Island buildings have been kept sequestered behind bush so the beach looks completely natural. Walking along the beach, you could convince yourself that you were on your very own dessered island. The resort even had an instance of a guest convincing the boat transfer driver to take them to neighbouring Sun Island because they thought Holiday was uninhabited since they couldn’t see any buildings on it. Sun also has this aspect for large stretches, but a number of welcome and activity buildings belie the resort behind the greenery. The picture above is indeed the front of Holiday Island.
Eau naturel.
One hot resort!
Not just the sunshine and the tropical dazzle. But, Sun Island’s ‘hot’ is baked in its own chilli farm. The grow over a dozen varieties of chilli on their acre sized plot for use in their curries and other spicy dishes. That includes the native Maldivian chili “Githeyo” (see photo at bottom).
So, if you are feeling a bit chilli, head for a spot of tea in the Sun.
Maldives is famous for an abundance of stars. Not just the firm bodies of the jet set on the beach, but also a dazzling set in the firmament above.
With minimal light pollution and the many days of clear skies, the Maldives are a great venue for star gazing. Our family used to lie on the warm beach after dinner and just stare at the Milky Way washed across the middle of the sky.
An increasing number of resorts are introducing telescopes so guests can probe more actively into this heavenly display. Soneva Fushi has had its own entire observatory for a long time now. But, Mirihi offers a beach stargazing which is one of the best I have come across. Their 11 inch telescope allowed us to look at Saturn (complete with signature rings), Mars, Arcturus, and Alpha Centauri. What made the session distinctive was the Chief Astronomer Shareef who not only infused great enthusiasm and expertise, but also brought along his iPad astronomy apps. With them, he was able to take us on a tour of galaxies and the solar system in more detail and perspective with his masterful navigation through the colourful 3D universe
Over the next week is the Perseids meteor shower which is the best time on Earth to look for falling stars. If I see one, I will wish that I was back on the night time beach of Mirihi.
Secret bar! ‘Nuff said.
That was certainly the reaction by the TripAdvisor Maldives Forum when word got out about the ‘Secret Bar’ at LUX* Maldives. It’s just one of the countless surprises in the neverending adventure that is a stay at LUX* resort.
The ‘Secret Bar’ is on wheels so it can change location daily. When our family would visit the Maldives each year with our children, one of the ritual highlights was a treasure hunt we would stage for them on our own buccaneers isle. If we stayed at LUX* back then, I know that one way I would get an extra hour’s sleep and get them nice a tuckered out would be send them on a daily sortie to find Dad’s ‘Secret Bar’.
It works like a public mini-bar on an honesty system (genius) and so far they haven’t had any problems with unsavoury scallywags pirating liquid lucre.
Shiver me timbers! Me’ll have two black jacks’ of grog.
Billionaire for a Day.
Maafushivaru’s neighbouring desserted island Lonubu evoked a billionaire’s paradise to me, one you could experience yourself for a night, from a number of different perspectives…
Maafushivaru offers a number of ways to enjoy this facsimile of a billionaire playground…
So if you want to re-enact the Lost experience, but prefer the homey bungalows of the DHARMA Initiative to the rustic living off the land of ‘The Others’, then set your Daniel Faraday machine to Maafushivaru’s Lonubo.
