Best of the Maldives: Biggest Submarine – Traders Hotel

Whale Submarine 1

If you fancy an under-the-sea exploration or just a fun adventure to fill out a Male excursion, consider booking a trip on the Whale Submarine. Okay, it’s not a particular feature of Traders Hotel per se, but Traders is both the closest (one block away departing from Jetty 1) and the most tourist ready hotel in Male.

Its web site describes the vessel…

“If you have never been on a submarine this is your chance to go and dive in one of the most advanced passenger submarines in the world…This is your chance, whether you are young or old, able or disable, to visit the underwater world without getting wet, while enjoying the sensation of diving in a submarine…Whale Submarine is designed and constructed in Karlsrhue, Germany under the strict regulations of the American Bureau of Shipping and Bureau Veritas and is capable of carrying 50 passengers to a dive depth of 150 meters. Whale submarine is currently the world’s deep diving largest tourist submarine in existence. So far this submarine has performed more than 2000 dives safely. The cabin of the submarine is fully air-conditioned and has a normal atmospheric pressure and thus you breath normal air. Therefore you are safe to fly just after a dive. Whale Submarine has redundant safety features to ensure the safest, most comfortable ride, and is operated by a fully trained and certified team of French and local pilots. Whale Submarine carries enough oxygen, water and food supplies to support all passengers and crew for 100 hours.”

Dive, captain, dive!

Whale Submarine 2

Best of the Maldives: Submarine – Conrad Maldives Rangali

Conrad Maldives Rangali - nemo sub surface

If windows over the ocean is not good enough for you, how about windows under the ocean?

You can go diving in the crystal clear colourful waters of the Maldives without a scuba course or even holding your breath. Conrad Maldives Rangali features a Nemo submersible.

“Built in Germany by Nemo Tauchtouristik, the Nemo N100 submarine can dive to 30 metres and seats three people: two passengers and a trained pilot. Looking like something from a futuristic space cartoon, the submarine is bright orange with white stripes, characteristic of a clown fish (“Nemo” in the Disney film) with three acrylic glass ‘pods’ sticking out of the top offering the submariners 360-degree views of the underwater world they’re passing through. With the submarine’s arrival in late February, Conrad Maldives Rangali Island is the only resort to offer its own daily submarine tours to its guests, naturally subject to weather conditions. The price for one dive is US$495 for two people, or US$280 for one person.”

Our family went on a submersible in Mauritius and it was great fun. It is a great activity for young children to both as a unique ride in its own right as well as a way to expose them to undersea marvels before they can snorkel or snorkel easily in deeper water.

10,000 micro-leagues under the sea.

 

Conrad Maldives Rangali - nemo sub underwater

Best of the Maldives: Biggest Glass Bottomed Boat – Kurumba

Kurumba glass bottom boat 2

If you really have a crowd, then consider Kurumba’s own glass bottom boat for a undersea glimpse of the Maldives aquatic delights. The bigger boat with more glass area does provide a bit more opportunity to see a broader range. The excursion is great for under those under 6 too little to snorkel. Or perhaps anyone else who can’t take in the joys of snorkelling for one reason or another.

 

Kurumba glass bottom boat 1

Best of the Maldives: Glass Bottom Boat – Paradise Island / Conrad Maldives Rangali

Paradise Island - glass bottom boat

Unparalleled snorkelling and work class diving aren’t the only way to explore all of these QI curiosities in the Maldives. If you don’t want to spoil your finely coiffed ‘do, then consider a glass bottomed boat excursion. A number of resorts offer them – Reethi Beach, Kurumba, Baros, Conrad Rangali, Paradise Island, Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu and Taj Vivanta Coral Reef.

But the top of the line in this unique class of ocean vessels is the Paritetboat brand which both Paradise Island (photo above) and Conrad Maldives Rangali (photo below) feature.

“Paritetboat company developed unique ultra-durable bottom window shaped as an optically regular spheroid of never seen before size 2×3 m – it is the biggest size all over the world. Our glass is made of modified acrylic and has thickness 15 mm it’s more solid than fiber glass boat hull. It allows to enlarge field of view dozens times as compared to ordinary glass bottom boats. For instance, field of view at 9 meter depth is half basketball playground size.”

 

Conrad Maldives Rangali - glass bottom boat

Best of Maldives – Fish Breeding – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru

Clarks Anemonefish juvenile

Question: For those who have been paying attention this past week, what is this a picture of?

Answer: Now that is a Nemo fish! I know because it has the three white stripes!

[Soundeffect]: Buzzzz! Wrong. Actually, the Maldive species ‘Amphiprion clarkii’ has three white stripes when they are young, but as they mature they turn a dark-brown/blackish colour.

Whatever you want to call them, one of the best places to see Anemonefish is Four Seasons Landaa Giravaru. Not just Anemonefish in general, but specifically the babies as their Marine Discovery Center has a breeding research project underway. One downside to the popularity of the Disney film is the popularity of capturing ‘Nemo’ fish for fish tanks. Landaa hopes to be able to improve breeding knowledge to both stock the ocean and to provide an alternative source of supply for fish tanks so they won’t be hunted from the reefs.

If you thought that Anemonefish were cute, the babies are all more the cuter. I couldn’t get my wife out of the Center she was so entranced watching them dart in and out of their host anemones in an incessant tease of pseudo-hide-and-seek. And not just the anemonefish, but the anemones themselves provided a bit of action. You could see them in all different positions all over the tanks. Resident marine biologist Harry Masefield (see photo below) explained that the anemones were quite active and often tried to escape from the tanks by crawling out the top and so they had to devise all sorts of guards. With their swaying tendril-like arms they seem more like colourful vegetation than the quite animated animals that they are.

Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru Marine Discovery Center anemonefish tank

Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru Marine Discovery Center anemonefish

Best of Maldives: Green Cooking– Six Senses Laamu

Six Sense Laamu Carbon Free Dining

If BBQ isn’t quite environmentally friendly enough for you, then maybe ‘Green Cooking’ would be more interesting.

No not ‘greens’ cooking. ‘Green Cooking’. Eco-friendly cooking. ‘Carbon-free Cooking’. As opposed to some of my BBQ’s where there is nothing left of the cooking except for the charred remains of a collection of carbon atoms.

Six Senses Laamu has introduced ‘Carbon Free Cooking’ (thanks Sakis)…

  • “Zero-carbon cooking is the buzz phrase among chefs and diners who care about the environmental impact of the catering industry. The idea that you can cook a meal without contributing harmful greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere – whilst still making it delicious! – presents quite a challenge but is certainly one that will be inspiring Six Senses chefs over the years to come.”
  • “At Six Senses Laamu we have now introduced a zero-carbon menu at Deck-a-dence, our amazing over-water, under-the-stars dining and chilling out decks. All ingredients are sourced from within the Laamu atoll and served raw, so no need for any energy to be consumed in cooking. A truly sustainable culinary experience.”

Just to add to the experience and bring you even closer to nature, Six Senses Laamu serves the environmentally savvy savouries at a special over-water, glass-floored table (see above).

To start with, one way to reduce the carbon emissions from cooking, is to leave out the ‘cooking’ bit.  Or at least the ‘fire’ part.  The ‘cooking’ as in combining ingredients into delicious concoctions can carry on.  Salads and sushi were about the only ‘raw’ cuisine most people will eat, but Cordon Bleu chef Diana Von Cranach has pioneered a whole range of ‘raw cooking’ which she is bring to Six Senses Laamu (and Soneva Fushi) this coming week.  She will be featuring such dishes as “Mixed Mushroom, Oriental Herb & Calamansi Ceviche on Lotus Root, Fresh Living  Coconut & Fenugreek Green Soup with Angelhair Choko Noodles, Living Chickpea Chappati.”

Best of Maldives – BBQ – W Retreat

W Retreat bbq

The recently passed Summer Bank Holiday (UK) and Labor Day Weekend (USA) are traditionally celebrated with a grand finale BBQ (or ‘barbeque’ or even ‘Bar-B-Q’ for you southerners) of the season. And if BBQ is your thing, one the W Retreat’s signature restaurants is devoted to the cuisine of the flame. Dubbed ‘Fire’ in W’s characteristically succinct style, guests help themselves to one of 4 BBQs complemented by a range of side dishes on offer…

  • Mongolian
  • Spit-Roast
  • Grill
  • Tandoori

Like most of the W’s food, everything is prepared to order from a range of ingredients that you customise to your liking.

“Primal meets epicurean with spit-roasted whole suckling pig or lamb and BBQ-grilled marinated meat and seafood. Spice it up with Tandoor-cooked nan bread, chicken, fish or seafood accompanied by a variety of curries. Who’s feeling creative? Mix and match ingredients at the Mongolian BBQ where you choose your fave ingredients. Or opt for the à la carte sharing items like succulent whole fish, mezzeh and meat dishes.”

The central fire pit and pervasive tiki-torches fill the evening with a flickering glow for an ambience as inviting as the savoury delicacies.

W Retreat fire bbq

Best of the Maldives: Nurse Sharks – Dhiggiri

Nurse Shark

These creatures should get an endorsement contract with ‘Night Nurse’, the cold medication to help you sleep. It seems all these Nurse Sharks do is sleep. During the daytime when most dives occur that is.

My wife Lori got to see a couple of them diving Furana Thila from Kurumba. Her log book notes…

“Highlight of the dive was a young nurse shark resting in a shallow cave approximately 1.5 metres long. The mother is often there, but not this time. Saw another resting on the sandy bottom.”

Nurse sharks can be found through out the Maldives. They like caves where they can sleep during the day time. My nomination for the top place to see them is Fulidhoo Caves near Dhiggiri. According to Tim Godfrey’s book on Maldives diving, Fulidhoo Caves is one of 4 cave sites meriting the top 3-stars marks in his ratings and a great place for Nurse Sharks…

“The reef slopes from there to 50 metres with caves and overhangs ranging on depth between 25 and 40 metres. The most interesting feature of this dive are the nurse sharks sleeping in the caves.”

Best of the Maldives: Fish Feeding – Reethi Beach

Reethi Beach fish feeding

 

 

To feed or not to feed. That is the question of an increasing number of eco-activists. Certainly one problematic area of fish feeding is visitors taking it upon themselves to feed fish bread and other items purloined from the restaurant. This sort of ill-informed feeding can actually be very harmful as it can throw off the diets of these fish in subtle but critical ways. No visitor should ever feed a fish themselves.

However, fish feeding has been a common feature at various Maldive resorts. Typically around sunset, the resort will bring out kitchen scraps of fish and feed them to sting rays, reef sharks and other scavenger fish who quickly learned to show up for this routine feast. These feeding sessions are more informed about feeding the right things to the right species. But does that make it right? Some activists claim that even this apparently innocuous activity can have long term harmful effects on the species and the ecoysystem.

I’m certainly not enough of an expert to assess. Sometimes the argument is simply based on the principle that humans should interfere as little as possible in the natural environment. While I applaud that principle in general, I’m not of the belief that humans should never interfere with the environment. For starters, we humans interfere constantly without even knowing or trying. In order to remedy the environmental impact we humans have we need to muster broad based support for ecological initiatives. Sometimes the best way to muster this political will is to build rapport and relationships between the creatures and the humans. The ‘panda effect’ or ‘polar bear effect’. The more people fall in love with the natural world, the more they will be willing to support efforts to protect it. And seeing these creatures up close through fish feedings can be a way to enhance that affection for and fascination of them.

Fish feeding is done in a variety of ways. Kurumba used to incorporate it into their meal prep so that as they we gutting the days catch for dinner, the scraps were fed to a range of sharks and sting rays (they don’t do it any more). We always remember Filitheyo where they let the guests feed them (supervised and assisted). But Reethi Beach’s feeding time is so popular that it attracts guests from neighbouring resorts. More impressive, is that they have built a special viewing gallery for the comfort, safety and view of the guests.

 

Reethi Beach fish feeding 2

 

Reethi Beach fish feeding 3

Best of the Maldives: Aroma – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru

Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru pathway incense 2

Walking along a sandy path under the canopy of coconut tress. Lori and I love our sunset walks around the island when we visit the Maldives. How could it get any better?

Well, that’s what Four Seasons prides itself on. Those little touches that make a spectacle of the already spectacular. At Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru, one of the their staff lights torches for lighting (instead of electrical lights) along the pathways that makes them all the more romantic. But that’s not all. He also lights little incense sticks that are put in the sand next to the torches. It gives the evening air a soothing accent making a simple walk to the restaurant or back to your villa even more magical.

Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru pathway incense