International Shark Day today. A time to celebrate those wonderful elasmobranchs. And but Amilla features a particularly distinctive one. It appears to be its own species with a variegated skin patter, but as marine biologists have clarified that it is just an individual with a genetic skin condition. A bit like shark vitiligo.
One of our favourite aspects of visiting the Maldives is sitting al fresco in the (nearly) always temperate air with the equatorial warmth livened by the cool ocean breezes. A number of luxury resort feature outdoor cabanas. And other feature second buildings for children’s (or other guest’s) quarters. But Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru features an outdoor open-air “villa” that is so extensive that it is like an alternative “outdoor” residence. The two-story construction includes dining area, lounge seating as well as an area to just hang out and look out of the ocean. Also, an excellent segregated working area if you want to take your work away from and not disturb the rest of the family.
When we first started visiting the Maldives, most resorts didn’t have spas and a few had resident massage therapists on contract who would do a treatment on a table tucked in some makeshift area in the inner part of the island. Eventually, the resorts matured to the point where pretty much every one had a dedicated spa facility. As the resorts grew increasingly luxurious, new spacious residences often featured spaces where guests could get treatments in the comfort of their own villa. But for those who want that much more privacy for their treatments (even from their own fellow guests), JA Manafaru’s Royal Island Suite (which is more like a compound than a villa) includes its very own spa building. The personal spa facility includes a steam room, sauna and massage treatment room.
Today is June’s New Moon and it fall right in the middle of Amilla’s newly introduced “moon” of it own. There are “honeymoons” for starting the chapter of your life with your “honey”, “babymoons” for starting the family one, and now Amilla has introduced the first ever Maldives “menomoon” for ladies embarking on that “The Big Change”. Which is an especially apt name as the root “meno-“ in “menopause” comes from the Greek word “menos” meaning “month”, and the word “month” comes from the Old Norse word “menon” meaning “moon” (which is itself, coincidentally, “meno”). So really, it is a “moonmoon”.
And if my experience with Lori going through that “certain age” is any indication, then if there is ever a time a women could use an idyllic retreat, it is then.
Amilla describes:
The pandemic COVID testing has introduced at least medical testing procedures to most resorts, but Heritance Aarah has extended medical grade procedures to its spa menus with an innovative range of diagnostics (see photo at bottom) and treatments.
A few examples include:
Other procedures include “nanoneedling” and “microneedling” for facials as well as “HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound)” for skin conditioning (“HIFU” is indeed a medical technique and in one of my previous day jobs heading up a med-tech company, we worked with HIFU for prostate cancer ablation).
The “Non-Surgical Facelift and Contouring” is also distinguished as possibly being the most expensive spa treatment available in the Maldives:
Aarah is certainly putting the “treatment” into spa treatments.
While the Maldives is renowned for its flatness, when a bit of elevation does poke its head into the air, the vistas are extra dramatic. Especially, with the destination’s signature tapestry of blues mottling the tranquil ocean below. Soneva Jani’s Soneva Soul Yoga Champa is perched above the palm tree canopy proving a breath-taking view for taking your Ujjayi breathes. Just the perfect place to channel your “yogi sitting on top of a mountain” spirit.
DiscoverSoneva’s Instagram feed has also shared its own panorama of this striking vista.
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The Maldives have come a long way from when it was mostly a destination for divers and honeymooners neither of which brought along little ones. Now (except for a few resorts positioning themselves as “adult only” or “children restricted”), the vast majority of resorts not only welcome children, but cater to them with a range of treats and activities some of which make the adults envious. The centrepiece of family-friendliness is the pervasive “kids club”. These havens of youthful and safe play spaces include all sorts of exciting features, but even the most lavishly equipped and designed tend to be tucked away somewhere in the interior of the island. SAii Lagoon’s Koimala & Maalimi’s Junior Beach Club and Camp has treated its young guests to seaside venue as picturesque as the one their parent’s are enjoying with keenly savoured peace and quiet.
Some of Amilla’s complimentary items are a gift to the guest and the planet. They provide a variety Mon India bags for guests’ use and some for guests to even take home made out of plastics that would otherwise be destined to end up in the ocean that surrounds their visit:
Amilla includes laundry bags, hairdryer bags, toilet roll bags, table covers and beach bags from Mon India for the guests’ use. And the kids get a welcome back pack (see below) inspired by the local star wildlife resident, the White Long-Tail.
It’s not just location that has become flexible in the digital age, but time. People bemoan the 24×7 always-on culture of today’s high-powered business, but the problem is not the “24×7” part, but the “always-on” part. And it doesn’t have to be work that’s available 24-7. Siyam World offers a 24-hour bar Kulhivaru sports bar as a part of its all-inclusive package:
Especially great for catching those football matches being played back home in a different time zone.
The remote working revolution, powered by the pandemic lock-down, has transformed the extent to which people can unshackle themselves from the location (and time) constraints of doing their job. Some people have taken advantage of their new found freedom to work in the cozy idyll of a shed at the bottom of their garden. But others have taken the workplace revamp to the extremes extending their Maldives holidays by doing a bit of work abroad.
“Residences” and long-term stays (ie. months) have risen dramatically here. A good Internet connection and a growing standardisation of teleconferencing as the default mode of doing business make this increasingly feasible and appealing. It used to be that face-to-face included was the default and you did teleconferencing when you really had to, but now the situation has flipped).
To further help you whistle while you work, SAii Lagoon has introduced the first ever co-working space in the Maldives:
Other resorts have added enhanced work spaces in the villas (now tagged with the new tag of “Remote Working”), but SAii Lagoon and Hard Rock have introduced a space dedicated to such working in their Crossroad centre. That way one can get some privacy and other business support services for getting some vital work done (hopefully, so you can stay even longer in paradise with all the fires put out at home).
This is a bit of a special topic for me as one of my other websites/blogs has been looking at the concept of remote and flexible working long before it became trendy – Dynamic Work. As it happens, I am posting this piece from another island paradise, the Galapagos, where Lori and I are taking our Maldives-honed diving skills for a different type of diving adventure and our first ever live-aboard experience.
Why have a faux background on your Zoom call, when you can have the real thing?