Saving Dive It / Lie In

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Maldives National Day today. Celebrating its independence from the Portuguese. Unfortunately, the country is still dependent on the rest of the world taking action on climate change. The very aspect which makes the Maldives to alluring, also makes it the most vulnerable. The country lies right on the edge of sea-level. Like the classic plot of sand with a palm tree. Nearly all of the Maldives wonder takes place a meter below (snorkelling) and a meter above (max elevation of the country) sea-level. As a result, changes in sea level have a profound impact on the country even existing at all (or just eventually becoming on big underwater reef).

Furthermore, one of its great attractions is it colourful reefs, but now these are being threatened by warmer sea waters in which the vibrant coral cannot survive. It is no surprise then that the entire country has become one of the most environmentally progressive on the planet. You start to appreciate your planet under your feet more intently when you only have a tiny patch of it to stand on.

Maldives Complete has been covering the many eco-sustainability initiatives by the various resorts for years now. Here is a top ten list of their ecological initiatives…

  1. EDUCATION– Kuramathi [ABOVE]
  2. RECYCLING – Kurumba
    Kurumba recycling 2
  3. REEFSCAPING – Kandooma, Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru, Four Seasons Kuda Huraa, Kurumba
    Kandooma reefscaping labels 2
  4. SOLAR POWER – Club Med Finolhu Villas
    Club Med Finolhu - solar panels 1
  5. REEF RE-GENERAT-ION – Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru
    Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru Lotus project 2
  6. LOCAL SOURCING – Jumeirah Vittaveli
    Jumeirah Vittaveli - local sourcing
  7. VOLUNTOURISM – Soneva Fushi
    Six Senses Voluntourism
  8. WASTE REDUCTION – Soneva Fushi
    Sineva Fushi - food waste reduction
  9. MANTA RESEARCH – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru
    Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru manta sculpture
  10. TURTLE RESEARCH – Four Seasons Kuda Huraa
    Four Seasons Kuda Huraa Nargis Fakhri turtle
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Best of the Maldives: Bin – Athuruga

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Athuruga - bin

Artistic touches can be found in the most mundane items. One of my favourite parts of exploring the various Maldives resorts in person is finding those distinctive bits of flair applied to everyday items. Even the lowly trash bin gets the luxury treatment at Athuruga where rooms include delftware inspired receptacle. Furthermore, it comes complete with a lid to hide your debris. One man’s trash bin is another man’s treasure.

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Best of the Maldives: Graffiti Art – W Retreat

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W Retreat - grafitti art 1

From the other extreme of rustic simplicity, W Retreat is featuring a number of vibrant graffiti pieces painted by the Maldivian artist Sobah from @TOXI_CREW. He was also learning from Alec Monopoly who came to W Maldives to paint the walls of the “W The Store”.   He was joined by Japanese graffiti artist Shiro to give the 15BELOW underground club a facelift (see bottom).  W is always pioneering bringing a current, modern vibe to this ancient paradise for a distinctive mash up of new and natural.

W Retreat - grafitti art 2

W Retreat - grafitti art 3

W Retreat - graffiti

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Best of the Maldives: Tech Bracelets – Kandima

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Kandima - key

Friday the 13th! Day of bad luck. According to List 25, keys and amulets have been good luck charms for centuries. At the soon to open resort Kandima, you room key is also an amulet…with a bit of its own magic charm (according to Clarke’s Third Law at least)…

  • “RFID wrist bands that allow guests full freedom to roam the island without needing to worry about a key… A key concept at Kandima is being tree friendly. That means that we have chosen to use digital signature capture technology where ever possible. Guests can sign with a stylus and see their signature captured at the same time. Our systems will have the ability to retrieve the captured signature at any time a guest would like to review a transaction… Some of the other initiatives that are driving the Kandima experience include the ability to have a range of services at all times of the day, technology enables this via APPS, in-room ordering, vending machines which will react to you at the wave of your arm band… We will have kiosk and app drive “build your own burger/pizza/omelets’ options… Our technology alignments will provide on demand video streaming which can also be ‘flicked’ to your mobile device, allowing you to continue watching a movie or TV program from the comfort of your porch, while your significant other lazes in bed surfing the net or updating their social media wall.”

We keep all our stuff in your room when we good for a walk, swim, etc. But you have to take your room key. Our swimsuits don’t have pockets so keeping up with the key is always a bit of an aggro. A stylish and fun bracelet is a great solution. Or is can wrap around anything like a beach bag or snorkel bag handle.  Or you can just keep them on your “handily” (yes, I intended that) on your wrist as you swim or snorkel as they are water resistant.

Kandima also provides slap bracelet USB stick with resort information and material. For those who didn’t enjoy the slap bracelets of the eighties, see mini-video below for a demonstration below.

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Best of the Maldives: Heart Plaques – Anantara Veli

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Anantara Veli - heart plaques

Instead of remembering the flowers there on your special, how about flowers to be a memento of your day. In sort sort of “Locks of Love” riff, Anantara Veli, provides commemorative plaques hung in their orchid nursey…

  • “Every Thursday evening on Veli there is a honeymooner’s cocktail party for Veli guests, at which they receive a heart engraved with their name and date of stay…or in some cases, ceremonial wedding date. This is then hung on the wall of the orchid garden. Most guests leave the hearts there, some guests take them away when they leave.”

At Veli, there is always flowers by your wedding date.

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Best of the Maldives: Water Villa Wedding Pavilion – Gili Lankanfushi

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Gili Lankanfushi - lagoon wedding pavilio

Gili Lankanfushi’s wedding pavilion is its very own ‘best of the Maldives’ collection all rolled into one stunning Maldives medley – an over water traditionally styled villa with glass floors looking down to aquamarine lagoons to celebrate one’s nuptials in paradise.

Gili Lankanfushi - wedding pavillion

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Best of the Maldives: Most Bedrooms – Soneva Fushi

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Soneva Fushi residences 2

Festival of Sleep is possibly the true and appropriate end of the holiday festivities. Established to “some shut-eye and relaxation after the holidays”, possibly the chronological and spiritual antithesis to “Black Friday” which kicks off the mayhem of the season.

The resort, in fact villa, that could open the door to its own sleep gala is Soneva Fushi’s Private Residence with 9 bedrooms (though one is described as staff quarters)…

  • “The residence is a two storey collection of villas with an expansive wraparound swimming pool spread over a large area with generous outdoor living space. The master bedroom boasts its own private swimming pool measuring 111.3 m2 and an outdoor bathroom but there are five additional guest bedrooms, a children’s bedroom, a smaller nanny’s bedroom and of course one for the Mr./Miss Friday butler.”

Rental prices will range from $11,300 – $30,000/night depending on the season.

Wishing everyone a restful recovery from the holiday season!

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Best of the Maldives: Door Closer – Soneva Fushi

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Soneva Fushi door opener

You know what they say about adversity and opportunity – when one door closes, another one opens. And when this door at Soneva Fushi opens, it also closes on its own. With one of the most eco-friendly mechanisms ever devised straight from Gilligan’s Island – the coconut counterweight. No worries about closing the door behind you (that goes especially for you 2016!).

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