Recently, a video about an abandoned resort in the Maldives went viral and I was curious to find out which one it was as I have come across several. My further investigation has uncovered five specifically:
J ALIDHOO – We actually had the distinction of staying at J Alidhoo went it was in the final stages of decommissioning. Our tour report mentioned “operational issues” as we thought that the property was having a bump in the road as resorts sometimes do, but I guess it never recovered. Our visit was actually quite surreal. We arrived and the marketing manager who had invited us had left the company a couple of days ago and had not passed on our visit details to the staff. So we arrived at the jetty and they were all a bit surprised (but they saw the correspondence I shared with the invitation and they happily welcomed us especially and the island was 95% empty with only a handful of other customers there. The spa was closed and the F&B operation was severely constrained (as mentioned in our earlier report). We were happy to see the place being in the neighbourhood so far up north, but it was a bit of an eerie experience even before it fully shuttered a few months later.
FARU – Faru was one of the earliest resorts in the Maldives and was a renowned budget property (pretty much one of the cheapest resorts in the 1990s), but they never invested in some of the basics (eg. air conditioning) that the new waves of Maldives visitors were looking for and got left behind it seems. I heard rumours of the island being revamped, but nothing specific seems to have emerged.
J RESORT RAALHUVELI – This is the one that is causing all the fuss recently with the Kale Brock video (see below).
VELIDHOO – I’ve long heard about Velidhoo, but couldn’t find much about it and the video directly below explains why.
Eskimos (Sami) have between 180-300 words for “snow” and “ice”. In the sunnier climes of the Maldives with its swaying palm trees, it’s the coconuts that have all the words. In Dhivehi, the Maldivian language, there are indeed twelve distinct words for the different stages of a coconut’s life cycle:
Rukuehth (ރުކުއެތް) – Flower bud
Rukumaa (ރުކުމާ) – Coconut palm flowers
Gobolhi (ގޮބޮޅި) – Just formed nut
Miri (މިރި) – Young coconut with no meat
Gorugobolhi (ގޮރުގޮބޮޅި) – Phase between Miri and Kihah
Kihah (ކިހައް) – Immature coconut
Kurumba (ކުރުނބާ) – Drinking phase
Gabulhi (ގަބުޅި) – Phase between Kurumba and Kaashi
Kaashi (ކާށި) – Eating phase
Kurolhi (ކުރޮޅި) – No water, hard meat
Mudi (މުދި) – Germinated coconut
Raa Rui (ރާ ރުއި) – Coconut sap
Each stage has its own unique characteristics and uses in Maldivian cuisine and culture.
One of the blog features has been a dive into the colourful linguistic tapestry of this exotic land (and sea). The resort database includes a field for the Dhivehi meaning of all the resort names as well. So I especially enjoyed this piece in the Maldive Independent – “What’s in a name: Maldives throughout millennia” – which explored the etymology of the name “Maldives” itself as well as a variety of other monikers it had through the centuries:
1500-500 BC: “Maladvipa”, (“Mala” meaning garland and “Dvīpa” meaning island) in Vedic literature including the Mahābhārata and Purāṇas.
483 BC: “2000 Parittadipa” (small islands) by the Buddhist Pāli texts Aṅguttara Nikāya and Khuddaka Pāṭha.
59-62 AD: “Coral Islands” by Greco-Roman periplus, Periplus of the Erythraean Sea written in Koine Greek describing sea navigation and trading routes.
150 AD: “Manioli” by Claudius Ptolemy’s Geographia (Book 7, Chapter 4) describing “1378” islands located southwest of India.
420 AD: “Islands beyond India” referenced by Bishop Palladius of Helenopolis in Historia Lausiaca.
5th century AD: “Mahiladipika” (Island of Women) by linguist Wilhelm Geiger derived from the Pali words Mahila (woman) and Deepika (islands), reflecting a matriarchal order.
9th century AD: “Diva Kauza” (“Islands of Shells”) by Iraqi merchant and writer Diva Kauza (Islands of Shells).
10th century AD: “Munnir Palantivu Pannirayiram” (Twelve Thousand Islands and the Ocean Where Three Waters Meet), referring to the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, and the Bay of Bengal by Chola dynasty inscriptions.
12th century AD: “Dheebat al Mahal” (“Islands of Women”) by Arabic historians Al-Masudi, Sulaiman al-Tajir, Al-Biruni.
1225 AD: “Liu Shan” (Island Country) or “Liu Shan Guo” (Country of the Flowing Mountains) by Chinese customs inspector and geographer Zhao Rugua (1170–1228 CE), of the Song Dynastry period in his work Zhu Fan Zhi (Description of Barbarian Nations or Records of Foreign Peoples).
13th century AD: “Pāpalam Theevu” (Pāpalam meaning cowries shells and Theevu meaning island in Tamil). Tholkāppiyam, by Tholkāppiyam the oldest extant work in Tamil literature.
1300 AD: “Island of Male” by Marco Polo (referenced, not visited).
1343-46 AD: “Deebath Al Mahal” by Ibn Battuta.
1414 AD: “Liu Shan Tieh Kan” (Islands of Peaks) by Chinese admiral Zheng He’s scribe, Ma Huan, while Fei Xin, who also accompanied the commander names it “Liu Shen Yeng” (roughly translates into “Divine or Mysterious islands in the vast ocean or across the sea).
1507 AD: “Maldives Ilha Dywe” by Portuguese explorers.
Warming sea temperatures, El Nino, Crown of Thorn Starfish. After all of these threats to reef health, it’s no wonder Maldive reefs have been struggling. And now a fourth (!) assailant entered the scene – Indian Ocean Dipole. The BBC describes the IOD, aka “The Indian Ocean El Nino” (“Indian Ocean Dipole – What Is It?”):
“Temperatures in the eastern part of the ocean oscillate between warm and cold compared with the western part, cycling through phases referred to as “positive”, “neutral” and “negative”. The dipole’s positive phase this year – the strongest for six decades – means warmer sea temperatures in the western Indian Ocean region, with the opposite in the east.”
“Mangrove forests enhance Small Island Developing States’ resilience to climate change, yet in 2020, a mangrove dieback impacted ~ 25% of mangrove-containing islands in the Maldives…We attribute this dieback to salinity stress driven by record-high sea levels in 2020, linked to an extreme positive Indian Ocean Dipole event.”
One of the true highlights of this year’s Tour was our visit to Fuvahmulah. The first time we have stayed on an inhabited island and explored the modern live of the Maldivian islander.
Our itinerary worked exceptionally well and we felt we really had a chance to experience the lion share of the island in a reasonable compact period of time:
DAY 1 –
Afternoon: Fly from Male to Fuvahmulah on the 3:05 Maldivian Airways arriving at 4:30
Evening: Settle into AIG Hotel. Take a dip in the pool, drink some mocktail sundowners watching the sunset over the ocean, rooftop al fresco dinner at the hotel
DAY 2 –
Morning to Afternoon: 3 dives with Pelagic Divers which includes a Deep Dive (to see pelagics like Thresher Sharks), the famous Tiger Shark dive, and a coral reef dive.
Evening: Dinner at Eden Café
DAY 3 –
Morning to Afternoon: 3 dives with Pelagic Divers which includes a Deep Dive (to see pelagics like Thresher Sharks), the famous Tiger Shark dive, and a coral reef dive.
Evening: Dinner at AIG Hotel.
DAY 4 –
Morning: Visit to Pebble Beach.
Afternoon: Seaside lunch at Peebles Restaurant
Evening: final visits around island and lounging by the rooftop pool
DAY 5 –
Morning: depart on the 5:30 am Maldivian Airways flight (for international connection home or to transfer to a resort).
Here are few tips from our experience:
Cafes – There are about 30 all over the place, but only a few are distinctive. The ones we researched and we delighted by are…
AIG Grand – view
Eden Café – décor
Pebbles – beachfront locatio
Currency – Most places take cards or phone payments and will convert into dollars. Some will only take cash, but are just as happy with dollars as ruffia. BUT (a) they don’t like $1 notes, (b) they can’t take any torn notes or defaced ones (the banks won’t accept them from them), and (c) don’t expect them to be able to give you change in dollars (though sometimes they might be able).
Flights – 2 per day on Maldivian Air. There is a ferry to Gan (1 hour) or to Gaafu Dhaalu (1.5 hour) if you wanted to combine with a resort there.
Excursions – Dhadimagi Kilhi Lake, Pebble Beach and the beaches in general offer lots of picturesque waterside strolling. But there is no real swimming (if the sharks don’t get you, the currents will). Also, there is no real real town centre for shopping, cafes, etc. (instead shops and eateries are widely dispersed across the island).
As we prepare for our 21st visit to the Maldives, we aren’t getting any younger. Now in our mid-sixties, battling an incessant array of health issues seems to be a new avocation in this chapter of our lives. So we are more empathetic to the prospective visitors who enquire about the access to emergency medical care (eg. parents with very young children, or anyone with a long-term health condition). Most (at least 5 star) resorts have resident doctors. For those looking for more extensive medical facilities, the conventional answer in the past would be to look at the Male atoll properties for ready access to the country’s main hospital in Male. But in recent years, tourism-funded growth has funded hospitals in many of the big atolls:
Health care facilities in Maldives are ameliorating on a daily basis. The Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Male’ is the biggest hospital in Maldives furnishing advanced medical care. Besides the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Male’ there is ADK Hospital which is one of the biggest private healthcare establishments in the Maldives. It is having fifty (50) bed private tertiary acute care hospital, furnishing a wide ambit of medical and surgical facilities for the total management of patients situated in the capital city of Maldives – Male’. In addition to these healthcare hospitals in Male’, there are four regional hospitals situated in the north, south and the central parts of Maldives to provide the best and quality health care services in the rural population of Maldives. The four regional hospitals of Maldives are Hithadhoo located in Addu Atoll of southern atolls, Haa Dhaalu Kulhuduffushi, Raa Atoll Ungoofaaru in northern atolls and Meemu Atoll Muli (central atolls)
When we visited Jumeirah Dhevanafushi (now Raffles Meradhoo), the GM highlighted the proximity of the Gaafu ALifu hospital to the island and the fact that the GM had met with the hospital to coordinate care protocols if a guest needed medical attention. While notable, I didn’t think this distinctive measure quite merited its own “Best of the Maldives” post, but I thought it would be good to call out those resorts closest to each of the major atoll hospitals:
Male (Male) – Kurumba (3 km)
Hithadhoo (Addu) – Equator Village (10km – but all on land)
Kulhuduffushi (Haa Dhaalu) – Barefoot (15 km – coming)
As the days get colder, wetter and shorter, one of my favourite days of the year in the UK is my annual visit to the World Travel Market in London where I hang out at the Maldives destination stand all for a bit of a surrogate Maldivian experience. The Maldivians staffing the exhibit surrounded by Maldives imagery provides just enough of a sense of the Maldives itself to take some of the sting out of encroaching winter. And the video tunnel of swimming whale sharks and mantas provided an extra touch of virtual reality to the escapist experience (video at bottom).
And this year’s stand was the biggest one yet. Check out the photo below which shows the entire length as everything in the picture is the booth. I spoke to countless resort reps including Madifushi Private Islannd, Robinson, Pullman Maamuta, Hilton Amingiri, Kuda Villingili, Amilla, Fiyavalhu Westin, Heritance Araah, South Palm, Ihuru. Riu Palace/Atoll, Brennia Kottafaru, Alia Kothifaru, Oaga.
I got media kits to fill out Resort and Room profiles for the site s well as discovered a number of great “Best of the Maldives” features to post about in the coming weeks. Two of the notable chats included:
Havodda – a BIG question these days is “where is the best coral?” It’s difficult for even veterans like myself to answer because all of our coral experience pre-2016 (with the COTS and El Nino double whammy on top of increased ocean temps and construction disturbance) is pretty much moot. My recent research has been pointing to Gaafu Alifu/Gaafu Dhaalu as one of the brightest spots for coral based both on reports, but also on the topology that this atoll is very wide open with fewer outer shelf reefs so there is more flow of cooler open-ocean water. Chatting about this with some folks, they also noted that the Gaafus are the deepest atolls which also contribute to cooler (more coral-friendly) waters there and they confirmed that this atoll probably does have the best coral
I always bring a few books to the Maldives in the perennial aspiration to sit a read for an extended period (on the long-haul flight at least), but my actual reading never quite meets my intentions. This past trip I brought along not only a book for the Maldives, but about the Maldives – “Misadventures in the Real Maldives” by Tom Chesshyre. And it was so engrossing that I actually finished it.
“The Maldives incorporates 26 atolls in what is described by geographers as a ‘double chain’ and the long, thin outline of the islands resembles a garland – ‘malodheep’ in Sanskrit – which is where the name of the country is believed to have originated. From ‘Money Islands’ to ‘Tempest Haunted Islands’ (as some ancient mariners knew them) via garlands and the ‘necklace islands’ (Maala Divaina) in Sinhalese.”
“The Maldivian connection with the sea is closer than anything an outsider can comprehend. Life on the flattest country on the planet requires mental adjustment…Standing on the beach facing inland to one of the long, straight roads on a little island was like looking along the surface of a spirit level. There are no budges, no hills.”
Chessyre tours the country from bottom to top, but in manner completely the opposite to how I and most visitors experience this tropical paradise. While we take an air-conditioned speed boat, he took a cargo ship. While we sleep on king sized beds with high thread count bedding, he sleeps on a mat. He specifically crafted his trip to explore the non-resort local islands and their daily routines in paradise. The account is a colourful and extensive perspective into local island life and guesthouses.
Despite him exploring such a non-commercial side of this luxury destination, I still identified reading his book with the sentiment he articulated about another travel book that he was reading: “His descriptions gave me that sense of déjà vu that sometimes hits you when you read about a place you’re visiting.”
Published in 2015, it is already a bit dated on some of its references, especially political, as the country is changing so very rapidly. In particular, he delves beyond the palm trees and pina coladas that are the staples of celebrity travelogues and explores such areas as:
Tsunami stories
Economic development in recent years
Logistics of local travel
Local cuisine
Political perspectives among the population
His summary provides a captivating depiction of the Maldives and his distinctive glimpse behind the resort curtains:
“I was in one of the most established places of beauty on Earth (why else would all the 5-star resorts have been built?) and yet no one was about [on the local islands]. From the ground up, I could get a feel for the rich culture of an ancient maritime nation as well as a strong sense of a community of a people living in the middle of a mighty ocean…Other than Bangladeshi workers, few foreigners managed to gatecrash paradise…With the blazing sunsets on the South Equatorial Channel, gyrating currents in deserted lagoons, kaleidoscopes of coral, cascades of fish, crescents of perfect white sand, peaceful coral-stone villages, colourful birds, emerald jungle…there is no doubt about it, the Maldives has to be one of the most beautiful, colourful – and sometimes complicated – places on Earth.”
After reading the book, I reach out to Tom to see if he would do an interview reflecting on his adventures and he kindly obliged with some bonus gems:
What did you pack that you didn’t use? On my very first visit to the Maldives, a bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin, which was confiscated on arrival as I hadn’t known the rules (but should have).
What didn’t you pack that you wish you had? War and Peace by Tolstoy or Ulysses by James Joyce – a long book I’d always meant to read.
What did you pack that you used the most? My backpack, every day, hopping on and off ferries.
What did you break or lose? A pair of flip-flops, but easy to buy another.
What most exceeded your expectations? The calm on board the cargo ship from Male to Addu – and the camaraderie with fellow passengers and crew.
What most disappointed you? Getting ferry timetable information was sometimes tricky when I went, about a decade ago.
What food did you most enjoy? Garudiya tuna broth, served with chili, lime and rice.
What food did you least enjoy? A boring hamburger at a resort hotel.
When did you laugh the hardest? During a neighbourhood party on the remote island of Makunudhoo.
When were you the most nervous/anxious? When visiting certain politicians on Male.
What surprised you most about the destination? The great distance between north and south, 500 plus miles (and the rumbling political unrest).
What was your favourite day? It was an evening, night and morning when I joined a commercial tuna fishing boat on Hulhumeedhoo on Addu Atoll.
What was your favourite photo? Passengers clambering on and off the ferry by the beach at Utheemu on Haa Alif Atoll (see below)
What item (smaller than a bed) that you saw would you most want to take home with you? No item… just memories.
Name a word you learned in Dhivehi? In Dhivehi, ‘minivan’, which means ‘independent’. Each day I would read the then ‘Minivan News’ online bulletin.
Name a fun fact you learned about the place? The highest natural point in the Maldives is 2.4 metres above sea level (I went there and ‘climbed’ it).
What tip would you give someone about to embark on a trip like yours? Pack light.
What would you do (if money and logistics were no object), if you had an additional day to spend at the destination? Sit on a jolie – a simple string mesh seat – in the shade of a palm tree by the beach on Makunudhoo, sipping lime juice, watching the waves.
If you do find yourself staying for an extended period or are just looking for some other project to embrace in the final months of lockdown, then why not learn the local language of the Maldives, Dhivehi? I reached out to the stars of this fun and helpful vlog, Kate and Hambe, who gave Maldives Complete an exclusive interview about their project:
What prompted you to make the Dhivehi lesson video? – I personally couldn’t find a strong source for learning Dhivehi online, so I thought, why not create online lessons with both a fluent Dhivehi speaker and non-Dhivehi speaker? I thought this would ease the learning and through bite-sized and theme-focused lessons that are around 5 minutes each, we hope to provide a quick and fun learning experience!
What’s your favourite Dhivehi word or phrase?– I like the phrase “iru ossey manzaru varah reethi” which means “the sunset is very beautiful”.
Can Kate read Dhivehi too?– I am learning how to read, it takes more time and practice. We would potentially start writing lessons in the future too.
Are there any special sounds in the Dhivehi language (that might be a bit unfamiliar to a new speaker)? – Not that I can think of. Most of the syllables / vowels are the same sound and it is quite a basic language with little complications.
What do you do for your day jobs? – Hambe and Kate are both working as freelancers, in the aim of putting aside enough time for Maldives Secrets to truly blossom as tourism starts to pick up in the Maldives over the next few months. Hambe is a musician and Kate works in Marketing and by being based in Hulhumale, they have the flexibility of being able to travel easily to all islands in the Maldives.
What are your top 3 tips for choosing a guesthouse? / What is your top tip for choosing a guesthouse? – The Island: When choosing a guesthouse, it’s important to understand the island you’ll be staying on. With thousands of islands in the Maldives, it may seem challenging to pick the right one… but trust me, there is definitely a local island that will suit your needs. Head to Dhigurah for the once in a lifetime experience of swimming with whale sharks, or explore the lush agricultural farms of Thoddhoo… Or go to the eco-friendly paradise of Hanimadhoo in the very north of The Maldives and do yoga every morning on the beach. These experiences are tailored to the island you’ll be staying on… so pick wisely!
How well do people who run guesthouses speak English? – Usually very well, Maldivians in general tend to have a good level of English as it is a requirement to learn it at school.
What are the most useful phrases when staying at a guesthouse or visiting a local island?
What type of food would you like?: Koaccheh kaan beynumi?
I want to try Maldivian food: Aharen kaan beynumi dhivehi keun
No spice: Miroos naala
A little spice: Kuda kuda koh kulhikoh
A lot of spice: Varah kulhikoh
Can we have the bill?: Bill genes dheebah?
Where are the toilets?: Koba fahana?
Food is great: Varah meeru
I need some water: Aharen fen fodheh beynun
Thank you for the service: Varah bodah shukuriyyaa
As I discussed in my post “Maldives Methadone”, one of the most frequently discussed topic amongst Maldives addicts (known as victims of “Maldivitis”) is the question “Is there anywhere else on Earth like the Maldives?” (hopefully a little cheaper).
If you truly take the unique blend of characteristics that make the Maldives the very definition of Bounty-bar iconic paradise, then the selection is rather limited. So to extend the boundaries a little more generously, I’ve assembled a second tier collection of tropical islands that are like the Maldives in every way except elevation.
Unfortunately, adding a bit of topological height doesn’t really seem to lower the price that much. Most of the rates are comparable to top high-end 4-stars or value priced 5-star properties in the Maldives. But if you are okay with a largish pile of rocks instead a smallish plot of sand for your tropical island, then here are some Maldives cousins…
