Maldives Tour 2016 – Day 4: Equator Village

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Equator Village - tour

Equator Village has been one of the most keenly anticipated resort visits of this tour. It is one of the very first resorts I researched back in the early 90s when I started my whole Maldives adventure. There was very little on its rudimentary website at the time and little has changed.

Kurumba might be the “oldest resort”, but Equator Village is the “oldest” resort property. Its buildings were built in 1960. Its original residents weren’t exactly “tourists” in the strictest sense, but they considered their stay very much a paradise posting. Gan was a British RAF base and historical accounts talk about the officer’s days spent snorkelling the reef and sunbathing on the beach. Not too much has changed in 56 years then!

This aesthetic of the last days of the Empire survives in the current property with rattan furniture, wrought iron lamp posts, and even tin roofs! The resort villas themselves were actually the original barracks for the RAF officers and the main reception building was the officers mess and officers club. Equator Village as kept the property well maintained and it is nicely decorated with fresh paint and a number of other modern upgrades (like in room Wifi).

Equator Village is one of the lowest priced resorts in the Maldives. Not just the room rate, but the Serena Spa there offered massage treatments on special which were the cheapest massages we have ever gotten in the Maldives ($80 for one hour), but as good as any luxury spa (delivered expertly by the ubiquitous Balinese masseuses). The resort can be a very handy option with possibilities for exploring the Addu atoll on a budget and mixing your stay with a bit of history and local culture.

Vintage Maldives drenched in a shared English heritage.

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Maldives Tour 2016 – Day 3: Canareef

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Canareef - tour

When is a big island not a big island? When it goes on and on seemingly forever, and yet you are never more than a few feet from the ocean.

Canareef is a have-your-cake-and-eat-it resort for people who want to be far flung from Male…but without high seaplane transfer costs (the domestic flight is about half the price). For people who want the intimacy of a tiny island with the gentle ocean sounds surrounding them…but with a bit of room to spread their legs and support a range of activity (the island is distinctively long and skinny giving it this big-but-small duality). For people who want quality comforts and cuisine…but without all the fussy chic design and gourmet palaver.

Canareef is just the latest in probably the most extended identity crisis of any resort. The island has been known as Herathera, Handhufushi, Amari Addu and now Canareef. But I think it has finally found itself. It really made an impression on us. We would rate it as one of the Top Ten Most Distinctive resorts in the Maldives. Distinctive in terms of memorable uniqueness.

All of its distinction stem from its sinewy length – the longest stand alone resort island in the Maldives. Its 5 kilometers seems to stretch it out endlessly, but it is very narrow so the ocean is never more than a stone’s throw either side of you. So it still ‘feels’ like a tiny island with the gentle ocean acoustics in stereo surround sound. Despite its sizeable number of villas (271), you don’t feel at all crowded. In fact, if you venture up the stunning Coral Garden (the best lagoon coral garden we have seen in the Maldives) at the southern most tip of the island, there are no villas and you feel like you are on your own deserted island expedition.

The restaurant offers nicely done food – lunch included grilled to order lamb steaks, pickled calamari, and stone fruit mousse. But the best part was the ocean view and the sand floor. Too many of the larger buffet restaurants opt for hard floors or enshroud their restaurant in the inner island away from the sea views (mind you, Canareef doesn’t really have an inner island, it is so narrow). They also have sand floors at its reception and bars. I am struggling to recall a resort that uses natural sand floors as extensively as Canareef.

Canareef is a very affordable resort that so many people crying out for with all the creature comforts combined with an exceptional island.

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Maldives Tour 2016 – Day 2: Addu Atoll

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Canareef - equator crossing

Last year’s tour took us to the very tip top of the Laccadive atolls, and this year’s trip takes us to the tippy toe – Addu (aka “Seenu”) atoll.

So far south that when you fly Maldivian Airlines, the pilot makes an announcement when you cross the Equator and the flight attendant hands out personalised “Equator Crossing Certificates” (see above photo).

Most Maldives atoll sprawl over dozens of miles and they are peppered with lots of little dots of islands inside them. You can cast a gaze on the horizon and typically see one or two of these green blots floating on the ocean. Addu, however, is one big circle of “islands”. Look on the inside of your location an you will see the thin emerald ribbon (periodically broken up) all around you. Look on the outside of your island and you will see nothing by wide open Indian Ocean (all the way to Antarctica to the south).

The one main downside to the marine topography is the limitations on classic house reef “drop offs”. These tend to be the domain of those intra-atoll little dots of which Addu doesn’t really have any. But the atoll delivers a range of other enticing attractions that might just make Addu well be worth the trip. It hosts 3 very distinctive resorts – Canareef, Shangri-La Villingili, and Equator Village. The turbo-prop transfer is about half the cost of a seaplane transfer to other islands that don’t have local airstrips (Haa Alifu to the north also has an airport). Being off the beaten path a bit means that its fine dive sites are not as crowded. We were all alone at our dive today and casting a glance on the horizon, there were only a couple of dive boats scattered among the dozens of dive sites. Famous manta haunts like Lankan and Hanafaru are so crowded that they have had to start limiting the number of divers visiting them. We were the only divers when we visited Addu’s own Manta Point (see below). The group before came up to our boat and told us they saw 9 mantas, but the current shifted and we only saw one. That said, he seemed as big as 9!’

Addu atoll feels like a sort of “Maldives Keys” (for anyone who has made the famous run down to Key West in Florida). A necklace of islands strung together surrounded on both sides by stereo ocean vistas.

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Maldives Tour 2016 – Day 1: Embudu

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IMG_6294

This is the resort many people are looking for. I was looking forward to this first stop on our annual odyssey. Embudu gets mentioned from time to time on the Trip Advisor Maldives Forum as a recommended option for budget travellers, but it is not easy to find much information on it. When you go into the value range, you are always wondering what compromises you are having to make for the lower star-rating.

Embudu has all the amenities and treasures of a classic Maldivian resort, but without the ultra-luxury trappings that have taken over so many properties of late. A tiny droplet of an island. An intimate house reef teeming with fish life. Sand walkways and sand floor reception (I wish there were more of these). Extensive restaurant buffet with added twists like garlic added to the spinach and calamari added to the stir fry beef or orange peel added to the basmati rice.

One of the things you go without at the resort is Internet access at it is only available at its reception (and you pay extra for it). But some people who long for the days where one is not tethered to always-on connectivity of the modern world find this more of an asset than a liability. Also, there is no pool. Even though you are surrounded by one of the most beautiful pools of water in the world, some people prefer a resort pool (especially small children welcome the sand-free and salt-free confines of a pool). The dining options are limited to the main restaurant, but again, fresh fish and tropical fruits are all any Maldivian banquet truly needs.

Even though Embudu harkens back to a simpler, more authentic island getaway experience, it nonetheless has kept up with a number of updates over time. The rooms have relatively recent décor with simple Scandinavian styling and touches like a four poster bed and a rain shower.

Old school Maldives with fresh touches…what’s not to like.

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Maldives Tour 2015 – Review

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Male Aminath Hudha

Another tour comes to a close. I took advantage of Kurumba’s proximity to Male to pop-in there. I got to see all of the semicentennial decorations that they had put up – flags lining the streets, lights for a night time extravaganza (see below), and some jetty enhancements including the Sydney-esque Jetty 1 (though meant to be modelled on a dhoni’s sails not the opera house – see white canvas in the background of the above picture).

Also in the picture with me is with the very first Maldivian to help with Maldives Complete, Aminath Hudha. She was working with the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (part of the Ministry of Tourism to promote the Maldives) and provided lots of material and guidance since its outset. We caught up and chatted about the Maldives resorts and all my visits (Hudha is a complete authority on all resorts now working for the booking company Hotelbeds).

Over the next week or so, I will be posting my initial “Best of the Maldives” pieces on each of the resorts I visited in order of the visits. Meanwhile, here are a few overall reflections that apply to many if not all the resorts on the itinerary.

  • Summer Weather – For some reason, the summer months is classified as low season in the Maldives. The perception is that the weather is not quite as reliably pristine as earlier months in the year. The key thing you don’t get this time of year are the horizon-to-horizon azure blue skies. We used to get them all the time in our February visits, but really never get them in our July visits. You get something from couple of scattered clouds to a hazy sunshine or big, occasionally stormy clouds passing through. Most of the time, the scattered and high level clouds tone down the intense sunshine. The air is a bit more pleasant and mild. More breeze has the downside of stirring up the lagoon hurting visibility, but also the benefit of feeling lovely (especially sipping a pina colada). And there are occasional, pretty much very short-lived (and hour or two) storms, but in February (winter) they are virtually non-existent.
  • IPad Menus–  At first, I was blown away by Hideaway Beach’s iPad menus…only to find them at Sun Siyam Irufushi a few days later. These are so perfect for the Maldives that I can’t believe that I haven’t featured them in “Haven’t Seen” yet. I haven’t even come across these in London eateries yet. They are perfect for the romantically dim lighting instead of fiddling with mini-flashlights in the dark. Not to mention the more mature diner like myself who doesn’t want to bring his reading glasses to dinner. It won’t be long before these become standard equipment for 5-stars the way rainshowers have infiltrated villas in recent years.
  • Accommodating Children – Resorts are growing more and more accommodating for children of all ages. Many are letting 2 or even 3 in stay in a villa with the parents (of course, current day villas are on average twice as big as the original ones). Also, most resorts now allow any age children in water villas with signed disclaimers.
  • 5 Star Segment – The luxury segment of resorts just gets more and more crowded every year. Every refurb typically takes a charming 4-star property into the 5-tar league. The jostling always makes me muse on the subtle differentiators in this Premier League of tropical paradise. 5-Star rating system continues to be stressed as it is not granular enough to cover resorts from $500 a night to $5,000 night. The TripAdvisor “Stars” are no better. They don’t measure absolute nor authoritative standards. They are emotional expressions of whether a property met, exceeded or underwhelmed expectations. So on TA, a cheap hostel that is surprisingly clean can get 5-stars on and a luxury hotel that skimps on lime with their papaya could get 4. The 5-star Championships are a bit like a Gymnastics competition. First, you simply can’t make any mistakes in your routine and you have to execute a number of fundamental skills. Secondly, you need to execute with personality (the “Olga Korbut” factor). Finally, you need to add a bit of sizzle in with a high difficulty-factor 3 triple-reverse-summersault or the like.
  • Signage – One of the things that I noticed walking around Kurumba this time was their elegant signage (stone posts with stylish typography). It drove home for me an observation I made at a number of the other 5-stars that seemed “faded”. First impressions (ie. arrival jetties and reception areas) and cosmetics (eg. signage) are the best investments a resort can make. Elegant signage and common area décor overcomes a few bits of chipped paint in the villas.

Finally, forget putting the “lime with the coconut”, but will resorts please serve lime with papaya (I’m still astounded by how many top flight resorts make this basic oversight as fundamental as not serving sugar with coffee or butter with bread).

Tour 6 At-a-Glance…

  • 8 islands
  • 4 atolls (brief foray to South Male atoll for dive off Velassaru)
  • 4 new Resort Profile pix (at 97% completion, not many missing to get)
  • 37 new Room Type Profile pix
  • 11 Snorkel Spottings
  • 26 pages of notes
  • 5 dives
  • 3 spa treatments
  • 15 pina coladas
  • 55 Dive Sites added
  • 74 Dive Charts added
  • 68 candidate “Best of the Maldives” pieces

Male independence day lighting

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Maldives Tour 2015 – Day 9: Kurumba

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Kurumba tour 2015

Kurumba is the Hotel Cipriani of the Maldives. Nestled on its equivalent of Guidecca Island, the view (on one side of the island) of Male is like gazing out on the Venice of the tropics. A bit of bustle in the distance with you ensconced on your secluded patch of opulence. It may not be the “plot of sand and palm tree in the middle of the ocean” experience, but it is just as enchanting in its own way.

Kurumba is possibly the most unsung resort in the Maldives. Overshadowed by its proximity to Male and the airport, it is one of the truly distinctive properties. The level of luxury puts it in the upper ranks of the 5-star (not 5+ star) league table, but the price is one of the least expensive.

Kurumba is an island that doesn’t coast. No matter how many times I have visited (it is the one exception to my personal rule not to visit a resort more than once…and I have now visited Kurumba 7 times), I still uncover new treats and treasures that they have introduced. Their new New “Thila” restaurant is the best of both worlds – wide open to breeze with a firm floor and fans to cool you, or on the beach tables under a graceful canopy. It may be the oldest resorts in the Maldves, but it is always one of the freshest.

Kurumba continues to build on its coconut motif. Lori enjoyed the “Kurumba Cappuchino” which was cappuccino flavoured with essence of coconut. And they have taken the “Pina Colada Test” to a whole ‘nother level (details to follow in Best Of post).

Aye Kurumba.

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Maldives Tour 2015 – Day 8: Centara Ras Fushi

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Centara Ras Fushi - tour

The “sweet spot” resort. Centara Ras Fushi sits right where so many Maldives aficionados are crying out for – affordable price, good house reef, convenient to Male, fine diverse food, AI available, well maintained, intimate island, and superb service. Is that too much to ask for?

Centara Ras Fushi delivers all the treats a Maldives lover craves – brand new beach bar (with swim-up pool bar), overwater bar (with loungers and net hammocks, sand floors in reception and restaurants, stylish loungers (in subtle earth colours), comfortable large beds.

The resort has also made an extra effort to cater to the ample snorkelling around the property. They do swim tests before handing out snorkelling gear. Most impressively, they have strung a submerged but floating rope at the reef edge so any snorkelers facing difficulty can grab it for assistance (or just those for whom manoeuvring the water is more difficult). They have also added 4 ladders to their long water villa jetty (second longest in the Maldives) so snorkeler could enter and exit at different points easily (why doesn’t every water villa resort do this??)

So what’s the catch? The only real thing anyone gets concerned about with Ras Fushi is the feared “Rubbish Island” (known more euphemistically as the “Industrial Island”). All sorts of bogey-man tales abound about resorts near this processing facility – that it looks bad, that it smells bad, that trash drifts in. The fact is that if someone didn’t tell you that they processed the Maldives’ trash there, it would just look like a built-up local island save for the thin plume of white smoke constantly rising from it. I’ve stayed in resorts near it several times and I have never smelled it. And Centara Ras Fushi patrols the resort waters every morning to nab and bits of trash that might have drifted over by accident. The resort has actually done a smart job of absolutely minimising the presence of this neighbour on the horizon. They have designed everything on the resort to face north which has a vista as seemingly remote as anywhere.

Ironically, the dreaded back side of the island provided Lori and I with one of the best views of our trip. We had just arrived when a large pod of spinner dolphins decided to stroll past while putting on a non-stop aerial display like some aquatic Cirque de Soleil. We were so mesmerised, we never noticed the Industrial Island in their background.

Even with a bit of distant trash, Centara Ras Fushi is in one of the sweetest spots of the Maldives.

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Maldives Tour 2015 – Day 7: Sun Siyam Iru Fushi

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Sun Siyam Irufushi - tour

Your waterworld adventure starts from the very arrival at Sun Siyam Irufushi’s extensive welcome jetty. The overwater boardwalks fork, one heading to the over-water dive center and the other to the bustling arrival jetty with its dual seaplane docks, and snake across the azur lagoon Its jetty reception room is in the form of giant dhoni floating on the water. Their tropical coconut mint iced tea was one of the more memorable arrival drinks of the tour (note to self – on future tours, post the different arrival drinks of each resort which vary so widely).

Still Sun Siyam Iru Fushi is not the flashy head-turning Carmen-type, but rather more of the quietly winsome Micaela. The entrance to the island itself is a bit understated. You arrive at the hub of activity from the watersports center on your immediate left to the games areas sprinkled across the grounds. Irufushi hasn’t invested in chic design fashions to catch the eye, but everything is high quality and high standard.

Its spa is one of the biggest in the Maldives and its beach expanse rivals Kudafunafaru and Velaa (what is it about Noonu beaches?). Its huge lagoon is also one of biggest I have seen, but the long jetty to the dive centre makes the house reef relatively accessible. The resort is big without a big feel meaning that no part of it is neither crowded nor overwhelming. Being bigger, Sun Siyam has something for everyone (including adrenalin-packed jet-boarding only found at a couple of resorts). I came away with a warm appreciation for the resort which seemed to grow the longer I stayed and the more I explored.

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Maldives Tour 2015 – Day 6: Velaa

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Velaa - tour

This is the resort I’ve dreamed about. Anyone who says they have seen it all in the Maldives, hasn’t been to Velaa.

I’ve been writing “Things I Haven’t Seen Yet in the Maldives” for four years where I highlight those things that could work great in the Maldives, but one has introduced them…yet. My very first edition, I lamented the lack of the classic affluent pastime – golf. Velaa hasn’t just featured it, but has created one of the best equipped short courses in the world. I’ve also since wondered when someone would bring the Hotel Jen vista experience to a resort island. Velaa’s “Tavaru” (Dhivehi for “Tower”) is just as sensational an overhead perspective on the Maldives waters as are the much vaunted super-luxury underwater restaurants and spas beneath the surface. And just last week, on my 8th edition of “Haven’t Seen”, I noted the adrenalin ride of Jet Surfing only to find one at the Velaa water sports center.

“Velaa” means “Turtle” in Dhivehi. The name is more than a label, but rather a pervasive theme that imbues the entire resort. The whole island is constructed to evoke the image of a turtle. The round Fushivelavaru island forms the body, various jetties the fins and the water villas are arranged to form a turtle’s head with two huts placed in the center to form the turtle’s eyes. The resort’s logo is a subtle thematic design used throughout the property representing the pattern of a turtle’s shell. Rooms are adorned with black-and-white art prints of hawksbills. But the best highlight is that Velaa itself is a breeding island for turtles which their resident Marine Biologists Tess and Dee work to support. And just when we set foot on the island, several hatchlings emerged and scampered to the sea and a new life ahead (here’s the video!).

It’s not just about dazzling with some “wow” features as Velaa gets all the fundamentals impeccably right. Gourmet food on offer from their menu developed by Michelin starred chef Adeline Grattard. Another expansive Noonu beach (one of the largest in the Maldives) of powder soft white sand. Relatively rare high speed Internet (it’s surprising how many 5-stars have impossibly sluggish connection). And on the more human side of high quality service, our waiter Shiyax (pronounced “Shiyaz”) was one of the most pro-active meal advisors I have had at a restaurant. He really engaged with us with insight and ideas (I wish London waiters were as helpful). Finally, the superpower rivalries of the superpremium resorts, overwater spas are the equivalent of aircraft carriers in the flotilla of luxury. To be a proper superpower, you need to have one and Velaa’s is truly Nimitz class. Its two-story spa relaxation area is available to all the guests free of charge with some truly distinctive features (a few of whom I’ve already written about).

Throughout the resort, Velaa has an unmatched obsession for decorative detail. Someone really went around and decided what would make every nook and cranny consummately inviting. The Velaa villas seem like properly elegant homes that would appear as a showcase in Home Design. Instead of a single obligatory piece of artwork to fill a void on a wall, they have a many pieces throughout the room artfully arranged. In fact, their stylish décor is a cut above from top to bottom. They have colourful arrangements set up in high spaces (like over the closets…who else has decorations on top of tall closets?) and down to the floors’ lovely carpets. Most resorts really opt for a stark Spartan aesthetic. They may be going for a minimalist chic, but you know they are also channelling accountant conservatism.

All those sumptuous accessories don’t come cheap. It’s what a cool $275m buys you (yes, look at that number again…here it is written out – $275,000,000). That’s what Velaa invested not counting the island lease. With 47 villas, it’s like you are renting a $7m house for the week (and that’s not including the service/operational costs).

The Maldive’s latest big budget blockbuster, Velaa, not only stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the super de-luxe titans of the Maldives resort business, but may in many ways is setting new bars. It is for people for whom NV, off-the-peg, and turning right on an airplane is not a consideration. Velaa is less for people who prefer the finer things in life and more for the people who prefer the finest things in life.

  

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Maldives Tour 2015 – Day 5: Zitahli Kudafunafaru

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Zitalhi Kudafunafaru - tour

Sometimes good things do come in big packages. Big resort, big villas, big common areas, big house reef, big (well, gargantuan) beach. The key thing that is not big about Zitahli Kdafunafaru is the price.

Actually, the island itself is moderately sized (250m x 750m). And a massive chunk of that is its expansive soft, white sand beach (Fun fact – the sand bank at the tip of the island “wags like a tail” as the monsoon currents shift its position around).

The resort can keep the individual scale generous because it has built a relative modest number of 50 villas on the island. A serious 5-star property that ticks all the boxes of well-appointed comfort and service, but a contender for one of the best value 5-stars in the Maldives (Kudafunafaru has 2 of the best 10 prices per square foot among 5 star properties).

In many respects, Kudafunafaru is the answer to many UK Maldives veterans’ lamentations. I read countless complaints about Maldives crowded dive sites, noisy motorised water sports, small beaches, unaffordable prices and fussily posh styling. Kudafunafaru doesn’t have any of that. What it does have is the 6th lowest guest population density of a dedicated resort island in the Maldives. In fact, it’s remote location, low guest population density and lack of motorised waters ports makes it a contender for one of the quietest and the most peaceful resort in the Maldives.

The voluminous scale doesn’t stop at the water’s edge. We’ve not seen table coral this big since Bandos. The house reef extends for a long way, but it really does require either a strong snorkeler or guided assistance as it is quite a ways out and in relatively deep water. Or you can go even further out and sample one of the dozens of untouched dive sites of the Noonu atoll with their Werner Lau dive master, Julie. We asked for Ribbon Eels and she delivered Ribbon Eels. Four in fact – 3 juveniles and a blue male with a yellow stripe (QI feature to follow on this amazing creature).

Kudafunafaru makes a big impression on everything but your wallet.

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