Best of the Maldives: Curious Shape – Nalandhoo

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Nalandhoo - aerial

Earth Day today. A time to appreciate the diverse and curious planet we call home. In the Maldives, Not all the earthen mounds of islands are round dots. Some extend across elongated table reefs on the edges of the atolls. And some like Nalandhoo (not to be confused with Anatara’s Naladu) in Shaviyani atoll have a totally unique shape viewed from Google Earth(thanks Paola)…

Nalandhoo is particularly supportive to Earth Day today as its own emblematic exposure to environmental impacts especially of rising and shifting seas…

  • “The smallness of the [Shaviyani] atoll indicates to the islands’ vulnerability to environmental impacts. Hence the Nalandhoo is one of the island in Shaviyani atoll with its own unique beauty”

Nalandhoo - vista

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17 Dhoni Inspirations

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Centara Ras Fushi - dhoni swing

The traditional dhoni has been the life blood for the scattered Maldivian archipelago pumping people and goods across its waters for centuries. In modern times, the dhoni also provides cultural inspiration to all manner of décor and items on the Maldives resorts.

The term “dhoni” is not only essential to Maldives life since its earliest history, but has even entered the global lexicon as one of two Dhivehi words that have made it into the English language (the other is even more characteristic of the very essence of the Maldives).

I have added a “Dhoni” tag to keep track of all the nautically inspired resort features now.

1. Boat Swing – Centara Ras Fushi [ABOVE]

2. Boat Villa – Huvafenfushi
Huvafenfushi - dhoni boat suit

3. Lounge – Park Hyatt Hadahaa
Maafushivaru - dhoni lounge

4. Room Service – Constance Moofushi
Constance Moofushi - dhoni room service

5. Fountain – Park Hyatt Hadahaa
Park Hyatt Hadahaa - dhoni fountain

6. Buffet – Lily Beach
Lily Beach - dhoni - buffet

7. Bar – Canareef
Canareef - dhoni bar

8. Housekeeping – Coco Bodu Hithi
Coco Bodu Hithi - dhoni housekeeping

9. Planter – AaaVeee
AaaVeee - dhoni planter

10. Bar – Jumeirah Vittaveli

11. Restaurant – Millaidhoo
Millaidhoo - dhoni - restaurant

12. Kids Club– Anantara Dhigu
Anantara Dhigu - dhoni kids club

13. Dining Table – JA Manafaru
JA Manafaru - dhoni dining table

14. Reception – Sun Siyam Irufushi
Sun Siyam Irufushi - reception

15. Seating – Ayada
Ayada - dhoni seating

16. Lounging – Taj Exotica
Taj Exotica - dhoni lounging

17. Water Villa – Cocoa Island
Cocoa Island - dhoni water villa

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Best of the Maldives: Historical Cruising – Velaa

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Velaa - boat

If you want to live the maritime heritage of the Maldivian dhoni with all the conveniences and luxuries of this modern day paradise destination, then Velaa offers a distinctive dhoni crusing yacht, “Baththeli Anna”.

  • “Baththeli Anna, the prncess of the Southern Seas. Designed to ensure the utmost comfort for her guests, Anna is a beautiful custom built Maldivian baththeli (“baththeli” – boat on Dhivehi language). This luxurious, uniquely designed traditional sailboat was laid down in April of 2012. Then crafted under the supervision of the Master Boat Builder, Matias Luhmann, himself alongside the proficient team of Gladonia Maldives Pvt Ltd. The idea of its elegant lines and comfortable spaces was conceived by the boat design, Philippe Laurella, French at birth, but Maldivian in Spirit.”

One of my biggest pastimes is the sport of rowing. The carbon-fiber sculls are the state-of-the-art, but I’m afraid that I’m still smitten by the aesthetic romance of a boat sculpted out of wood.

Specifications:

  • Length – 76 feet
  • Weight – 45 ton
  • Overnight guest capacity – 3
  • Day touring guest capacity – 8
  • Maximum speed – 12 knots.
  • 2 Hour, 4 person Sunset Dolphin Cruise – $1,695
  • 5 hour, 2 person Desert Island Dinner Cruise – $7,440
  • 2.5 hour, 4 person Luxury Private Snorkel Trip – $1,895
  • 8 hour, 4 person Charter Cruise – $5,495

With this post, I’ve added a new “Cruising” tag as the highest end resorts seem to be extended their super-premium arms race into a naval battle of yachts.

Velaa - dhoni 2

Velaa - dhoni 1

Velaa - dhoni 3

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Best of the Maldives: Historical Artifacts – Shangri-La Villingili

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Shangri-La Villingili - dhoni relic

World Heritage Day celebrates the sites and monuments around the world which capture and preserve bits of the local history. Shangri-La Villingili has so many such relics that they have assembled a little guide history tour of their island. It starts with the dhoni displayed (see photo above) near the entrance to the resort:

  • “This Maldivian dhoni was shipwrecked on the Villingili island reef during stormy weather in the late 1940s.”

But Villignili also shared the RAF heritage of the Addu atoll as an extension to the neighbouring Gan outpost. Garrison. The historical buildings include a RAF building (see photo directly below) as well as a defensive pill box (see photo bottom):

  • “Administrative building of the 1st Royal Marine Coast Defense Regiment manning the shore batteries on Villingili Island, ca. 1942. In August 1941, the netlayer HMS Guardian landed Royal Navy construction crews on Addu Atoll in the Maldives Islands to begin work on a secret naval base for Britain’s eastern fleet. The British eastern fleet had left more of its base facilities in Singapore, including dry docks and repair sheds In the event of Singapore’s loss, it was to fall back on Trincomalee on Ceylon’s eastern coast. The British fleet commander wanted an alternative base somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean, the Addu Atoll, which became known as ‘Port T.’ The 1st Royal Marine Coast Defense Regiment was dispatched to secure the atoll.”

Shangri-La Villingili - RAF history

Shangri-La Villingili - pill box

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Sunday Sunsets

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Maldives sunset 7

Easter Sunday is one of the most colourful days of the year with brightly coloured eggs sequestered amongst the spring garden blossoms. The Maldives tends to have more of a tricolour motif – blue, green, white. Until sunset. Then the Maldives explodes with a kaleidoscope of colour.

The sunset is a big event in the Maldives. All the men (it is the gadget guys) abandon their loved ones to their cocktails and grab their SLRs to start shooting. As a result, Instagram and Flickr are awash with an ocean of sunset snaps.

The criteria I use to filter the ordinary from the extraordinary is the following…

  • Colour – Rich, deep, gradient, varied. No black (the sunset equivalent to the “No Sunglasses” Rule). And *multiple* colours…not just a wash of golds. A bit of Photoshop to accent the highlights is okay as long as the image is not saturated like some kids colouring book.
  • Light Play – Not just a glowing orb in the distance, the sun must certainly ignite the clouds in the sky. Also (more frequent oversight) is that the ocean seascape must also be alight with reflected and refracted colours.
  • Maldivian – No “CBA” (ie. “Could Be Anywhere). The shot needs to have some distinctive iconic Maldives bits like a dhoni or sand bar or water villa to give it a destination signature.

Here are a dozen eggs-eptional shots (especially check out Abdulla Didi (#2) who is a bit of a Maldivian sunset specialist)…

  1. Extremely Pierre – W Retreat [ ABOVE]
  2. Abdulla Didi – Hithadhoo
    Maldives sunset 14
  3. Luca Aug – Angaga
    Maldives sunset 13
  4. Infinite Explorer – Anantara Dhigu
    Maldives sunset 12
  5. Kandolhu – Kandolhu
    Maldives sunset 11
  6. Conrad Rangali – Conrad Rangali
    Maldives sunset 10
  7. Shestak Konstantin – Sun Island
    Maldives sunset 9
  8. Camila Asenjo – Drift Thelu
    Maldives sunset 8
  9. Hussain Zaheen – Dhigurah
    Maldives sunset 6
  10. Pun Photos – Fihalhohi
    Maldives sunset 3
  11. Rid Perspectives – LUX South Ari Atoll
    Maldives sunset 4
  12. Travellers Planet – Six Senses Laamu
    Maldives sunset 1
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Best of the Maldives: Boom Netting – Maalifushi

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Maalifushi - boom netting

If you would like to mix your own body up with plenty of refreshing fluids and a shot of adrenalin, then check out the boom netting experience is part of Maalifushi’s “Splash Cruise and Dolphins” excursion:

  • “Try a sunset cruise with a twist – or a splash – and join us on our Splash Cruise. Bring your swim wear and relax in the cargo nets as the water washes over you. If we are lucky some dolphins can be encountered on the way. “

Offered 16:30 to 18:30 Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday at a cost of $95 pax (also Private Charter for $500 for 2 hours +$25 pp for food/drink, and $47.50 pp for children 7-12).

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Best of the Maldives: Kombucha– LUX South Air Atoll

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LUX South Ari Atoll - Kombucha

If you want more than just vitamins and minerals on the rocks in your health smoothie, then try a “Kombucha”, a variety of fermented, lightly effervescent sweetened black or green tea drinks. LUX South Ari Atoll makes its very own version:

  • “Known as the ‘Immortal Health Elixir,’ we ferment our own variety of Kombucha ranging from black tea, green tea and coffee just to name a few and offering it to guest in our all-day dining restaurants as well as Spa.”

Kombucha is produced by fermenting the tea using a “symbiotic ‘colony’ of bacteria and yeast” (SCOBY). In other words, SCOBY Snack!

 

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World Underwater Yoga Championships

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World Underwater Yoga Chamionships 1 - April Fools

The Maldives has long been synonymous with honeymoon romance and spectacular reef diving. In recent years, it has established itself as a world class center for other things like Michelin star cuisine and top flight surfing attracting top talent to its shores. Its natural tranquillity has also turned it into a bit of a yoga haven. No premium resort is complete without sunrise and sunset yoga sessions for the guests. And its uniquely placid, reef-sheltered lagoons have afforded yet another opportunity for such Asanas practice – Underwater Yoga. So much so that the International Federation of Floatational Yoga (IFFY) are hosting their annual World Yoga Championships in the Maldives today. They are being hosted by the resort Apreelfulshi Spa and Villas.  Below are a few snaps from the early qualification rounds.

Above and below, a top contenders in the Ladies Levitating Lotus (Heat 1)…

World Underwater Yoga Chamionships 5 - April Fools

While below an entry in the Men’s Seafloor category warms up for his heat (Quarterfinal-FInal)…

World Underwater Yoga Chamionships 2 - April Fools

The shallow lagoons of the Maldives provide an ideal venue for the popular Semi-Submerged Padmasana (Semi-FInal round)…

World Underwater Yoga Chamionships 6 - April Fools

A number of demonstration workshops were also featured for aspiring fans attending the event. Below one of the master classes is led by an underwater guru…

World Underwater Yoga Chamionships 4 - April Fools

World Underwater Yoga Chamionships 3 - April Fools

Namaste #1!  Go team!  Winning!

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Best of the Maldives: A La Carte Stations – Club Med Finolhu Villas

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Club Med Finolhu - a la carte station 1

When I visited Morocco, I enjoyed a night in a Bedouin tent under the desert stars, but I must say that the highlight was the bustling, buzzing Marrakesh market square at night. An acre-sized tapestry of tiny market stalls all cooking up some specific delicacy concocted from the colour full piles of spices we saw touring the souks earlier that day. Club Med Finolhu Villas has the posh version of Jemaa el Fna with a collection of gourmet stations to cook you a variety of dishes for your meal.

You get to see the food like a buffet (instead of depending on menu descriptions), but freshly prepared to order like a la carte. We’ve all had our freshly prepared eggs and noodles dishes, but these were filet beef and sautéed fish dishes with delicate sauces. The approach was particularly helpful for people with weak English. But one of the biggest benefits was reduction of food waste. The on-demand cuisine meant that only food people were going to eat was prepared instead of large mounds of buffet offerings which (by definition) never get fully consumed (see the explanatory sign at the resort restaurant below).

Club Med Finolhu - food waste

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Best of the Maldives: Bedouin Restaurant – Centara Ras Fushi

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Centara Ras Fushi - bedouin dining

Set on the sands of a tropical island rather than some Arabian dune makes this far-flung Bedouin encampment all the more enchanting. After all, middle eastern traders were among the first non-natives to visit the Maldives (bringing with them the Islamic culture for example). The Maldives is sort of fusion of middle-eastern and Subcontinent heritage and traditions situated between the Red Sea and the Bay of Bengal. A number of resorts feature middle-eastern fare, but none so aesthetically authentic as Centara Ras Fushi’s Al Khaimah restaurant…

  • “Savour the tastes of the Middle East when dining at Al Khaimah. Reminiscent of an authentic Bedouin tent adorned with rich fabrics and tapestry carpets and set amidst our tropical garden, this intimate restaurant offers an Arabian culinary adventure using hand-crushed spices, homemade marinades and the freshest market ingredients to flavour our char-grilled meat selections and rotisseries. Low slung seating and the heady scent of oud compliment this unique dining experience.”

I do love al fresco dining…sitting out in the open breathing in the sea-kissed night air. The soft fabrics of the surrounding canopy and the cushions adds an even more softness to the atmosphere surrounding you, the palm fronds swaying above you and the power fine sand underneath you..

Centara Ras Fushi - bedouin dining 2

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