Best Beginner Diving in the World

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Maldives beginner diving

One of my crusades for Maldives Complete is promoting the destination as the “best snorkelling in the world.” But, of course, snorkelling is a bit of a gateway drug to the bigger, bolder, more expensive and extensive pastime of SCUBA Diving itself. So it’s no surprise that none other than National Geographic dubbed the Maldives as the #1 “Scuba diving spot for beginners” …

  • “Known for its calm, warm waters (27-29C all year), the Maldives is a great place to learn, with visibility usually over 30 metres. Many resorts feature ‘house reefs’. Island resorts with PADI Dive schools are plentiful; one of the best is the luxury Anantara Kihavah Villas, located within a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve that’s home to turtles and tropical fish. The Maldives is the only habitat where whale sharks appear year-round.”

One of the advantages of the Maldives is its pervasive shallowness. For newbies, this contained space of the shallow sites can be less intimidating in that they don’t have to depend entirely on their newly minted buoyancy skills to maintain depth control and that they are never that far from the surface so an emergency ascent is easier. You also use less air on shallower dives which can help nervous neophyte tank guzzlers.

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Dhivehi Dive-site Designations

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Dive site terms Maldives

Today is UN Mother Language Day. Time for a bit more Dhivehi tutorial. The country itself has an evocative etymology in native Dhivehi…

  • The name Maldives may derive from the Malayalam words ‘maala’ (garland) and ‘dweepu’ (island) or the Tamil maalai (garland / evening) and theevu (island), or මාල දිවයින Maala Divaina (“Necklace Islands ) in Sinhala. The Maldivian people are called Dhivehin. The word Theevu (archaic Dheevu, related to Tamil தீவு dheevu) means “island”, and Dhives (Dhivehin) means “islanders” (i.e., Maldivians).”

The individual beads on that jewelled strand also take description names from the local tongue. The chart above illustrates a few of the most common topological terms…

  • Thila – underwater pillar
  • Giri – underwater pillar close to surface
  • Faru – above water reef edge enclosing a lagoon
  • Fushi – island

And there are a few other common terms you see constantly in dive site names…

  • Bodu – “large”
  • Kandu – “channel”
  • Kuda – “little”
  • Beyru – “outside”
  • Rah – “island”

In fact, below is a list in order of the most popular terms by number of dive sites that include them…

  1. Thila – 328
  2. Faru – 181
  3. Kandu – 136
  4. Giri – 114
  5. Kuda – 78
  6. Fushi – 72
  7. Bodu – 61
  8. Beyru – 32

އެނމެ ބަހެހ އިނގުނ ނުފުދޭނެ (Enme baheh ingun nu-fudheyne)

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Best of the Maldives: Wake-Up Call – Taj Exotica

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Taj Exotica - wake up service

Our neighbour wakes up his wife each day by bringing her a cup of coffee in bed each day. We’ve always thought that this was a touching and romantic ritual. If that sound lime more your cuppa tea than an alarm clock blaring in your ear or even a room phone ringing off the hook, then Taj Exotica will be happy to oblige. For your wake-up call, they bring your tea or coffee (according to your request) to your villa and present it with a gentle knock on the door. As a bonus service, they will also block all calls to your room until your wake up call time.

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Best of the Maldives: Biodegradable Coffee Pods – Park Hyatt Hadahaa

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Park Hyatt Hadahaa - biogradable coffee pods

Park Hyatt Hadahaa introduces the eco-friendly coffee with its Ecocaffe coffee pods on its villa’s mini-bar.

  • “The world’s only certified biodegradable coffee pods for Nespresso machines to Maldives resorts. Almost all resorts are using plastic or aluminium pods in their rooms.”

Not having to leave you room for a tasty brew in the morning also makes it ‘low miles’ to converse your own personal energy.

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Best of the Maldives: Mini-Bar Wine – Huvafenfushi

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Huvafenfushi - CUBE mini bar

National Drink Wine Day today. The perfect occasion to splash out of bit of a special tipple. And if you really want to celebrate but are worried about stumbling back to your villa, then check into Huvafenfushi which offers the most exquisite bottle of wine I’ve come across…in its mini-bar. A $695 bottle of Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtescede. If you are not splurging, then you might want to be a bit careful “raiding the mini-bar”.

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I Heart Maldives

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Hearts - beach beauty

IRed heartMaldives

The Maldives is long renowned as one of the most romantic places on Earth.  No surprise that there are hearts are everywhere you look in this corner of paramour’s paradise.  So to celebrate Valentines Day today instead of a dozen roses, a dozen hearts in paradise…

  1. Sand – Anantara Kihavah
    Anantara Kihavah - sand heart
  2. Balloons – Kurumba
    Kurumba - heart balloon
  3. Underwater – Rasdhoo Madivaru
    Rasdhoo Madivaru - diving heart
  4. Breakfast – Centara Grand
    Centara Grand - heart breakfast
  5. Fruit – Constance Moofushi
    Moofushi - fruit heart
  6. Acrobatics – Finolhu
    Finolhu - Acrobatics
  7. Dinner on the Sand – Centara Grand
    Centara Grand - sand heart
  8. Dinner in the Sand – LUX Maldives
    LUX South Ari Atoll - sand heart dinner
  9. Beach Candles – Atmosphere Kanifushi
    Atmosphere Kanifushi - heart sand candles
  10. Simple Bed Décor – Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu
    Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu - heart bed decor
  11. Fancy Bed Décor – Huvafenfushi
    Huvafenfushi - bed heart
  12. Hands – One and Only Reethi Rah
    One and Only Reethi Rah heart hands
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Best of the Maldives: Private Buggy – One & Only Reethi Rah

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One and Only Reethi Rah buggy rank 2

If you want to take to the wheel, One and Only Reethi Rah offers buggies for their guests to drive themselves. They are available for rental (except for Grand Villa and Duplex guests which include a villa buggy free of charge). Of course, you can still opt for the chauffeured service on call. And when you pull up to their main restaurant, no worries about parking as they provide their own “Valet Parking” service (see below).

One and Only Reethi Rah buggy rank

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Best of the Maldives: Buggy Stop – Canareef

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Canareef - buggy stop

While the main jetty is often the focal point of to-ing and fro-ing, the biggest islands like Canareef (well, one of the longest), also lay on ground shuttles with little electric buggies to ferry people across the property itself. You can call them when you need them, but depending on how busy and far away they are, they might take a few minutes to reach you. Rather than expending any energy standing in the tropical sun, Canareef has constructed a number of sheltered buggy stops at its prime spots (eg. restaurants, spa).

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Best of the Maldives: Artistic Arrival Jetty – Soneva Jani

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Soneva Jani - arrival jetty

First impressions make the biggest impact. It’s one of the reasons why I added a photo of the “Arrival Jetty” to the Maldives Complete Profiles. We were particularly struck by Shangri-La Villingili’s towering welcome pier this summer. But Soneva Jani has set a new high bar in terms of aloha artistry with its sculpted creation.

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