Saving Dive It / Lie In

\ 1 Comment \ by

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
Posted in: Best of the Maldives, Lists \ Tagged: , ,

Best of the Maldives: Bin – Athuruga

\ Leave a Comment \ by

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.

Posted in: Best of the Maldives \ Tagged:

Maldives Motifs

\ 3 Comments \ by

Maldives blue surgeonfish tapestry

The Maldives is an aquatic tapestry of every colour blue you could imagine punctuated by bits of shining sunshine gold and lush vibrant greens.  The most stunning beauties in the Maldives are the vistas from above, below or even right on the water.  These artistic Instagrammers have produced their own portfolio of aesthetic masterpieces which all share this mosaic quality of colourful patterns.  Including the first one above captured by yours truly, here are my top ten utopian tableaux…

  1. Blue Brigade by Maldives Complete [ABOVE]
  2. Fusiller Platoon by Meeru
    Maldives yellow back fusillier tapestry
  3. Reefer Radness by Felix Bonnert
    Maldives reef tapestry
  4. Convict Tangs by Warren Baverstock
    Maldives convict tangs tapestry
  5. Blue Lagoon by Sun Siyam Irufushi
    Maldives water tapestry
  6. Sprat School by Sidey The Shark
    Maldives fish tapestry
  7. Male Cityscape by A Life of Saturdays
    Maldives Male tapestry
  8. Coral Condos by Ender Çiçek
    Maldives coral fish tapestry
  9. Moreish Moorish by Joshua Strydom
    Maldives Moorish idol tapestry
  10. Paradise Parfait Palette by Lavender Ribbon
    Maldives lagoon tapestry
Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: ,

Best of the Maldives: Maldivian Artist Exhibition – Loama Maldives at Maamigili

\ 1 Comment \ by

Loama Maldives at Maamigili - art exhibition

From the extremes of primitive to avant garde, Maldivian artists also excel at classic art forms like oils and etchings. Not surprisingly, that home of the arts, Loama Maldives at Maamigili is an opportune place to sample these masterpieces…

“Loama Art Gallery is affiliated with the National Art Gallery, Maldives, and shows contemporary art from the Maldives. It offers a valuable platform for artists to exhibit and sell their work to a local and international audience. Contemporary art in Maldives has seen significant changes in themes and style over the last few decades. On the Path of a Dream brings together the work of contemporary artists whose diverse and surprising themes examine their innate senses borne while living in the Maldives. These artists have works that span decades and explores their subjects in-depth, visiting and revisiting ideas that form the identity of people inhabiting these islands. Loama Art Gallery aims to hold four exhibitions annually and the current exhibition at the overwater art gallery features five Maldivian artists who we are proud to present”

  • Afzal Shafiu Hassan (directly below) – “although he works mostly with oil water colors. In 1994, at the age of 18, Afu began his professional career as a postages stamp designer at Maldives Post.”
  • Eagan Badheeu (above) – “Impressionist landscapes and seascapes depicting the culture and lifestyle of the Maldives are his signature subjects…He earned initial recognition in the year 2000 when his works were exhibited in ‘Funoas’ (the beginning of southwest monsoon) Art exhibition held at Esjehi Gallery in Malé.”
  • Aminath Hilmy (bottom) – “As a young girl her playground was sea hibiscus groves by the beach on Thinadhoo, Gaaf Dhaal Atoll. Her mother, Fathimath Hussain, was a Kasabu (embroidery) maker and a tailor. These skills were induced to young Aminath Hilmly and is reminiscent in her style of work…Aminath Hilmy has shown her work in Esjehi Gallery and National Art Gallery in Male.”

An this esteemed group is not alone so I have added the new category Tag “Maldivian Artist” to the blog today so you can peruse a virtual exhibition of local mastery.

A summary of the exhibit can be found here.

Loama Maldives at Maamigili - art exhibition 2

Loama Maldives at Maamigili - art exhibition 3

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , , , ,

Best of the Maldives: Graffiti Art – W Retreat

\ 1 Comment \ by

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

Posted in: Best of the Maldives \ Tagged: , ,

Best of the Maldives: Tech Bracelets – Kandima

\ 1 Comment \ by

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.

Posted in: Best of the Maldives \ Tagged: , ,

Best of the Maldives: Map – Gili Lankanfushi

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Gili Lankanfushi - birdseye map

Not quite the Edwardian “bird’s eye perspective” realism that I still haven’t seen, but Gili Lankanfushi’s is my favourite of all the resort maps. It has that pirate-chic treasure map vibe to it.

Gili’s map also veers a bit more toward the primitive art styling. It reminds me a bit of the historic “Maokun” map which plotted the eastern trade route from China to the Red Sea. The excerpt below is tilted so that the north (India) is to the left, and the east (towards China) to the right. Smack in the middle, the sort of mitten-shaped mass before the map gets mostly white further right, is Sri Lanka. Obviously, the expanse of the Indian Ocean is collapsed completely! The little dots in the middle of the map represent the Maldives with the big “circle” being Male.

Chinese map

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged:

Googling Honeymoon

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Googling Maldives

The Maldives continues to remain the world capital of “Honeymoons” even in the digital age. “Honeymoon” is the most frequently Googled keyword in association with the word “Maldives” in the phrase “What is the cost of [x] in [y]?” Other top products from around Asia are shown above and the link on the graphic takes you to the Business Insider article which covered the whole world.

Posted in: Industry \ Tagged: ,

Best of the Maldives: Heart Plaques – Anantara Veli

\ 1 Comment \ by

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.

Posted in: Best of the Maldives \ Tagged: , ,