World Mushroom Day today (who knew?).
As part of its intense focus on sustainability, Soneva Fushi has its own mushroom hut for cultivating a wide varieties of Basidiomycotae and Agaricomycetes. Oyster and other varieties grown from tubes of mulch made by their resort’s recycling plant. The hut interior is kept cool and moist with a light spray of water on constantly.
Putting the “fun” into “fungi” and the “eco” into the “enoki”.
I love Maldives lagoons. The whole magic of the Maldives centers around its unique shallow and calm waters. In my “Haven’t Seen” series, a recurring theme is resorts not doing enough “in water”. A few resorts are starting to move tables into the shallows for some wet-piggy-toes dining, but Centara Ras Fushi has made a bolder move with a thatched-parasol table set permanently in its lagoon.
You can even pre-book the table for your lunch at no extra charge (the seafood platter is appropriately the most popular). Mind you, you do need to think about the tide timings (see below).
I have now added the “In Ocean” category tag for all of the examples of exploiting this unique resource.
One of the myths I hoped to bust with the “Best of the Maldives” series is that “there is nothing to do in the Maldives.” Well, 1,000 “Best of the Maldives” pieces posted or drafted and I can assure you that there is something for every possible interest and taste. One resort that exemplifies the smorgasbord of offerings is Sun Siyam Irufushi. They publish an Activity Schedule that runs nonstop 7:30 am through 1:00 am. Every hour, every day. It’s great to have lots of equipment and activities on offer, but it is especially inviting when a special slot has been organised when others might be able to join in. I particularly liked the fact that they organised like tournaments and competitions. So if you like table tennis or pool, but get a bit tired of just hitting the ball around with your youngsters, you have to opportunity to be matched up with someone else on the island who also plays a bit more seriously for a more engaging match.
Below is one day’s agenda of activity taken at random from their weekly schedule…
There’s “Best of the Maldives”…and then there is “Best of the World”. Velaa’s golf academy is not just a Maldivian high point, it is world class paragon of pars. One could make the case that it is one of the best short courses in the world. It is certainly one of the most exclusive.
I know that I have featured Velaa’s golf academy already. I did so on the basis of the press reports which made clear that the resort had introduced something special. But only when I visited it was I able to appreciate how extraordinary this feature of the resort is.
So expect to see a good number more pieces on various special aspects of this one piece of the island that all stand out among the resorts in the Maldives, such as…
The course itself consists of 8 tees and 6 holes which can be combined into a 48 possible “holes” ranging from 55 to 194 yards. No worry of bumping into other golfers or being rushed or held up since when you play, the entire course is devoted to you. Sometimes when we play locally and for some reason our course is particularly deserted, we like to fantasize that we are playing our own private course. At Velaa, you actually can make that fantasy come true.
The grass on the fairways could very well be the most expensive in the world. It is made of a special variety – Pure Dynasty Sea Shore Paspalum – suited for the sand and heat that has to be planted a seedling at a time. When the resort was being developed, it took an army of workers over a month to hand plant each blade of turf.
Just the week before my visit, I had been up at the British Open at St. Andrews (coincidentally, so had the Velaa Golf Pro Frank Murray). As a result, I’m reminded that holes that overlap and share each other’s space is nothing new for links golf. In fact, Velaa sort of reminds you of St. Andews – unparalleled quality, smell of salty ocean nearby, and a pervasive carpet of short grass across fairways and greens (the weather similarities between the Maldives and Scotland are another story, however).
Furthermore, one of the lessons of the Open is the criticality of the short game. Not just the adage of “drive for show, putt for dough”, but also underscoring the importance of the approach shot. Essentially, none of the Open competitors varied much in the tee shots. In fact, very few hit their drives anywhere near as far as they could have (is that an oxymoron?). On a Par 4 (which all but a couple of the hole were), everyone drove a near identical 200 yards give or take, clean and placed precisely where they wanted it. Then, they made their birdies on either amazing approach shots landing within 10 feet of the pin, or amazing putts they sunk over 10 feet. Everything else was approach and 2-putt for par. All the birdies depended on the short game.
So if you want to perfect your short game on a course as gorgeous as the paradise that surrounds it, then Velaa is the resort for you.
Ace!
Winner and new champion of the hotly contested bed decorating. Custom room greeting décor has become such an extreme art form in the Maldives, I started a Pinterest page a while back to showcase the best I came across.
Room décor falls into two basic categories…
Zitahli Kudafunfaru has set the new bar with its “Happy Anniversary” extravaganza which elegantly combined both. Mind you it was a particularly special one (30th). The only downside is that is was so beautiful that we were tempted to sleep on the sofa so as not to disturb it. Gorgeous.
Often it is the little touches that turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. I had to start off my Best of the Maldives posts on Coco Bodu Hithi with their creative pancake station. I already featured the special Maldivian flag pancake made for the 50th anniversary celebrations a fortnight ago. But that was just a sample of the creative concoctions the chef Endro (see photos below) makes.
He uses three types of pancake batter – (a) Red (strawberry), (b) Brown (chocolate), and (c) White (plain). He made the above “Love” heart for me to give Lori and a special “Maldiv” flapjack for me.
In fact, this post made me realise that I didn’t have a “Breakfast” category tag…yet.
Even the nicest floor-to-ceiling glassed, over-water fitness centres in the Maldives mean that you have to go inside for some exercise. You have to extract yourself from the sunshine, fresh air, squawking tropical birds, and fragrant blossoms to get your heart rate up a bit. You typically have to put on your shoes for the only time in your no-shoes get-away. But JA Manafuru sets a high bar for activity-on-offer in the Maldives…quite literally. As their adventure exercise course actually includes a number of “bar” exercises (see photos here). The whole circuit is spread out around the island so you can jog from one set of exercises to another. All of the exercises included illustrated instructional signs. The areas are even lit at night so people can use them during the cooler evening if they prefer (as does the front office manager Jourden who told me that he does the course nearly every day himself).
Fusion is blends one culinary tradition’s recipes with another locale’s ingredients. The Maldives is no stranger to a range of fusions incorporating fresh reef fish, tropical fruit and Indian spices into familiar concoctions from around the world. Hideaway Beach’s “Samasara” restaurant goes a step further infusing the cultural show and drama of Teppanyaki with indigenous flavours. Their chef, Rahul, performs twice weekly at their over-water prime location. He yields the knives with characteristic dexterity, but the climax comes with the flaming grand finale not just in pyrotechnic drama, but dazzling flavours – the flambé fruit (watermelon, fruit, banana, vodka, anise star).
One of the most popular Bucket List items in the world is “Staying in a Maldives over water villa”. And the nearly as popular obstacle is “But I never will be able to afford it…”
For some, just seeing the iconic plot-of-sand-and-a-palm-tree destination is a financial stretch. But there are still modest resorts on lovely islands (eg. Bathala) that we definitely within many people’s reach (as long as they are willing to be happy with modest accommodation and simple, if not tired, décor). And with the advent of Guest Houses, even more budget options become feasible.
However, for some, the fantasy is more than the Bounty Bar island (one of my favourite terms picked up this trip from Hideaway Beach’s Kat Anthony). For some, the dream includes immersion in the over-worldly turquoise lagoons in a nearly as iconic water villa.
For this reasons, water villas always command a premium (over their more pedestrian Beach Villa counterparts). A quick calculation through the Room Type database shows that on average Water Villas are 25% more expensive per square metre than Beach Villas. Furthermore, the lower end islands tend not to have them so they tend to reside in the high rent corner of the market putting them that little further beyond reach.
But J Resort Alidhoo is offering their water villas at exceptionally affordable prices. The resort has been waiting for some investment in their infrastructure and cosmetics and so it knows it doesn’t have the flashiest product and most comprehensive services. But it is making up for it by being extra competitive on rates. In some deals, you can get a night in a water villa for $300…full board! You struggle to get modest, tiny hotel room in London, McDonalds Breakfast, Subway lunch and Harvester dinner for that price in the UK.
And the rooms are quite impressive. Yes, they could do with a fresher paint job for 5-star aesthetics, but they don’t look bad. The thatch roofs are in dire need of a refurb, but that looks worse that it is (the thatch is only decoration and just because some palm fronds have been blown off, doesn’t mean the roof is any less weather-proof). Still, if you do secure a J Resort Alidhoo, I would make sure you have travel insurance and be prepared for things go a bit awry (as anything could happen if they do secure investment and they might shut down for renovations). But if all goes well, it could very well be the bargain of a lifetime for the dream vacation of a lifetime.
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.
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…
