Best of the Maldives: Boduberu Competition – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru

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Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru Boduberu competition

The Olympics are always a chance to get acquainted with less familiar sports. The 2012 Games event that I saw was Synchronised Swimming which is not a programme on my record favourites at home. The Paralympics this week takes this introduction to even more varied competitions like ‘Goal Ball’.

The Maldives is pioneering some its own competitive spirit this month in the highly physical and talent demanding Boduberu Drumming sponsored by the Four Seasons. The Four Seasons are becoming a bit of champion for local competition having also promoted the Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy 2012 earlier in the year.

Minivan News reported on the event…

“Beyond its significance for the holiday industry, a number of young people and cultural organisations, boduberu is serious business – not least for for the eight teams that on Saturday (September 1) night contested in this year’s Four Seasons Saqaafee Vaadha tournament on the island of Kamadhoo. Held barely five minutes by speedboat from one of Baa Atoll’s most high-profile resorts, the tournament saw teams representing the islands of Kendhoo, Kurendhoo, Holhudhoo, Kudafari, Dhivaafaru, Meedhoo, Madduvary and Rasmaadhoo competed for a grand prize of MVR100,000 to help fund development projects for their respective local communities. A further MVR 10,000 in prize money was also provided to be shared amongst the winning team’s members. The competition, organised in association with the Four Seasons resort group and local cultural organisations, was televised live across the nation with a team from the island of Rasmaadhoo being crowned the overall winners, based on the views of a four member panel of judges.”

Culture has been part of the Olympic since it started. The Opening and Closing Ceremonies are themselves major extravaganzas of music, dance, theatre, drama, sculpture, performance art and more. Also, since the Olympics last graced England in 1948, a ‘Cultural Olympiad’ has accompanied the festivities to further celebrate and promote the aesthetes with the athletes.

Events like the Boduberu competition aren’t that far removed from other ‘judged’ events (eg. Diving, Gymnastic, Syncronised Swimming, Dressage) that score equally as importantly for ‘Artistry’ as ‘Technical’ proficiency.

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Best of the Maldives: Beach Table Tennis – Mirihi

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Mirihi table tennis

Many think that the Olympics have some and gone, but here in the UK the ‘London 2012 Games’ were just the warm up. Now London is buzzing with the Paralympics which are equally sold out and in many ways even more enthralling than the conventional Games. One of the events I have been watching recently is Table Tennis.

For all those Table Tennis fans out there who are inspired to sharpen their skills, Mirihi lends a touch of paradise to the sport with a twist…’Beach Table Tennis’. Their table is set up in its own shaded alcove on a pitch of deep, soft sand. Reethi Beach has a ping pong table on sand, but it is indoors.

If such idyllic training isn’t enough to inspire you, then check out the video below. One of the greatest sports promotional short films ever filmed…

Meet the Superhumans.

Meet the Superhumans

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Best of the Maldives: Repeater Occupancy – Mirihi

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Reethi Beach repeater occupancy

How do you measure paradise?

Kurumba’s business facilities remind me of my time at Microsoft in such rooms where we spent countless hours pouring over the numbers and scorecards. From the business perspective of a resort, a key metric has to be ‘Repeater Guests’. Not only are these the lowest cost customers to market to (you know them) and sell to (they know you), but anyone coming back for more is likely a fan enough to be recommending your product to others.

I saw this impressive high water mark for Reethi Beach on their Facebook page with ‘110’. Out of an occupancy of 200, that is 55%. That compares to another popular ‘repeater’ resort Kuredu who informs me that they have had about 160 repeater guest at a given time. Yes, a higher total, but out of their 570 guest capacity, a lower (though still boast-worthy) 28%.

But the tops I can find is Mirihi. Another popular favourite with a near cultish following. The ‘average’ 40-50% over the year and have hit 80% repeater occupancy.

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Best of the Maldives: Business – Kurumba

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Kurumba board room

 

 

Happy Labor Day!

Americans are celebrating the end of the summer and the end of wearing white with countless final BBQs and beach trips this weekend. The holiday commemorates “celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers”.

The last thing one wants to do is ‘labor’ when you are visiting the Maldives, but it you have to, the place to do it is Kurumba…

  • Best Conference Facility
  • Closest to Male (for access to Maldive businesses and HQ as well as other business facilities and support not available on a resort)
  • Most Restaurants (if by any chance you are doing some business entertaining)
  • Business centre
  • Wifi (pervasively supported across the resort free of charge)

With the rise of remote working, people often protest at work’s intrusion into one’s private life. In actuality, the technology works both ways and can also be a windfall to extending one’s leisure time. One example is people being able to extend their time off and holidays with the investment of a small amount of work during them in order to keep things ticking over back at the office. Checking in for a short period might not be everyone’s idea of a vacation, but if a day of work allows one to extend their time in paradise by several days, then it seems like a good payback. And if you are going to adopt that strategy, choosing a resort set up for a bit of business is a wise move to make the work you do have to do as painless and easy as possible.

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Best of the Maldives: Higher Education – Sun Island

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Sun Island tourism college

 

 

One of the best ‘semester away’ ever I think. Villa College is a higher education institution with a number of campuses in the Maldives including one on the island resort of Sun Island. Which is pretty apropos given the one of the most prominent courses is ‘Tourism’.

Other offerings include…

“The college offer a number of diversified programmes and courses in the areas of Hospitality Management, Business Administration, Information and Technology, Educational Studies, and Human Resource Management. Educational Studies, Information Technology and Business Administration programmes are available up to a Masters’ Degree.”

While Maldivians are the largest part of the student body, the school does attract people from all over the world including Europe and Asia. They have posted the YoutTube virtual tour below to provide a closer look…

 

Sun Island Villa College virtual tour

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Snorkelling Certification

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PADI Snorkeling Certification

If the Maldives has the best snorkelling in the world, then why not the best snorkelers in the world. Perhaps the most unsung PADI course of all is its “PADI Skin Diver” certification which teaches basic skills of snorkelling. Most guests heading to the diver centres are mostly the hard core divers, though many dive centres do coordinate snorkel safaris and manage the snorkelling gear.

The PADI web page describes the course…

“The PADI Skin Diver certification helps you get – and keep – your fins wet. While snorkelling is limited to peering down from the surface, skin divers generally venture further than snorkelers, making frequent surface dives to interact with aquatic life, up close and personal. The course provides basic information on skin diving equipment, dive science, the environment, problem management and safe skin diving practices. Inwater training includes various techniques for donning and adjusting equipment, entering the water, checking buoyancy, surface swimming, clearing water from your snorkel and performing effortless surface dives.To enroll in the PADI Skin Diver course, you must be at least eight years old [and] comfortable in the water…And, when you’ve finished the course, you’ll get a PADI Skin Diver certification card for your efforts and be ready for your next adventure. The PADI Skin Diver course teaches you to use basic snorkelling equipment including a mask, snorkel, fins, buoyancy control device (BCD), exposure protection like a wet suit and dive weights as needed.”

I think that this would be a great activity for family with young children (over 8) to all do together and help acquaint them with some of the finer points of this signature Maldives activity. It would help them to get even more out of their entire stay.

I was introduced to the course by Vakarafalhi, but many other resorts offer the programme such as Kandooma, W Retreat, Hyatt, Conrad Rangali, Sheraton Maldives, Dusit Thani to name a few.

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Best of the Maldives: SNUBA – Angsana Ihuru

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Angsana Ihuru SNUBA

 

Another option for kids immersing themselves in another world, is the new SNUBA offering a Angsana Ihuru. Atoll Paradise reports…

“Angsana Ihuru is the first resort in the Maldives to introduce the revolutionary SNUBA snorkel-dive cross-over. SNUBA allows you to dive down to up to 6 meters while breathing through a hose attached to a floating raft. Even small children can participate in this fun activity and SNUBA Doo on the surface with the help of a special floatation device, while their older siblings SNUBA dive down below…With an access to 30 diving sites less than an hour away from the resort, you can expect to see stingrays, scorpion fish, giant moray eels and myriads more of colorful marine life.”


SNUBA uba-doo!

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Best of the Maldives: Fantasy Kids Club – Soneva Fushi

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Soneva Fushi kids club 1

If your kids want to immerse themselves in an imaginary world of a less virtual type, then Soneva Fushi’s kids club is as out of this world as any level of Tron. Sort of like what Tim Burton would design for kids if he was stranded on a tropical island. Other creative offerings include yoga for kids (kids sitting quietly and contemplately…that is a magical fantasy world!).

Fantastic!

Soneva Fushi kids club 2

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Best of the Maldives: Beach Web Surfing – Paradise Island

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Paradise Island - beach web surfing

Another surfer’s Paradise in the Maldives. This time for ‘web surfers’. And offered up by the eponymous Paradise Island. The resort not only offers wifi that extends to the beach in front of their reception, but also they have run power outlets to the tables. As a result, you can surf for hours without running out of juice (well, you might need a top up for your pina colada).

Paradise Island - beach web surfing 2

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