This research tour was the most difficult yet. It even got me questioning whether it is worth the expense and effort of keeping Maldives Complete going. Fortunately, the amazing experiences, discoveries (including 35 new Best of the Maldives pieces) and support from Oaga remind me I why I keep slogging through the extensive work and costs to provide this resource.

The destination is increasingly dominated by ultra-luxe international brands who want a marquee property here that they can sprinkle on their marketing material. They don’t know the destination, erect mostly cookie-cutter, corporatey constructions making my job of finding distinctives to highlight all the more difficult. But places like Oaga demonstrate how much room for individuality and creativity remains even after 200 resorts. And places like AIG at Fuvahmulah made me aware of how many new types of Maldives experiences are being developed.

A few overall observations from the week…

• Wooden Keys – Wooden proximity keys seem to be the new thing in room access as every place I stayed used them.
• Global Diversity – For years, many resorts were often characterized as dominated by a specific nationality of guests. German brands like Robinson Club being frequented by Germans, international brand hotels that started entering being favoured by the early Chinese trade. Middle Eastern and Indian guests were relatively rare (why come to the Maldives when you have similar tropical properties in your home country). But this trip I was struck by the international diversity of the guest profile of every resort we stayed at.
• Supply Issues – For some reason, everywhere we went, the properties faced some supply issues especially with soft drinks, but also a range of other F&B ingredients and items that weren’t available.
• Less “big 5” fish – The delights of snorkeling include “fish soup” teeming schools of fish, dramatic reef drop-offs that make you feel like you are flying, colourful gardens of coral. But the biggest excitement is seeing special aquatic creatures, especially the “Big 5” of snorkel safaris – shark, turtle, ray, moray, lionfish. When we first started coming to the Maldives, we would typically see two if not three of these on any given outing. Now, the majority of our outings we don’t even see one. The decline of spottings has been palpable for a few years now, but this year are especially pronounced as we didn’t see any on any of our house reef snorkels (and aside from the amazing tiger shark diving in Fuvahmulah, the diving wasn’t much more fruitful.

Stay tuned for a rich array of ‘Best Of the Maldives’ and other pieces coming from this trip.

That’s what I’m talkin’ about. Oaga is one of my top favourite resorts ever. I was thinking that after 26 of visiting and researching the Maldives resorts, if I were to design my own resort, Oaga comes closest to my vision of my ideal resort. Artistry, creativity, personality, distinction, attention to detail, fresh, current, good-big-accessible housereef, lagoon too. Truly Maldivian (not this ersatz Williamsburg-esque contrivance of authenticity where a bit of thatch makes anything “Maldivian”). Oaga knows what it is and is not afraid to lean into its vibrant persona. It is 5-star luxury for people who want something remarkable, not just polished conventional.

The entire masterpiece is quintessentially “Maldivian|”…owned by Maldivians (not an international chain, designed by Maldivians, run by Maldivians, and ,most of all, created by Maldivians (with an army of local artists).

I came away with 22 “Best of the Maldives” pieces to post in the coming weeks which puts it in the top quintile of properties (most of whom are considerably pricier).

The Standard ticks all the boxes including value for money. So often the more affordably priced properties are priced to accommodate some shortcoming in the resort (eg. proximity to Male affecting views, distance from Male affecting transferring, lack of house reef). The Standard meets all the standards of Maldives 5-star luxury, but at a sub-$1000 room rate (for most rooms during most months). Gourmet food in the outlets including overwater bar and overwater restaurant. A breathtaking experience that won’t take your life savings away.