Pretty much every resort will offer a table tennis table. Some even have elaborate outdoor pavilions, but I haven’t seen any ping pong area as stadium-eque Rihiveli Beach’s beach bar. They have set the table in a sunken area with a couple of rows of raked seating around the sides. Perfect for that family holiday grand championship tourney.
The Australian Open is in full swing this week kicking off the 2018 Grand Slam season. For a bit of Aussie tennis in the Maldives, the best courtside seats are Amilla Fushi. A number of resorts have invested on some pretty sophisticated tennis facilities, but Amilla Fushi has the biggest range of tennis amenities I have seen at their “LUX Tennis” club…
The “club” offers lessons and player partners with ATP Pros, exhibition matches by visiting ATP Tour players, kids instruction, ball machine (see photo below)and serve speed radar. Not to mention a range of rackets and tennis wear including shoes. A bit of above and beyond by the resort from down under.
Someone who needs no straw in the Maldives is the legendary whale shark. It cruises the ocean with it’s up to 5 foot wide mouth completely open actively sucking in seawater which it runs across filter pads on its gills which sift out plankton, fish eggs, baby shrimp, etc.
At St. Regis Vommuli, you can get sucked into the mouth of the aquatic beast to quaff your own liquid nourishment at their award winning “Whale Bar”…
The whole concept reminded me of a tradition I read about when I first visited the Maldives for coming-of-age young men. Boys, often no more than 13 years old, would jump off a boat with a rope in hand, free dive into the water where a whale shark was swimming, SWIM INTO THE WHALE SHARKS MOUTH, and then OUT ITS GILLS, hence lassoing the fish. Young boys were the just small enough to pull off this crazy feat. I would certainly consider someone to have proven their “manhood” if they did such a thing. Not surprisingly, the government prohibited this practice years ago because too many young lads were drowning in the effort.
I would much rather toast my arrival at manhood at the Whale Bar, methinks.
(With this post, I’ve added the new topic tag of “Design”.)
Happy New Year 2018! Time to set resolutions for the year ahead. Usually New Year’s Resolutions are about making ourselves better, but Anantara is leading the way with its resolution to make its properties better at making the world better…
What’s your eco-resolution to live a more sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyle?
The Christmas-New Year period is the ultimate calendar week for lingering languor. Lori and I couldn’t make it to the Maldives, but we are still enjoying lounging by the seaside at our family’s place in North Carolina. Our feet are up and we are grazing on American junk food. But it still doesn’t compare with the dormant decadence of Hideaway Beach’s beach bed complete with candlelight and delicacies.
Merry Christmas Maldives lovers. Today kicks of the traditional twelve days of Christmas, but instead of Pipers Piping and Drummers Drumming, Maldives Complete is giving you fashionistas swimming and swanning with ladies prancing…
Christmas Eve is the most popular day to get engaged. And lovebirds in paradise contemplating to pop the question today can be inspired by Plumeria Boutique guest house’s distinctively tropical and creative proposal for one of its guests.
The bad news is that today’s Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year. The good news is that you don’t have to wait as long for the gorgeous tropical sunsets. Not that it makes that much difference near the Equator where day lengths don’t vary as much. Nonetheless, this solar milestone seemed a fitting time to share my favourite set of sunset snaps I’ve found throughout the year…
The “traditional” Maldives villa is an earth tone thatch and most of the villas we’ve visited years ago were typically a darker wood. But in recent years, white exteriors have become more popular. First, the exterior walls were painted white. An eco-friendly form of air conditioning to help keep the lodging cooler. Today, doing a quick survey of water villas, the majority have white exteriors. With the timely “White Christmas” theme, I’ve decided to present just the whitest of white villas, those whose coral sand coloured exterior extends all the way up to the tippy top of the rooftop.
May all your Christmases be white…especially over the water of a Maldives lagoon.
“Silver and gold
Silver and gold
Means so much more when I see
Silver and gold decorations
On every Christmas tree” – Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Christmas Special
“Silver and Gold” is one of the musical gems of the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Christmas Special. The Maldives features its own rich vein of these precious colours in the teeming schools of Yellow Striped Snappers. One of the biggest schools you find and one of the most popular aquatic tapestries to post. Here is a yuletidal collection of some of my favorites…
