A real international and cultural treat perfectly timed to ring in the London 2012 Olympics with the Maldives featured with bodu beru dancing on a white sand beach by a tranquil lagoon next to a horizontal palm tree. Classic.
Conrad Maldives Rangali gets the honours of hosting the cameo here. I haven’t provided the time mark of the Maldives appearance in the video because everyone should watch the entire thing.
While Facebook dominates the social media landscape, Twitter is much more emerging territory in the ocean of social media. Especially for Maldive resorts where only 10 resorts have active Twitter feeds. They have on average 590 followers and 665 tweets.
The classic standard of popularity for a Tweeter are their Followers. And for the Maldives the king here is 1,446 for ‘Four Seasons’. This account, however, covers both Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru and Four Seasons Kuda Huraa. So you could argue that it is really about 700 per resort. The Conrad Rangali has 1,364 Followrs (during my survey in January) just on its own so for now they would seem to be the un-asterisked crown.
#leadingtheway
When you are coming in from all over the world, you can’t always hit the web of intra-atoll transfers just right. Sometimes people arrive in the evening (well, you can’t have every flight arrive in the middle of the day) and that can create problems for transfers with sometimes people having to spend the night near the airport until transferring the following day. Conrad Maldives Rangali has enhanced its transfer offerings, though, to avoid this problem…
“We’re pleased to announce that to make evening arrivals more convenient for international travellers, Conrad Maldives Rangali Island has partnered Maldivian domestic airline Flyme! to launch night-time transfers from Male International Airport to an airport on Maamigili Island, near the resort. The new domestic flights are priced at US$466 for each adult and US$232 for each child. Guests will travel in comfort throughout the 17-minute flight and 20-minute speedboat ride to the luxurious resort. ‘The new domestic flight transfers are designed to eliminate the need for guests arriving from international flights to spend a night in Male, allowing them to arrive at the resort on the same evening,’ said Carsten Schieck, general manager, Conrad Maldives Rangali Island. Guests are welcomed upon arrival at Male International Airport and ushered to the domestic terminal where they await their transfer in comfort in a private lounge while the resort’s representatives assist with check in and luggage weighing. Guests can relax and board the aircraft at their convenience before takeoff, while still be assured of the best seats in the carrier and receive VIP in-flight service from the cabin crew. Arrival at Maamigili domestic airport is equally streamlined where guests will be greeted and have their luggage taken care of by the resort’s representatives while they are whisked away under a starry sky in the warm night air to the resort to find their villa and personal island host waiting to welcome them.”
Flyme! also has the coolest Maldives Flash animation on its homepage!
If windows over the ocean is not good enough for you, how about windows under the ocean?
You can go diving in the crystal clear colourful waters of the Maldives without a scuba course or even holding your breath. Conrad Maldives Rangali features a Nemo submersible.
“Built in Germany by Nemo Tauchtouristik, the Nemo N100 submarine can dive to 30 metres and seats three people: two passengers and a trained pilot. Looking like something from a futuristic space cartoon, the submarine is bright orange with white stripes, characteristic of a clown fish (“Nemo” in the Disney film) with three acrylic glass ‘pods’ sticking out of the top offering the submariners 360-degree views of the underwater world they’re passing through. With the submarine’s arrival in late February, Conrad Maldives Rangali Island is the only resort to offer its own daily submarine tours to its guests, naturally subject to weather conditions. The price for one dive is US$495 for two people, or US$280 for one person.”
Our family went on a submersible in Mauritius and it was great fun. It is a great activity for young children to both as a unique ride in its own right as well as a way to expose them to undersea marvels before they can snorkel or snorkel easily in deeper water.
10,000 micro-leagues under the sea.
Unparalleled snorkelling and work class diving aren’t the only way to explore all of these QI curiosities in the Maldives. If you don’t want to spoil your finely coiffed ‘do, then consider a glass bottomed boat excursion. A number of resorts offer them – Reethi Beach, Kurumba, Baros, Conrad Rangali, Paradise Island, Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu and Taj Vivanta Coral Reef.
But the top of the line in this unique class of ocean vessels is the Paritetboat brand which both Paradise Island (photo above) and Conrad Maldives Rangali (photo below) feature.
“Paritetboat company developed unique ultra-durable bottom window shaped as an optically regular spheroid of never seen before size 2×3 m – it is the biggest size all over the world. Our glass is made of modified acrylic and has thickness 15 mm it’s more solid than fiber glass boat hull. It allows to enlarge field of view dozens times as compared to ordinary glass bottom boats. For instance, field of view at 9 meter depth is half basketball playground size.”
When I first considered doing a web site devoted to the Maldives, I had thought about focusing it on families (‘Maldives for Families’). While a renowned diving and honeymoon destination, it was less thought of as a place for kids. In fact, some a few resorts do specifically exclude children in an effort to maintain even greater calm and tranquillity for their guests and more resorts do not allow them in the water bungalows out of safety considerations. Nonetheless, the placid waters (little current in the lagoons, shallow water), the tiny size (hard for a child to roam out of earshot) and general charming and helpful nature of the staff do make it a wonderful destination for children.
And for those that want their kids to have more than the beach side fun and to enjoy the luxuriant pampering of their elders, Conrad Hilton Rangali has just the package which won the ‘Best Children’s Spa Menu in Asia’ award in 2009.
Many Maldives bedrooms have some distinctive views and the water bungalows certainly give you that up close view of the aquarium-like ocean around. But if you want more up close and more aquarium and more ‘surround’ than ‘around’, then the big news out of the Maldives this month is the introduction of Conrad Maldives Rangali’s ‘underwater bedroom’ experience.
Rangali has taken what was one of the all-time best ‘Best Of’ features (and the very first featured on Maldives Complete), the Ithaa underwater restaurant, and extends the use of this great space during the graveyard shift by transforming it into a bedroom.
Luxury Insider reports that “After a champagne dinner, what is normally the 12-seat restaurant will be rearranged into a double bedroom while breakfast will be served in bed.”
Gives a more inspiring connotation to the colloquialism ‘sleeping with the fishes’.
While just about any part of the Maldives are dazzling and remarkable, a few place within the magical atolls stand out even for paradise. Conrad Maldives Rangali’s Ithaa underwater restaurant.