Best of the Maldives: Water Lovers – Canareef

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Canareef - pool water

Perhaps the greatest allure of the Maldives is its intimacy with the ocean. The diminutive islands are nettled just at the water level so you are never far from it vertically or horizontally. Some of the bigger islands lose a bit of this aquatic intimacy. But one of the longest islands, Canareef, has as much if not more pervasive ambience of surrounding seaside. Primarily, because it is so skinny. With the shoreline only a few dozen meters away on either side of the island, the ambient noise of gentle waves permeate the air up and down the island.

And this stereo seaside is just one aspect of the resort’s water immersed motif. If you are a water lover, then Canareef is the resort for you. It features water of every size and shape…

  • Seashore – One side dramatic surf, the other side mill pond calm. Both along the longest coastline in the Maldives resorts.
  • Lakes – 3 of these relatively rare bodies of water in the Maldives
  • Pools – Also a top of the league table number.
  • Channel – A relatively rare feature in the Maldives.

Even your own Jacuzzi if you like in the Jacuzzi Villas. If water is what drew you to this destination that is 99% ocean, then Canareef tops it up just a bit further.

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Best of the Maldives: Singles – Club Med Kani

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Club Med Kani - staff

In my top ten FAQs is ‘what best resort for singles?’ These visitors are not looking for some sort of groovy ‘hook up’ resort. Rather, they simply just don’t want to feel all self-conscious being a singleton in the land of dewy-eyed honeymooners and other romantic holidayers. More catering for this segment was listed in one of my first “Haven’t Seen Yet” pieces. This segment is significant and growing. People get married later, relationships last fewer years, and older people lose their partners through passing. These guests just would like to (a) not be jonny-no-mates, and (b) not pay big premiums for being alone.

As it happens, while touring Club Med Finolhu Villas, we stopped a probably the best resort I have come across is Club Med Kani. Despite their special offerings for families and honeymooners, they also cater to singles specifically. They just cater to everyone! Here are some of the things they have put in place…

  • Diversity – There is so much diversity in Kani’s clientele, no one would feel out of place. There are couples on honeymoon. There are families. There are groups of friends. There are groups of families. And yes, there are singles.
  • Staff – Club Med is renowned for its hyper-friendly ethos and ambience. The staff all bubble over with amiability. The resort has a practice where all staff eat with the guests (only if the guests would like the company of course) which of course would suit a single person superbly. And as it happens, many of the staff a single themselves.
  • Atmosphere – The Club Med Kani atmosphere is simply very friendly, social and inclusive as I described in my Best of the Maldives post “Making Friends”.
  • Numbers – With nearly 500 rooms, Kani is one of the biggest resorts in the Maldives. That means there are so many people that even a small percentage of any group becomes a reasonable number. Yes, relatively few singles visit the Maldives. But at Kani you mathematically have a better chance of meeting more of them.
  • Catering – The resort actually caters to single guests. It offers a reasonable single supplement rate on its villas. When there is enough singles in residence, it organises special activities just for them such as cocktail parties and special singles-only snorkelling outings.

Literally, come ‘one’ and all…

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Best of the Maldives: Lagoon Deck – Baros

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Baros - lagoon deck

Maybe the best place for the Coco York’s next gig is the musically themed, blues enveloped “The Piano” deck. But curiously, this aquatic oasis’ name comes form its shape, not its function…

“For those who dream of being alone with their partner in a uniquely romantic setting, Baros Maldives has introduced two fantastic experiences. The choice is dinner or a massage as the sun sets, the stars twinkle and the moon glows, on a deck isolated in the middle of a sparkling lagoon. This exotic lagoon fantasy is possible at the newest addition to the delights of Baros Maldives, The Piano. The Piano is a small wooden deck, poised above the translucent waters of the lagoon. This deck is shaped like a grand piano and is available for couples who want to be alone. The only sound is the natural music of splashing waves and the whisper of the caressing breeze.”

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Best of the Maldives: Australian – Amilla Fushi

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Amilla Fushi kangaroo

G’day Amilla Fushi! The latest addition (opening today) to the Maldives slate is the resort beaut in the Baa atoll with a fair dinkum Oz flavour. In fact, in the anticipation of its development, a bonzer furphy hit the net that owner Tom McLoughlin was even importing a few joeys. One of the Maldives Complete’s barmy army (thanks Verena) did come up with the above snap of the only ridgy-didge boomer on the island.

With bottler down under barbie-master Luke Mangan you can expect big mobs of corker tucker that you can wash down with your favourite amber liquid or dead dingos donger cab sav.

A going off from the sparrows fart to arvo barbie time.

Ace!

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Best of the Maldives: Coconut – Kurumba

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Kurumba - coconut

 

 

Coconuts are synonymous with tropical paradise…and Kurumba is synonymous with everything coconut. “Kurumba” actually means “young coconut” (the green kind that you get coconut water from) in Dhivehi. Literally the signature resort for Cocos nucifera, Kurumba incorporates this eponymous omnipresence every part of your visit.

Your arrival on the island is greeted with cold cloths perfumed with coconut essence and a refreshing coconut sorbet. Every restaurant and bar features some creative coco-concoction. The Kandu bar serves a frozen Coconut Martini (coconut sorbet, coconut water, toasted coconut infused vodka), as well as a Coconut Mojito. They also make one of the best Pina Colada’s I’ve enjoyed in the Maldives (I’m a bit of a Pina Colada fan and make a point to have one at every resort I visit). The Café offers a distinctive Coconut French toast prepared with stewed mango, jack-fruit, pistachios and mascarpone.

As it happens, all of these coconut preparations are made with coconut from the island. Using the coconut is fairly obvious, but Kurumba also has the only press for making their own coconut oil. They take mature coconut (not a “Kurumba”), split it, remove the white fruit, shred it, dry it in the sun, and run it through the press. Upul, their resident Horticulturalist, demonstrated this process to me which produces 60-70 litres/month.

They not only use it in the kitchen, but also in their spa and even sell it in their shop and to other islands. The shop features the resort’s own “Coconut Flower” scent made in Sri Lanka and used in the room amenities as well.

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Best of the Maldives: Banyan Copse – Nika

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Nika banyan

 

Banyan Trees are one of the enchanting tropical natives of the Maldives. Every resort has a monstrosity of a towering ancient specimen that they are proud to show off. Nika’s own Banyan highlight is more of a Banyan copse. Four Banyan giants that have intertwined to become one. The resort celebrates the space with a mystical yoga area set up directly under their canopy. But perhaps most distinctive is the resort name itself, “Nika”, which is the Maldivian word for “Banyan Tree”.

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Best of the Maldives: Venetian – Nika

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Nika reception

I’ve done lots of country ambiences, but this is the first “city” ambience. I chose it for today, a bit out of order from the tour itinerary, because of its connection to my wife’s and my anniversary celebrated today.

I wouldn’t be the first to dub the Maldives the “Venice of the Tropics”. Something about being by the water evokes romance and relaxation. And being surrounded by it in every nook and cranny all the more so.

But Nika takes its connection to “Venezia” much more than metaphorically. The owner is actually from Venice himself and still lives there part of the year. The reception (photo above) resembles some antiquated arched grotto, the rooms are decorated with gondola models, pictures and other paraphernalia from Veneto. The channel markers in the lagoon are even authentic “palinas” (the candy-striped mooring poles)!

In recent years, we have been visiting the Maldives mostly in July and very often are there for our anniversary (just missed this year though). When we we much younger, we gave ourselves an anniversary gift to Venice, but both our lives got so packed with professional commitments that we kept postponing it until it fell off the calendar. To make up for the five year wait, on our 15th anniversary, I re-gave the same gift…but I added a trip on the Orient Express (a nod to our honeymoon train ride to Montreal from North Carolina) and a stay at the iconic Hotel Cipriani. It was like our planned 10th…with interest. It was one of the most memorable and romantic trips in our 28 years together. A symbol of how things just get better with time.

Venice and the Maldives…two of the world’s most iconic destinations for romance. And in Nika you find them both!

Felice anniversario, bellissima Lori!

Nika poles

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Best of the Maldives: Adventure – LUX* Maldives

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LUX Maldives adventure map

Off on the next Maldives adventure! This year we focus on the North Ari resorts (with, as usual, a stop in a few Male resorts)…

Last year, we visited South Ari which, after the Male atolls, had the highest number of resorts overall and the largest number I hadn’t visited. The next one after that, not too surprisingly, was North Ari. And that is the destination for this year’s Maldives Complete research trip.

Once again daily island hopping to see at least one (if not more) resorts every day. I’ll be keeping a log here with a daily tour report to provide initial impressions and perspectives. I’ll also be paralleling that with a special update on the Maldives TripAdvisor Forum where I am an active contributor.

With Adventure in mind, it seems like a good time to call out one of last year’s resorts who have crafted a distinctive ambience with their flair for creative detail.

The ‘Best of the Maldives’ highlights some pretty esoteric distinctions. Some are excruciatingly particular (like “Longest Left-Hand Surfing Break”). Others are quite vague and abstract (like “Best for Seth Godin”). The more abstract, the more subjective, based purely on some feeling or ‘ambience’ I have identified about the property. After visiting LUX Maldives last year, one theme definitely stuck me about their overall experience – Adventure.

Some would say that any trip to the Maldives is quite an Adventure. But LUX Maldives really amplifies that sensation with so many of its special touches which often reveal hidden surprises scattered throughout the island…

This feel turns the large size of the LUX island into a real asset as it provides an expansive tableau for exploration and discovery.

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Best of the Maldives: Americans – W Retreat

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W Retreat american

Independence Day! Well, American ‘Independence Day’. As it happens, the Maldives celebrate their independence in July as well (on the 26th and also from the British). On this American high-holiday, the place to be is W Retreat.

Americans have always been a bit of a minority visitor group in the Maldives. It’s just a bit far to travel (the other side of the world really), when the east coast folks have the tropical delights of the Caribbean on their doorstep and the west coast has the South Pacific. USA was not even in the Top 10 of visitor arrivals (in fact Switzerland and Korea sent more people to the Maldives than the USA) so there are no detailed, published stats for USA alone. But the Ministry of Tourism does breakout arrivals by region including stats for “Americas” of which the vast majority will be from USA. The Ministry reports 162 million ‘Americans’ visited in 2012 (compared to 534 million Europeans and 232 million Asians). The growth in recent years has been roughly on par with that of other areas showing that the Maldives allure is spreading literally all around the world.

The W Retreat tells me that about 7% of its guests are Americans, which is at least double the average across the country. The Ministry report says that Korea, (the lowest tracked country at #10 in share of arrivals) had 2.5% share in 2012 so USA has to be at least below that.

The American link by the “W” has nothing to do with the former President “George W”’s namesake, but starts with its parent, the Starwood group, one of the leading American hoteliers in the world. Americans are addicted to obscenely high service levels for which the W Retreat is renowned so perhaps that too is part of the appeal.

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