Forget your underwater spas, restaurants, bedrooms and night clubs. I’m on my honeymoon and I don’t want to be looking at a bunch of Brown Spotted Groupers. I want to look at my gorgeous bride. And that includes my underwater viewing fun. Here in one of Naladhu’s private villas, they have combined the outdoor pool with the outdoor bathtub. Relaxing in a soothing tub while watching my gorgeous bride taking a dip in her ‘skimpiest’ of suits. Now that’s a treat.
For people who really want to get away from it all. For people for whom going to some exotic island in the middle of the Indian Ocean is not remote enough. For people who want to go their own little haven of solitude in the middle of the ocean off the exotic island in the middle of the ocean.
A hammock in the middle of the ocean.
Genius.
This view in the photo above is not from some island, but from the middle of the ocean (in a kayak) looking back at Anantara Dhigu. It is over 100 yards off shore (though the depth here at a lazy-butt-cooling high tide is about 4 feet).
My fortnight tour of the Maldives identified 89 potential new ‘Best of Maldives’ features (to add to the 169 I have already posted and the further 94 that I have drafted in the wings). Over the upcoming fortnight, I will be featuring the first ‘Best Of’ pieces stemming from the trip. They might not be the biggest or most dramatic, just a sample of some my favourites.
Speaking of favourites, our favourite food of the trip was hands down the Italian-Fusion restaurant on Anantara Veli, Geckos. When I first was told about it, I was a bit sceptical. ‘So what is it? Pizza and sushi? What’s the fusion?’ And it is indeed the ‘fusion’ that makes it special. Executive Sous-Chef Ken explained that they use indigenous ingredients from both Japanese and Italian cuisine and do indeed ‘fuse’ them into novel renditions of familiar dishes and styles.
Yes, they have Sushi Pizza (the sushi is put on after it’s cooked and the pizza base is a thinner style). They have Italian pasta made with Japanese togorashi and nouri. Even the Italian garlic bread is accented with Japanese spices. I had the Teppanyaki pork on lemon grass and crab meat sauce which was stunning. The chef’s specialty is ‘Ebi Pizza’ made with prawns, crab, dry roasted seaweed, Japanese spices, Mishima yaksri
Ken even offers the guest recipes of any of the dishes you crave (my wife wants the recipes for the ‘Roasted sesame seed ice cream’ and ‘spiced salmon on Tagliatelle with wafu sauce’).
‘buon appetito’ in Japanese
Photo courtesy of Francisco Negrin
Some people like having activities of a water sports centre, but others don’t like the noise and activity. A solution…put them all on another island as Chaaya Reef Elaidhoo has done. The sports centre is located at the neighbouring Maaga Island…
“Activities such as water skiing, jet skiing, and organises once a week Maaga beach party with a BBQ dinner. There is a sports centre with a modern gym, tennis court, squash court, and children’s play area.”
A sports haven among a paradise haven.
Thanks Francisco.
Soneva Fushi has its own solution to saving the planet and dead head personal transport – personal bikes given to every guest (including 3-wheeled bikes).
As if the Maldives weren’t completely relaxing enough on their own, the resorts do seem to push the boundaries on how to make the stay even more comatosely indolent. The latest innovation is the Anantara Kihava swinging pool bed.
Zzzzzz.
Happy 235th Birthday America!
I wanted to feature something distinctively American in honour of July 4th Independence Day. I’ve already covered basketball and I couldn’t find any hot dog stands, so I’ve settled on ‘Paddle Boarding’. Invented in Hawaii back in 1930, it has recently surged in popularity. Our north Carolina cousins have been doing it off the coast of Wilmington.
Also known as ‘Stand Up Paddling’ or ‘SUP’, Four Seasons Kuda Huraa’s Tropic Surf introduced the sport to the Maldives and offers 1 hour instruction session in its lagoon…
One thing that makes MaldivesComplete so ‘Complete’ is that I include resorts that aren’t even there yet. Of the 125 resorts in the MaldivesComplete database, 25 are ‘Inactive’. Half of these are resorts undergoing refurbishment and relaunch, but the others are those under development.
So what’s the point of featuring resorts that aren’t available? Well, many people plan their Maldives trips long in advance. Some people up to a year. If it is a honeymoon or other ‘once in a lifetime’ event, people often book very early. By including the resorts that are not yet online, but in the works, people don’t have to regret that they didn’t know a new resort was going to be a possibility.
If you really want to look out further on the horizon of the upcoming developments in the Maldives, then ToMaldives is the place to go. They maintain a comprehensive listing of ‘Assigned Islands’ with some photos and info on the planned development.
Another hat tip to Francisco.
Most people don’t need much assistance in jumping for joy in the Maldives. If you do, the Beach House at Manafaru has a ‘bungee trampoline’…
You make appointments with the reception to use it between the hours of 4:00 and 6:00 pm. Weight limited 10kg to 85 kg.
Boing!
The Maldives has always been a bit of an opposite to Hotel California. You could check-in any time you like, but you could never stay.
Not just the tourists, but the resorts themselves are on long-term leases and don’t actually own their islands. But in a bid to boost the economy, the Maldives is cautiously venturing into residential purchases. You can’t actually own the property ‘freehold’, but they are offering ‘leaseholds’ (most Americans won’t be familiar with ‘leaseholds’ but they are a common structure in the UK and other countries. They are essentially an ‘option’ on a long-term, decades, ‘lease’ of the property that you can buy and sell like the property itself and work almost the same as owning the property itself).
The first place to pioneer this new opportunity is Soneva Fushi reports Phuquet Insider…
A complete property spec on the six five residences for sale are featured on Ilre.
