Best of the Maldives: “Peter” Diving – Faarufushi

Faarufushi - Peter scuba 2

[NOTE:  This offering is no longer at the resort…an opportunity for a “not yet seen again” feature for some resort.]

Despite its fame as a diver’s paradise, we didn’t dive in the Maldives until about our fifth year of going there. Lori’s sister did diving and Lori decided to get certified to join her when the sister came along with us one trip. Even then, I stayed up on top snorkelling with the kids. I remember one day, the kids and I were just finishing with the morning house reef snorkel when Lori was just setting out on her dive. She had to get the gear ready while we just threw on our fins and masks and jumped in. When she got back, we asked what she had seen on the dive. Sharks, morays, colourful fish, sting rays. It was all the stuff we had seen snorkelling. I continued to question why bother with all the equipment and faff of scuba diving when so much can be seen so close to the surface.

Since those days, I have succumbed and gotten my PADI Advanced Open Water and done over 60 dives there. And they have all been delightful. I still make a point to snorkel every house reef and there is still something alluring about the simplicity of snorkelling – no encumbrance, the ability to pop your head up and talk to your buddy, the sun on your back.

But I will admit that you do have to deal with the nuisance of seawater sloshing into your snorkel and being limited in how long you go underwater before you have to return to the surface for a breathe. Faarufushi’s “Peter” breathing system provides the unencumbered simplicity of the snorkelling experience with the underwater breathing freedom of a scuba system. Instead of the air supply being strapped to you, it floats on the surface and follows you through an extra long regulator tube.

Another benefit of the Peter is for giving people a stepping-stone taste of the scuba experience. Many dive centres offer complimentary “Try Dive” sessions. You put on all the scuba gear and have a little underwater swim in the safe confines of the shallow lagoon. But the Peter sessions are even less effort and might serve to ease more people into the underwater experience.

The “Peter system is also featured at Sun Siyam Irufushi and Kandooma resorts, but at Faarufushi it is included in their AI package.

Faarufushi - Peter scuba 1

Faarufushi - Peter system

Best of the Maldives: Ghost Net Bracelets – Faarufushi

Faarufushi - ghost net bracelets

Not just a “Best of the Maldives”, but possibly the Best of the Best from the 2019 Tour, or at least the most enduring, as both Lori and I are still wearing ours back in Blighty – Ghost Net Bracelets. Faarufushi’s Marin Biologist Giulia Pellizzato working on retrieving “Ghost Nets” – fishing nets that have gotten snarled or caught up and so the fishermen just abandon them in the water where they continue to trap and kill sea creatures.

The nets themselves are made of nylon and so Giulia wanted to come up with a way to upcycle them rather than have them add to the landfill of the Maldives. She decided to unravel the strands of plastic twine that they were made of, and use that material to make some woven bracelets. The process is a bit labour intensive so she has a small stock now. She gives them out as a reward to guests who help her with her reef survey work on the island.

The blue and green of the material, coloured that way by design to blend into the ocean when fishing and not scare away the fish, evoke the tapestry of colour which makes up the Maldivian seascape. I’m not a big accessory person, but there is something heart-warming about wearing something that was removed from the Laccadive Sea and is now on my wrist rather than snaring turtles, dolphins and other tragically unfortunate ocean friends.

Faarufushi - ghost net bracelets 2

Maldives Tour 2019: Faarufushi

Faarufushi - tour 2019

Pristine Maldives. The unspoilt natural beauty combined with a fresh new property of contemporary flair define the Faarufushi resort.

When we first started coming to the Maldives over 20 years ago, there was only a single property in the Raa atoll. None of the dive books had hardly any dive sites listed for it. It remained for years an untouched corner of this paradise destination. In recent years, a dozen new resorts have launched opening up this remote area. Now in an era of sustainability and environmental awareness, their development and operation aim to have much less impact on the surroundings than their less woke predecessors in the other atolls. And in this relatively undiscovered atoll, the most far-flung is Faarufushi. Situated the northmost of all and furthest from all the other neighbours.

During our visit, we were fortunate enough to be able to explore some of the dive sites that heretofore have only been seen by safari boats. A number of the dive sites in the area haven’t even been dived yet. The whole experience felt quite privileged. We were visiting the top dive sites in the area. Sites with a noticeable amount of more colourful coral and vibrant marine life (though apparently fewer of crowd-pleasing sharks). A yet there were no other divers on the site. The top sites in the other atolls are usually crawling with divers from surrounding resorts. In fact, there weren’t even any other dive boats on the water for as far as the eye could see. A pristine sub-aquatic wonderland all to ourselves.

For the non-divers, the house reef is a delight. It has been hit by bleaching over the years, but it seemed more alive than many reefs we have snorkelled in recent years. Just enough coral peeking back as well as squadrons of colourful fish. It is a bit of a swim from shore (100m), but the dive centre jetty drops you conveniently right at the drop off.

The pristine aesthetic wasn’t limited to the water. The resort itself was paragon of freshness and care. Carefully preserved original, dense palm canopies draped over the meticulously manicured flowers and eye-pleasing gardening across the grounds.

The food itself is also clean and fresh. The Executive Sous Chef Bir Yadav describes the “lightness in the menu” which the kitchen is striving for which means minimizing starches and ingredients that can bloat you. And the presentation boasts some of the most distinguished flourishes in the Maldives (stay tuned for details).