After all those buffet pastries, you might need a workout. Maybe a spinning session, or some time in the pool. Or at Kandima, both at the same time! Another “Finally Seen” gets ticked off (#24 of Part 4).
Best of the Maldives: Exercise Pool – Kandima
From the shape of water, to getting in shape in water. Kandima’s fitness pool features water jets that guests and swim against to add to the exertion. Or, if they are salmon, to prepare for the upstream spawning journey.
Best of the Maldives: Water Treading Pool – Cocoon
Happy New Year 2019! Lots of New Years Resolutions. Including renewed resolve to work off the holiday goodies of the New Years Celebrations. Best to start off easy. Like a simple stroll. Or maybe a stroll with a bit of resistance…like wading through water. Cocoon’s Cube Spa has introduced a wading pool, aka “Kneipp Pool” (thanks Paola). It might seem like a pool of water for wading in the Maldives is a bit like bringing coals to Newcastle, but in fairness, the pool offers a number of advantages over the beach stroll. For example, it is completely level and does not have sharp pieces of coral to accidentally step on.
Best of the Maldives: Longest Pool – Sirru Fen Fushi
If you are looking for pool big enough to fit the fashionista flotilla of floats, then your best bet is Sirru Fen Fushi with its 200 metre long chlorinated lake. That’s the length of 4 Olympic sized swimming pools laid end to end and pips the previous champion by a similar amount (thanks Paola). It extends from one side of the island pretty much complete to the other side almost like a dissecting canal (see below).
Best of the Maldives: Within Pool Dining – Amilla Fushi
Amilla Fushi offer not by the pool refreshment, but also a distinctive within the pool table d’isle. If the diminutive islands of the Maldives aren’t tiny enough for you, then this island-in-island oasis might just offer the littoral intimacy you crave.
Best of the Maldives: Pool Deck – Finolhu
Double header for the double deckers at Finolhu this week. This one is a bit more dramatic and as stunning underneath as it is on top as a waterfall cascades into the pool enveloping the in-pool bar. More “Ballers” than “Baywatch” (with more than a hint of Starship Enterprise).
Best of the Maldives: W Retreat – Pool Float
Eid Mubarack! If you need to just lie down after all the feasting, then W Retreat offers literally the biggest armada of pool floats to lull you to a gently bobbing repose.
When we visited the Maldives with our children years ago, Lori and I would read by the pool while they splashed about (perhaps the very first beginnings of Maldives Complete was my research into which resorts had pools which the kids adored). If we had the W’s Canopy Float (see photo above), I could have enjoyed my reading in the pool rather than beside the pool. Especially with the sun-protecting canopy which keeps the light from being too harshly bright on the eyes while reading.
And if you want to make the biggest splash with a blow-up pink flamingo Instagram pic, the W has just introduced the largest in the Maldives, the mother of all pink flamingo floats (see below)…
Best of the Maldives: Dive Centre Pool – Shangri-La Villingili
One of the most unexpected swimming holes I’ve come across traipsing about the full extent of the Maldives was Shangri-La Villingili’s “diving pool”. I’ve seen all manner of artistically sculpted infinity pools with frothing fountains, so what was so distinctive about this simple enclosed pool tucked away in the island right next to the dive centre? That’s just it. It’s not designed to be the centre of attention, but to make students in it the opposite of the centre of attention.
Standard operating procedure for novice divers taking a PADI course during their Maldives holiday is to go through some of the introductory activities in the resort pool. It might be safe and secure from currents, sand or murky water, but it’s considerably less so to a surrounding gallery of pool loungers encircling you like an amphitheatre. Learning to dive can be a bit of a stressful experience for some, and those students’ anxiety isn’t going to be lessened by having an audience of strangers.
The diving centre pool is only available to diving centre students. Another unusual characteristic of Villingili’s pool is that it is raised up. This means that not even the random passer-by can overlook your efforts to get to grips with operating underwater. Definitely the place to learn scuba for the self-conscious.
Best of the Maldives: Ocean Pool – Hulhumale
Hulhumale’s “lagoon pool” ticks off another “Finally Seen”. The authentically natural swimming experience, but a bit protected and groomed (ie. sand) for some people’s comfort. We still bump into folks visiting the Maldives spooked to go in the ocean for fear of the little puppy sand sharks swimming about. Come to find out, some people don’t want to swim in any water that has any fish in it. I can’t guarantee that some enterprising piscatorial bounder hasn’t literally made the leap to check this feature out, but you should be pretty safe.
Best of the Maldives: Floating Breakfast – LUX South Ari Atoll
For a just above the surface treat, LUX South Ari Atoll offers breakfast en bain. Maybe not radio controlled, but close enough to another “finally seen”.