Best of the Maldives: Sand Bridge – Finolhu

Finolhu - sand spit

Maldives resorts themselves are adorned with aesthetically enchanting white sand. One of the most distinctive are the long, narrow spits of sand jutting out into the ocean. The longest stretch of sand (as a opposed to a long beach on a long island) extends from Finolhu’s southern side for an entire 1.8 kilometres. Typically, such arenaceous promontories lead nowhere in particular except an expanse of blueness. But Finolhu’s takes you to a number of resort treats including the best parts of the house reef and the its first rate Crab and Fish Shack.

Spitting Distance

Cocoa Island - sand spit 2

One of the fav features of any Maldive island is the sand spit. The spit is the Kodak Photo Spot. Surrounded by the India Ocean on all but a few feet of sand. If you are planning your next photoshoot and scouting for a bit of shallow wallowing, here is a list of the top resort sand spits in the Maldives…

  • Cocoa Island [ABOVE]
  • Gangehi
    Gangehi - sand spit
  • Sun Island
    Sun Island - sand spit
  • Kuramathi
    Kuramathi - sand spit
  • Kuredu
    Kuredu - sand spit
  • Kanifushi (thanks Paola)
    Kanifushi - sand spit
  • Finolhu
    Finolhu - sand spit
  • Palm Beach
    Palm Beach - sand spit
  • Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru
    Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru - sand spit
  • Rihiveli
    Rihiveli - sand spit
  • Ranveli
    Ranveli - sand spit
  • Dhigufaru
    Dhigufaru - sand spit
  • Loama at Maamagili
    Loama at Maamagili

Best of the Maldives: Ratios – Cocoa Island

Cocoa Island - sand spit

It’s all about proportions. Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Ratio are just two examples of proportions that drive our aesthetic appreciation. I’ve included ratios in the Maldives Complete database from the outset: Rooms-per-Hectare of island size, and Cost-per-Meter for room types. Visiting Cocoa Island this summer, two of the most striking features to it were about its proportions…

  • Sandbar-to-island ratio – It’s distinctive sand spit is not only one of the Maldives resorts’ longest at 1km (at ebb low tide), but with the only 350 metre island it makes it the highest ratio of sand spit to island quite easily.
  • Guests to Resident Staff ratio – Cocoa Island is one of the most tranquil resorts we have ever visited. It’s not just that you don’t see many guests…it’s that you don’t see many staff. Or much resort infrastructure. It really is like a deserted island. They have a miniscule 150 staff (plenty to keep the place running smoothly and all your needs catered to), but less than 60 live on the island itself. Most live on local island 5 mins away. As a result, the island doesn’t have that buzz of activity with big staff quarters compound in the center of the island.

Best of the Maldives: Longest Sand Spit – Gangehi

Gangehi sand spit 2

The sense of being in the Maldives in the middle of the Indian Ocean is outstanding. And a Gangehi you can literally (or should I say “littorally”) be out standing in the middle of the ocean.

One of the absolute distinctions of the Maldives destination are its pervasive shallow lagoons. Lots of places in the world have atolls and coral reefs, but the Maldives has an elevation that just hits sea level. A few inches above sea level and a few inches below. This topology means you can snorkel in waist deep water a kilometre off shore, and walk or wade to the neighbouring island.

Or you can, on some resorts, just amble out into the middle of nowhere. One of our favourites is Kuramathi’s which points nearly due west making it an ideal sunset “point”. Other prominent powdery promontories are at Ranveli, Cocoa Island, Palm Beach and Kuredu (thanks Adrian), but the longest is Gangehi’s which juts out a full 800m from shore. The picture above provides some perspective and we weren’t even all the way to the end because the tide wasn’t fully out.

It is a truly romantic sensation to be standing in the middle of the ocean in the middle of nowhere just you and your loved one.

Outstanding!

Gangehi snad spit