Best of the Maldives: Water Polo – Angsana Velavaru

Angsana Velavaru - water polo

Water Polo Day today. The birthday of William Wilson’s who created the sport. Another sport invented by the British and then they stopped being good at (like football, badminton, rugby, and we’ll see about the upcoming cricket). I’ve always a bit surprised there is not more of this sport in the Maldives. In Italy, lots of seaside harbours have water polo nets and boundaries set up for playing. Angsana Velavaru is the only resort I have found offering it. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 6:00 – 7:00 pm free of charge. So get your fill of egg-beater kicks and chocolate whistles.

Best of the Maldives: Energized Water – Soneva Fushi

Soneva Fushi energized water pitcher

Soneva Fushi serves up a brand new age type of “energy drink”…with the only ingredient being water. And the impact of a bit of holistic energising. The water is served with a glass stirrer which contains different crystals each imparting a different energy type on the liquid.

  • Wellness – Rose quartz, Rock crystal, Amethyst
  • Harmony – Rose quartz
  • Regeneration – Emerald, Rock Crystal

Soneva describes that the energy enhancement “Maintains the balance between body and soul. Water enhances a feeling of overall well-being.”

This post has also energised me to add a new blog category tag of “Water”.

Soneva Fushi energized water

Best of the Maldives: Water Menu – Anantara Kihavah Villas

Anantara Kihavah Villas - waters on the beach

 

  

If you prefer your drinks “of” water rather than “on” water, then Anantara Kihavah Villas offers the most diverse party of international brands to choose from. Kihavah has its own water menu which includes…

  • San Pelgrino
  • San Benedetto
  • Evian
  • Perrier
  • Voss
  • Gize
  • Tasmanian Rain
  • Rainbow Infused Unicorn Tears

(ok, I made that last one up)

Best of the Maldives: Bottled Water – Kuramathi

Kuramathi bottled water

If you prefer to imbibe rather than immerse in Maldivian aqueous refreshment, then Kuramathi has developed the tipple for you…

Kuramathi Water. This clean, potable water made on the island emanates from a Classic Crystal purification system, ensuring the highest levels of quality and standards. The finished product is a glass bottle containing fresh drinking water. The bottle comes in two sizes, 500ml and 1 litre, and is a complimentary amenity for guests staying on Full Board. The bottles are also replenished from the guest’s stock every day. Reusing glass bottles is a milestone for Kuramathi, making our carbon footprint smaller as it would save the usage of about 300,000 plastic bottles discarded every year. To provide our guests with a memoir of Kuramathi, the bottles will be sold at the bars for very reasonable prices. One other interesting aspect about this water is that they are bottled in two forms; as still and sparkling waters.”

Perfectly timed launch coinciding with the Maldives’ ‘Always Natural’ campaign.

Among the old-timer Maldives aficionados, there is a bit of nostalgia for the ‘no shoes, no news’ simplicity of old school Maldivian simple paradise. One of the details of that nearly by-gone era that my wife Lori and I miss are the battered ‘re-used’ soda bottles. With the ecological mantra of “Reduce-Reuse-Recycle”, the re-used bottles were actually more environmentally progressive than the current practice of recycling. They had a sea-glass charm covered with the patina of many quenched thirsts. They also had sturdy heft to them for durability, but also making drinking from the bottle like holding a sculpted glass mug.  But, Kuramathi now takes it a reuse a step further adding locally produced beverage.

Air and Water Temperature

People often ask when the best time of year to go to the Maldives is for the best weather.  As you can see from the chart above, provided courtesy of Hayes & Jarvis Maldives catalogue, there really is no bad time of year.  January through April is the sunniest and driest, but we have visited all year round and have always found the weather consistently brilliant.  As you can see from the temperature chart (orange bars), the air temperature average varies a total of 4 degrees between 84 and 88 degree Fahrenheit (29 to 31 degree Celsuis).

One of the luxuries of the distinctive Maldive turquoise lagoons and colourful reefs is the very comfortable water temperature.  It makes snorkelling and swimming especially comfortable and reduces the equipment fuss for diving as often one can dive in just a swimsuit and no wetsuit.  However, the water temperature does vary a bit more from a low of 75 to a high of 81 Fahrenheit (24 to 27 degrees Celsuis).