Maldives
Maldives is an archipelago of islands in the Indian Ocean surrounded by blue and teal waters around. It lies south-west of India and is the smallest country in Asia. It is one of the least populous countries. The capital of the country is Male and is one of the highly inhabited islands. This is the only place in the country which has an international airport.
As I mentioned before, Maldives is an archipelago, meaning it is comprised of multiple islands. A few of them are inhabited while a few are not. A few uninhabited islands are converted to private exotic resorts, which one would often see on social media. Today, I will cover one of the inhabited islands - Maafushi.
How to get to Maldives:
There are several direct flights plying from Bangalore, Goa, Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kochi. It's a 2-hour flight journey from Bangalore. One can get some beautiful views of the island from the top as we approach Maldives.
(View of an island in Maldives as seen from flight)
Once you exit the airport, you will be attracted by the teal waters of the jetty. From here, all the boats are available which take you to different islands. There are direct ferries and speed boats available here. While direct ferries to specific islands are cheap, they are time specific and usually take longer to reach the destination. Speed boats are quicker but slightly expensive. But the best method to reach any hotel or resort, is to check with the hotel and resort for transfers from and to the airport, which by the way all the hotels provide. Maldivian Rufiyaa is the currency of Maldives. However, USD is widely accepted throughout.
(Sunrise in Maldives)
(Jetty in Maafushi)
Maafushi is located at about 27km south of Male. It takes about 30-45 mins on a speed boat to reach the island from Male airport. Maafushi is a small island with length of approx. 1km and width of 300m. It is one of the few inhabited islands with a population of roughly 2000. Since Maldives practices Islam, alcohol is not permitted in any of the inhabited islands. However, it is allowed on private resorts. Maafushi has its own administration and holds a prison, a mosque, a football ground, a health center, a school among other hotels.
Things to see/do:
Since Maafushi is a small island, an hour is more than enough to roam the island. You find a few souvenir shops, a couple of juice shops and some stalls which offer water activities. Apart from that, there is nothing else to see on the island.
However, there a lot of things to do. Snorkeling, Scuba diving, surfing, Jet Ski, Parasailing, Island hopping to name a few. One needs to plan well to make use of all these activities.
Snorkeling:
A lot of tour operators offer half day and full day tours around the island, which include snorkeling too.
There are a lot of coral reefs which are home to different species of fishes. Other marine animals include the dolphins, sea turtles, spotted eagle rays, manta, whale sharks, nurse sharks etc. Since each of these animals have their own habitat, it is difficult to cover all of them in a single day. The one I choose was snorkeling in Biyadhoo reef (home for many fishes), sea turtle snorkeling and dolphin watch. The cost varies from USD $25 to $35 for this half day trip, which includes lunch, boat ride, snorkeling gear and underwater pictures.
(Snorkeling at Biyadhoo reef)
(The Great sea turtle)
(Dolphins)
This trip also includes a stop on a sand bank. A sand bank is nothing, but a small island filled only with sand deposits. It makes a shallow land mass in the sea.
(A sand bank)
Scuba Diving:
Another important activity that one can do here is scuba diving. Again, there are multiple, certified diving tours available here. One dive session might cost between USD $70 to $120. The experience is undefinable. No words can explain the diving experience. There are many diving sites. I was fortunate to visit a site which had a wrecked ship too.
Other water activities:
Other water activities like the Jet Ski, Fun Tube, Parasailing, Kayak, SUP (Stand up pedaling), Surfing.
(Jet Ski ride)
(View enroute Jet ski)
(Parasailing)
Things to note:
- As I said, alcohol is not permitted on the inhabited islands. However, there are safari boats which provide alcohol. These can be enquired on the island.
- Island hopping is another popular activity among the tourists. You can visit other local islands or private resorts.
- Snorkeling with nurse and whale sharks are a popular adventure.
- Short swim wear is not allowed on the island. There are private beaches which allow these kind of swim wears.
- A lot of crabs and molluscs can be seen on the island.
(Another sunrise view)
(A small crab)
(A small, live mollusc)
To conclude, Maldives in one of the must places to visit. Be it for the blue waters or the adventures or to have a peaceful vacation, Maldives offers each one the right spot for all these. Widely regarded as a honeymoon spot, Maldives has a little more to offer than just honeymoon. I enjoyed my stay in Maldives. Hope you too enjoy yours.
