A spectacular scene from a few thousand feet above sea – a bird’s eye view of the cluster of islands that only got better as we descended. Nitin (my husband) and I had no control over our excitement as the airplane approached landing at this paradise known as Maldives. As we stepped out of the airplane and completed our immigration formalities, we were given the Visa on arrival for our stay. Exiting the airport, we were greeted by the crystal clear water all around us which was a great feast to our eyes. While we walked out we had 2 things in our to-do list – (i) to buy a local sim card (ii) find a bus that would drop us to our hotel in Hulhumale. Both were easy as the people here spoke English and were very helpful. We bought a sim card from the Dhiraagu store just outside the Airport for $15 that gave us 4GB data and 100 minutes of local calling. Within the next 5 minutes we got into a bus and they charged us $2 each to drop us at the Main stop in Hulhumale. Our hotel was about 300 meters from this stop. We boarded the bus and enjoyed the scenic views for 20 minutes until the bus arrived at our stop.
HULHUMALE:
We got off at our bus stop and started walking towards our hotel. This brought us to a series of small compact hotels facing the sea shore and a chain of brightly lit restaurants along the sea shore. Each of these restaurants added to the beauty of the shore with its own colorful lights and charm. Although the hotel rooms were very compact, their proximity to the sea shore was an attraction. We checked in at 5:30 PM and then decided to walk around to explore Hulhumale. By 6:30 PM the local shops were closed – except for a few super markets. While walking back to our hotel a board that read “Floral Tea” at one of the restaurants attracted Nitin's attention and we walked in to find out what it was. To our surprise it was beautiful green tea that comprised of a small sphere which would bloom open into a flower when put in hot water. We enjoyed sipping this “beautiful” green tea along the sea shore as the sun set and later retired for the day.
GURAIDHOO:
Next morning, we were ready to leave to Guraidhoo – a local island and our destination for scuba diving. We took a taxi (costed us 100 Rufiyaas) from our hotel to the harbor at Male where we were to board our speed boat - "Moon speed" that would take us to Guraidhoo. Abbo, from Manta divers had booked two seats for us on the speed boat which was to start at 12:30 PM from Male. We chose to take a speed boat as there were no morning ferries to Guraidhoo. The ferry runs daily (except Fridays) at 2:30 PM from Male, costs $2 per person and takes approximately 2 and half hours to Guraidhoo while the speed boat costed us $25 per person and took 35 minutes to reach. Since, we wanted to do a dive in the afternoon, we chose the speedboat even with the extra cost. After an amazing speed boat ride through the waters, we reached Guraidhoo and were welcomed by 2 gentlemen – Hassan(our caretaker at the Raakani Villas Resort) and Shahute (our dive instructor at Manta Divers).
As soon as we stepped out of the boat a wave of happiness hit us and these two gentlemen who received us added to this wonderful feeling by making sure we felt extremely comfortable. As we walked to our rooms Hassan offered to help us with our bags and Shahute said – “please pick up anything you want from anywhere at any time and feel at home.” “Wooooow”, I thought to myself, what a wonderful place and such lovely people. Engrossed in these happy thoughts, we checked in and decided to freshen up for our first dive at 2:00 PM. We were doing the Discover scuba diving course since this was our first dive. We reached the dive center (a 2 minute walk from our hotel) and were requested to check our diving equipment - Wet-suit, mask, regulator, buoyancy control device (BCD) and fins to ensure they fit us well. We were asked to fill a few forms and watch a video on safety measures to take note of while diving. We walked to the sea shore with our equipment loaded on a wooden trolley. Shahute and Samee accompanied us as dive masters.
Finally, that moment we had been waiting for had arrived. We walked in to the sea from the shore where our dive instructors showed us some basic actions for communication under water and two primary skills that are needed while diving – (i) how to clear the face mask in case water trickles in (ii) how to carefully place the regulator back in the mouth in case it falls off.
They demonstrated these skills to us and asked us to follow. Once we were comfortable, we went further ahead and began the dive. This was called the house reef dive and it was stunning. As we moved inside this beautiful world we observed the infinite number of fish swim by us. We were amidst innumerable colors, species and sizes of fish, turtles, corals etc. and we couldn’t get enough of them. We continued to move ahead, holding on to our trainers and following them uninhibitedly. The next forty minutes passed by very quickly and we were soon back to the shore. We did snorkeling for a short while and swam back to end the dive for the day.
The next three days started early with enjoying the sun on our sun bathing chairs, sometimes accompanied with a cup of coffee. Nitin and I enjoyed spending time on these relaxing chairs for hours, without feeling the need to talk and just experiencing the beauty of this paradise with each other and being lost in beautiful thoughts. While I would sit longer at the beach and watch the locals do their chore of fishing early in the morning, Nitin would walk around, explore the place and experiment with his new camera. We chose the morning dives instead of noon to get clear visibility underwater. On our next dive, the focus was on improving the two skills before we began the dive. We continued with the dive after a few trials of the skills.
The next two dives were boat dives wherein we were taken to a reef in mid sea by a boat and had to jump into the water with our equipment on. We were very excited about this boat dive and thoroughly enjoyed it. Our instructors jumped in first and we followed. These dives were even more beautiful, fun and exciting and it exposed us to different areas of the sea. While I was underwater, I had left everything behind and was just enjoying each moment spent in this magical marine world, feeling as a free fish myself.
No limits, no inhibitions, no judgement, just pure bliss. My mind was blank, without any thoughts and my smile knew no end. Our instructors made sure we were extremely comfortable and did a regular check during the dive to ensure everything was okay. Soon after the boat dive we would climb back on the boat with the help of a small ladder and go straight to the upper deck to soak some sun and cherish the beautiful moments spent under water.
Each day after the dive we would have lunch in a restaurant called “FOOD” nearby – again with veg rice being the only vegetarian meal option here. After lunch we would walk to the other beaches and continue exploring the island. On one of the days we chose to have lunch at another cafe called “Amore” which was further away and had a good number of vegetarian options like pizza, pasta, nachos etc. Our evenings would be a combination of some time spent with our dive center friends and enjoying the local colorful market set up in Guraidhoo on the shore. It was a spectacular scene to see the transformation of a place from a sunny plain land in the morning to a bustling market in the evening.
On the third day of our stay, we walked to a beach called ‘Bikini Beach” that was named so, since earlier foreigners were not allowed to wear bikinis on all public beaches with this one as an exception. However, things are different now. The locals are tolerant to different kinds of dressing, but I would say it is good to respect the culture of the place while you stay there and follow certain norms that are expected out of tourists.
After spending four days of complete bliss here in Guraidhoo, it was time to bid goodbye to Guraidhoo for a day and move ahead to Olhuveli – an entire island turned into a huge resort. While we were leaving Guraidhoo a gracious and gentle Lady with whom we exchanged smiles and a few words while we walked to our dive center each day, walked to us with a broad smile and handed two tiny glass bottles of sea shells and the word “Maldives” painted on it. While handing it to us she said – “Present for you”. I was so touched by this kind gesture that my love for this beautiful island grew stronger.
OLHUVELI:
Shahute arranged a speed boat for us from Guraidhoo and within 15 minutes we reached Olhuveli. The resorts generally arrange the transfers, but our dive center got it arranged for us for one-fourth the price that the resort charged. As we stepped out of our speed boat we had one of the resort representative greet us and walk us to the resort area, that was across a beautiful bridge which looked even more beautiful at night with a perfect sequence of lights. The resort was spread across the entire island and as we reached the reception we were welcomed with a refreshing drink. One of their staff – Aisham brought a buggy to take us to our room – Beach villa with a private pool. Of course, it sounded very fancy, but it looked much more than just “fancy”. We were awestruck when we entered the room. The room had a large seating area in the restroom, a big living room, a dressing room, two dining areas – one attached to the room and another by the pool, and a beautiful private pool 😊.
I jumped with joy and Nitin couldn’t wait any longer to get into the pool. We spent the next 4 hours alternating between the pool, beach and sun bathing chairs. It was an amazing experience and we couldn’t get enough of it. Nitin used his new camera in the pool and also captured the most beautiful sunset, while I enjoyed spending ”me” time on the sun-bathing chairs, watching the sunset. After sunset we finally decided to get out of water and take a stroll in the resort. We checked the different kinds of rooms the resort had, just to realize that we probably had chosen the best room. We enjoyed sitting at the “Manta View Point” which was a big wooden plank with two sofas and two flood lights to attract plankton and Manta rays, which feed on the plankton. We then explored some more of the resort, walked back to the room and called it a day.
The next morning we woke up just in time for breakfast with a spectacular view right from the bed.
The breakfast here was a huge feast and served people with delicacies from multiple geographic areas. A large spread with numerous choices and great taste. Specially after the basic breakfast we had been eating at the local islands this was a huge contrast and we enjoyed it undeniably. Soon after breakfast I spent some time on the swing in the reception area and Nitin chose to head to our private pool. An hour later, our speed boat had arrived to take us back to Guraidhoo. We chose to go back to Guraidhoo instead of checking in to our hotel in Hulhumale, as we wanted to spend the last few hours with our friends from Manta Divers - Shatute, Samee, Eddy and Mary. As our speed boat arrived at Guraidhoo, a comforting feeling of getting back home embraced us and were welcomed with smiling faces at the dive center. We spent the next 4 hours relaxing in the dive center while most of them went for prayers as it was Friday. Once they returned, we went to “FOOD” for a coffee and spent an hour talking, laughing and cherishing the last few hours together.
It was time to say good bye to Guraidhoo (Of course, we did not want to!). A speed boat was arranged to take us to Maafushi (another local island known for water sports) from where we were to board another boat to Male. We had to reach Male on the previous day of our flight as we had a morning flight back to India. However, we decided to stay in Hulhumale again and the next morning after breakfast we took a bus to the airport from the main stop at Hulhumale. After our check-in and immigration formalities, and just outside the boarding area, we enjoyed delicious ice cream from Dairy queen, post which we boarded the airplane. The satisfaction and fulfillment of a wonderful holiday couldn’t be better than what we were experiencing on our return journey. I captured a few last pictures of the island as our airplane took off and bagged beautiful memories back home with us.
FEW SUGGESTIONS:
Carry a spare phone or a phone with dual sim as it’s a good option to buy a local sim instead of availing international roaming.
If you have an extra day, take a ferry ($2/150 minutes) from Male to Guraidhoo, reach by evening and start diving from next morning. This can be an economic alternative to speed boat transfer ($25/35-40 minutes).
The restaurants here include service charge in the bill and hence an additional tip is not mandatory.
Flight booking – choose an onward flight that gets you to Maldives in the morning (you can take a sea plane/speedboat/ferry from airport to the island you are staying at) and a return flight that starts from Maldives in the noon (on the day of your return you can reach airport directly from the your island). This way the stay at Male or Hulhumale can be avoided.
The butter in most of the hotels in local islands is unsalted, in case you don’t like it, carry your own!
If you are a vegetarian, most of the small – medium sized hotels have bread, unsalted butter, jam, fruits and a fruity drink for breakfast and hence would suggest carrying some instant veg food. However, non-vegetarians have few more options.
I would recommend scuba diving with Manta Divers for a wonderful experience in terms of hospitality, expertise, safety, professionalism and an overall blissful experience. You can also do a certificate course (open water diver) in scuba diving if you are staying for four-five days.
At the Olhuveli resort, I would recommend choosing rooms facing the beach and with a private pool (Beach Villa with a private pool) instead of the water villa as these rooms offer more privacy, are more spacious and are newly added to the property.
Make sure you grab a Blizzard of your choice - yummy ice cream at an ice cream parlor called Dairy Queen at the airport.
Most importantly, leave everything aside and enjoy every moment you spend in this paradise to experience eternal bliss.
