TravelFoodCraze

Maldives is a small island nation in South Asia. It is located in the Arabian sea of the Indian Ocean comprising of more than 1000 islands stretching across North to South Atoll down the Equator. Male is the capital city of Maldives with the highest population in its group of islands. Most of the islands are turned into resorts for tourism.

Maldives is known for its pristine white sand beaches. You’ll find the shore in aqua blue colour and when you travel into sea, you will be fascinated by the deep blue sea. When you say sea, it should definitely possess a great coral reef. Yes, Maldives is rich in coral reef in most parts but at a greater extent in its South Atoll down the equator (Addu Atoll). One could be mesmerized by the sight of flora and fauna down the sea. Who could say ‘No’ to visualize the beauty of nature? Maldives is one such for nature lovers. This places feels quite sunny but near the beaches, you’ll feel the cool breeze.

In recent years, Maldives have become the most visited “Honeymoon destination” for couple travellers. But still people of any age from kids to elders can travel for a family trip too. If you are a die-hard beach lover, Maldives must be in your list. As mentioned earlier, most of the Maldives’ islands are turned into resorts covering entire area of each island. When visit Maldives, you have everything in the resort itself at your comfort; Right from accommodation, food, water sport activities and commute from one point to other point (in a large island) will be provided by the resort. The customer service of the resort guys can be well appreciated as they are very fluent in English to satisfy the queries of tourist from different countries..

Resort can be chosen at the convenience of your travel budget. You’ll get the resorts based on the categories of 3, 4 or 5-star resorts. In a 3-star resort, you don’t have private beach at your door step whereas in 4 and 5-star resorts, stepping out of your backdoor, you have sea water touching your feet. One night stay for a room in a 3-star resort with 3time meals would cost an average of 9,000 INR for a couple; the same would cost 15,000 INR in a 4-star; in 5-star resort, it is going to be expensive costing more than 50,000 INR. The prices mentioned are on an average across resorts and it would vary according to the distance of resort commute through air route or sea route since you’ll have less airports here in a much farther scattered island edges. Most important point I would like to mention is that always book 3meals a day while booking your resort in Maldives because you won’t find anything outside the resort neither food nor shopping; the reason is each small island has very less population and the one or two shops you find outside also won’t be open all the time.

Yes, it is there in some islands of Maldives. You’ll find budget hotels at a price of 3,000 INR with some basic amenities but don’t be disappointed seeing no beach just outside your room door. But still you can take a healthy walk to the beach and enjoy relaxing with a beautiful view among other tourists. You should always find the best possible way to enjoy wherever you go.

The National currency of Maldives is ‘Rufia’ but they accept both USD and Rufia in all the resort islands of Maldives. Foreign exchange services don’t have ‘Rufia’ currency and so they charge you more during exchange. You won’t have any expense if you are staying in resorts as you’ll have all the pre-booking done already. Even if you want to take any paid activities in the resort, you can swipe your international debit/credit card in the reception of resort. All the resorts provide currency exchange too by swiping your debit/credit card. So, needn’t worry about currency in Maldives. But for any card transactions, the resort would charge a least 2-3% extra on the bill amount which is a good deal than exchange agencies. The other way to get ‘Rufia’ is to withdraw cash from any ATM machine in Maldives if you are lucky to find one in airport or your island (this is a rare scenario and unreliable too). ATM withdrawal also has bank charges + GST. You can’t estimate the amount of money needed to spend in your resort for drinks or other activities. You may need to take their speed boat to commute from airport to the resort at a chargeable price (on an average of 80 USD per person) and any water sport activities would cost 20 to 60 USD per person. So it’s better to swipe card at the resort than risking carrying money in wallet.

As I mentioned earlier, this Atoll is rich in coral reef and so chose to reach GAN Island on GAN International Airport boarding from Chennai. I filled up the VISA form for visa-on-arrival as Indian passengers have such privilege to get “free visa” in Maldives. Keep your hotel and return flight booking copy with your passport and get Immigration stamped in less than half an hour. When I exit the airport, I got picked up by resort vehicle to reach my resort but it’s actually at a walkable distance from airport.

Yes, I’ve travelled across the Equator in my life. The resort has good spacious room and a decent tasty buffet spread costing 20 to 25 USD (if you haven’t included meals in your booking, you can pay and take in resort). The lagoon is at 20-30 footsteps from the rooms here but you can have fun relaxing on the shore swimming as the lagoon has good depth at the coastal line. I had a comfortable stay at the resort along with water sport activities such as, dolphin watching, snorkeling, etc.

I rented out a bicycle from resort to ride through the Link Road connected to three other small islands. You can go out of resort if you have companions to be safe there since you don’t find much people in island villages. I had a beautiful view on both the sides of the road as it is the bridge in the middle of sea and then island (Feydhoo) and ahead again bridge/Link Road and then island (Maradhoo) and one more the same way comes Hithadoo Island. I was able to ride through first two islands and returned back. I hardly found a shop to buy snacks and an ATM. I didn’t see much people on the road other than few noisy bikers. Make sure for safety always. So, better step out of resort to cover a little distance if you feel like. It’s mandatory to wear clothes below knees if you step on to any village outside resort in Maldives.

I booked for dolphin watching a day earlier in the resort. They took a group of passengers by boat and travelled for more than an hour into the sea in search of dolphins. OMG! The sea was in deep blue colour and it was dazzling to watch. After a long search, there come the dolphins diving in the deep sea. I got to see 100s of dolphins diving and playing very close to our boat too. This is a must-do in the Addu city. It’s time to stay in another island after a pleasant stay and memorable experiences in GAN Island.

I reached GAN airport point to be picked up by resort guys but this time by Speed boat (80 USD per person). There is only sea route from GAN Island to reach the resort. It was a 20-30 minutes ride on the sea at a speed of 60 kmph to reach this beautiful resort. A long wooden bridge amidst the lagoon walks us into the resort entrance. This resort is very long spread and so a battery operated vehicles are used for commute in the resort. They have 100s of Sunrise / Sunset / Jacuzzi villas.

I chose Sunset beach villa as it has lagoon at 10feet from your backdoor and it is crystal clear water without waves. It is quite peaceful to sit and watch sunset resting on the beach chairs. Each villa has much privacy as it is separated by dense trees between each other. In case of Sunrise villa, I got to know through keepers that it has rocky beach on the backyard and swimming is not allowed due to high waves and deep ocean. In Jacuzzi villas, a private outdoor enclosed area features a Jacuzzi for two to soak under the stars along with a sundeck and lounge.

The resort provides numerous water sports like, dolphin cruise, fun tubing, sailing, water skiing, canoeing, wakeboarding, windsurfing, wakeboarding, windsurfing, sea diving, etc. You can explore the entire island and click beautiful photos at the sunset deck which is far from the villas by calling up for resort vehicle. Walk through the nature trail and you’ll encounter a rich tropical flora. You can visit the Chef’s garden which boasts hydroponics technology to ensure optimal growth of herbs and spices. You can also opt for a spa in the resort. You can explore the village island ‘Hulhumeedhoo’ by walk if you wish. There are few local hotels out in the village. But it’s difficult to walk through due to long distance and nothing to do there and be back to resort. I had a different and memorable experience in Maldives than in other tourist places and back home from GAN airport.