Maldives - Seas of Life

To date, my one and only visit to the Maldives had been in August 2014. During that trip, I had stayed in one of the locally inhabited island of Mahibadhoo. Accommodation was booked via AirBnB and everything about the stay was no frills right down to the prices. It was a great experience to be able to live amongst and to interact with the local people on a day-to-day basis, even if this is only for that few days of a short vacation trip. Such experiences can not be replicated if one chose to stay cocooned in an expensive and sanitized tourist island in the Maldives.

During my visit, I was not confined to just the island of Mahibadhoo. I also got to experience visiting other smaller islands as well, both inhabited and uninhabited. Getting to some of the sand banks that appeared or disappeared with the coming and going of the tides were extremely awesome experiences.

I will return to the Maldives again because I generally love the sea and everything about the Maldives has to do with the sea.

View of some Maldivian islands from the plane, Malé, Maldives (2014)

Island view on a sunny day, Mahibadhoo, Maldives (2014)

History and Geography 

Malé is the capital of the Maldives and its most populous city. Like the rest of the Maldives, Malé is basically a coral island. The country as a whole is made up of about 1,192 coral islands, most of which are grouped as atolls. There are a total of 26 atolls and all the islands of the Maldives are spread over an area of almost 90,000 square kilometres of the Indian Ocean. 

Geographically, the closest neighbours to the Maldives are India and Sri Lanka, both of these countries being located towards the north-east of the island chain.

Historically, the people of the Maldives have always depended on the seas to sustain them. Fishing and sea trade were and, in most cases, are still a way of life for many islanders. Even the mainstay of today's Maldivian economy which is tourism, is mostly a result of the pristine clear waters and amazing coral reefs that the many islands of the Maldives offer which is not readily available anywhere else in the world. For these reasons, I had dreamily crafted the term "seas of life" to describe the Maldives and its waters as I sat alone with a book on a beach in Mahibadhoo beneath coconut trees swaying gently in the evening winds.

Boats are an important part of an islander's life, Mahibadhoo, Maldives (2014)

Climate

Due to its geographical location, the Maldives has a tropical monsoon climate. Daily temperatures are relatively constant throughout the year, ranging from as high as 30°C (about 86°F)  in the daytimes to as low as 25°C (about 77°F) in the nights.

Rains are likely to be scattered. Due to the small land mass of each coral island, most rains are usually experienced as passing showers as the rain clouds swept across the area. Longer lasting tropical storms can however wreck havoc on travel plans especially if one is planning on travelling by small boats from one coral island to another either for sightseeing or to catch a flight. Most small boats used for short sea trips are unable to handle the higher sea state conditions that usually accompany sustained tropical storms and travellers may find themselves stranded until the sea conditions improve. I personally had a first hand experience of being stranded as a tropical storm disrupted my original plan to travel by boat from Mahidbadhoo to Male to catch my flight home.

Getting There

The Maldives is fairly well connected by air transportation. Direct flights from many Asian cities to Male are available and travellers will be spoilt for choice in choosing which airlines to fly with on their visits to the Maldives.

From Malé  it is a simple matter of catching boat rides to the island of one's preferred destination. Most resort islands offer their own boat transfers for their guests while slow ferries plough routes between Malé and the locally inhabited islands on a regular basis. Fares are low on these regular ferries but the journeys also do take much longer times, some trips may take as long as up to 4 hours depending on your destination island.

For the well-heeled traveler, traveling by domestic flight between Malé and some of the islands is an additional option. Villa Air operates some domestic flight routes between Malé and some of the larger islands while charted flights via Sea Planes to some island destinations are also widely advertised at Male Airport.

Travelers transferring by boat to the islands of their destinations on arrival, Malé, Maldives (2014)

Small boats use for transferring travelers between Male and the smaller islands, Malé, Maldives (2014)

Advertising for Sea Plane transfers, Malé, Maldives (2014)

What to Expect

If you are heading for one of the tourists resorts, you can expect lots of white sand beaches complete with azure-coloured sea waters that are lively with colourful coral fishes swimming just meters away as you perched yourself on the balcony or deck of a cool sea villa, clad in nothing but your bathing suits. Go snorkelling or diving to enjoy the full beauty of Mother Nature at your doorsteps. Or simply relax and rejuvenate your tired body with that therapeutic spa at the resort.

White sand beach, Maldives (2014)

Underwater photo taken with a Go-Pro camera, Maldives (2014)

If you are staying in one of the locally inhabited islands, you can expect no-frills living conditions, eating what the locals eat and spending lazy days wandering around the islands. Sip a coffee at one of the small local eateries while watching local fishermen returning from the seas after a hard day's work. Other perks include being able to observe the innocence of children as they giggled and played barefoot on sandy beaches while their parents went about their daily chores of island life.

Larger commercial fishing boats, Mahibadhoo, Maldives (2014)

A local hawker selling vegetables, Mahibadhoo, Maldives (2014)

See the differences? :-) The Maldives can offer two amazingly different experiences for travelers, each with its pros and cons; both wonderful and enriching. 

Advices and Tips

Visit the Maldives with an open mind and enjoy whatever experiences that come along.

Changing to the local currencies is not usually required unless you are planning for an extended stay in Malé itself. Even though I stayed in a locally inhabited island, I managed to get by for my purchases at the island's provision shops and meals at the local cafes using small denominations of US dollar notes.

If you are staying in a tourist resort, then your credit card should do the trick of paying for almost everything and anything you will ever need at the resort.

When staying in or visiting any of the inhabited islands, remember to dress appropriately or cover up so as to avoid offending the local cultures which are traditionally more conservative.

And if there is only one other travel advice that I may dish out, go easy on the bottled waters; especially those using plastic bottles. The Maldives have a serious landfill problem and the thousands of empty plastic bottles from the bottled waters used by tourists everyday are causing major disposal as well as pollution problems. After all, we are here to enjoy Mother Nature. So why not do Mother Nature a favour and help in conservation efforts? We all can contribute to controlling and limiting pollutions in our own little ways. Reduce, reuse and recycle. Remember these three Rs.

The sun sets after another lovely slow-paced day, Mahibadhoo, Maldives (2014)