Maldives

Well deserved vacation is here. Unfortunately, I have only four days reserved for my boyfriend, so we go “only” somewhere close to Abu Dhabi, “only” to Maldives!

DAY 1.

At Abu Dhabi airport we meet early in the morning and after four hours of flight we arrive to the capital, on the main island Male. The trip does not start the best, because my boyfriend is tired and therefore irritated, and moreover, it’s raining. Funny is that Maldives is actually country consisting of many small islands, with some of them so small that they all are occupied by a single resort. Public transport would be useless here, from the island to the island you can get only by the boat. And this water transport is often the most expensive item of all your holiday! Charges apply (if it’s not included in your hotel package) per person in dollars, and if your resort is located on a distant island, you will pay a at least four hundred dollars, and only for one way! Therefore I was forced to choose a resort not so far from the airport. We could not afford a typical water villa, but still we are more than satisfied with our accommodation choice. At the airport, we find a stall with the name of our resort, where we are already expected and the boat is waiting for us. Our Bandos Island Resort is one of those that occupies the entire island. There is nothing else than resort villas and sharks on the island. 🙂 The staff of the resort welcome us with a refreshing towel and a welcome drink and accommodate us in a lovely cottage by the pool. The weather is getting better and so does my boyfriend. We have to check our beach first, and I’m telling you, it’s just as beautiful as on posters! After beach we are having some cocktails by the pool, and when we start to feel hungry, we go back to our villa to get ready for a dinner. We pick the restaurant with the sitting on a pier. And while we are waiting for our orders, I suddenly scream: “Oh, my gosh, there are like 30 sharks down there!” Small but also large, their silhouette is well known to me. Maldives are a quiet Muslim country where nightlife works only within the resorts. There is some small party going on in one bar, but hard to talk about busy nightlife. After all, the Maldives are not here for partying, but to enjoy each other…

DAY 2.

I get up quite late next morning, but still catching our breakfast, while my Abdullah is still in bed. I know very well how he does not like to be waken-up. When I come back from breakfast, Abdul is, thanksgod, up, so we can go to the beach together. Weather is beautiful from the very morning. We can spend all day on the beach and by the pool. It’s really a paradise. Afternoon we rent some snorkeling equipments. The diving center employee explains to us, where we can swim and which places we should avoid due to motorboats. Abdul asks him about the sharks we saw yesterday. “Do not worry, they do not bite,” he replies laughing. I’m excited about snorkeling! Under the water, there is a completely different world! Never in my life I have seen so many different kinds of creatures! I swim further and further from the shore following one purple fish when all of sudden I meet one shark only few steps from me! At least two meters long shark! Bite or don’t bite, I’m not going to risk, so I swim immediately the fastest way back to the coast. Uff, I was so scared! Later I’m telling my story to my boyfriend. But I shouldn’t have! He doesn’t want to go snorkeling anymore. 🙂 So we just sit on the beach and watch the sunset. The sky has incredible colors, like in Disney’s cartoon stories. Nobody will believe us, that we are not using filter when taking pictures!

DAY 3.

In the morning next day it looks like a storm, so it’s not easy to ditch our bed. Fortunately we are allowed check-out later. Until then, we can spend one more hour by the pool. Later on, we are heading back to Male. In order not to spend all our savings, we have to change the location. My friend recommended me one Alaka Guest House on Mafushi Island. Guest House is the right solution for those who can not afford the 5-star luxury resort, but still would like to visit Maldives. These small accommodation simply make Maldives more accessible to ordinary people. I have to say that I have only a good experience with them. Their owners care very well about their guests, the accommodation is clean and nicely furnished. From Male to Mafushi we take a ferry, local public water transport. 🙂 Mafushi is a very simple fisherman’s village, where locals live in peace and harmony. However, there are also a few smaller hotels and guesthouses for tourists. Abdul looks frightened. Compared to luxury resorts, this island looks quite shabby. But I fell in love at first sight. Everything looks so authentic and friendly here. We are staying in a small cozy room, welcome drinks are waiting for us on the table. Three young, good-looking boys who are in charge of the guesthouse, look exactly how I picture people who spend their whole life by the sea – diving, surfing, fishing. Our guest house is situated exactly between two beaches. After 15 minutes of walking to the left, there is a beach for the tourists, while after 15 minutes walk to the right you get to the local public beach. Both are beautiful, just you cannot wear bikini on public beach, but some loose clothing, such as boyfriend t-shirt. I recommend to try local coconut water and home made bounty bar. Yummy! Sky, sand, sea and all the colors look the same as in luxurious resort. 🙂 Later we listened to our hosts and rent some bikes for small tour de island. From a rich selection of parked bicycles I pick the most romantic one – pink with a basket and a bell. We cycle around, stopping at the souvenir shop. Old man from the store with very kind face, a simple fisherman, get us with his sincerity. He asks my boyfriend where he come from. “Saudi Arabia? You guys only fight. I’m 100 percent Muslim. Real Muslim don’t fight… “

DAY 4.

The morning starts with a small fight, because Abdullah traditionally doesn’t want to get out of the bed. Our hosts are taking us on a trip to the sea, and I don’t like to let anyone wait. At breakfast I can see the rest of the guests – a Dutch couple on their journey around the world, two girl friends from Indonesia and one other guy, I do not know where he is from, but he is still writing something on his laptop. Besides the writing guy, all go for trip with us. Fortunately, our nice hosts don’t seem to be in rush and like to smoke weed same like my boyfriend. So my boyfriend has found his new friends and suddenly begins to love the place. About half past ten, we are already packing things on the boat and heading to the most beautiful coral reefs. We are snorkeling all morning. I really enjoy it, we’ve even seen a turtle! In the afternoon, the storm suddenly comes, and so we are waiting on the boat, hugging each other to get warmer. Fortunately, soon the storm is over and sun is shining again. We get to the deserted island, where our hosts are preparing a lunch for us, while we are still getting warmer on the beach. It would be an ideal afternoon if mosquitoes weren’t trying to eat me alive! I do not know why I’m the only one they attack. Repellents don’t work. After the lunch I’m getting nervous, because we are in the middle of nowhere, at 4pm our ferry leaves to the airport and we need to get our flight back to Abu Dhabi, but our hosts are still not rushing. Later I see that my stress was unnecessary, we came back on time, I even have time for the warm shower! These people probably belong to those who do not have watches like us, but they have time. 🙂

Tips for lower budget travelers:

Buy the ticket in off season 

Guest House accommodation (about $ 60 per night)

Ferry transport instead of private motor boat (about $ 20 per person)