🇲🇻 Maldives

On November 5 we took the ferry to Gulhi, an island nearby. We met Cristina and Alicia on the ferry and when we got to Gulhi we met Irene and Lara. We spent the day by the beach and snorkelling in the area. The beach in Gulhi island is beautiful, just like the ones you will on the magazines that promote the Maldives. The snorkelling was very nice, we found a school of 8 baby squid which did not want to go away.

In the afternoon we went for a walk around the island where we talked to locals and took some nice pictures. The people in Gulhi are very welcoming and friendly.

We returned to Maafushi in the late afternoon.

On November 6 we went diving. The first diving spot was Kandooma Thila, a place infested with sharks, snappers, eagle rays, barracudas and anything else one can imagine. We descended to 30m and with the help of a hook stayed there like in an aquarium, watching sharks play with the strong current. It was honestly overwhelming to see so many marine life all at once, you do not know where to look; everywhere is nice and full of action. We then went to 26m and stay there again with the help of a hook due to the strong current. Here we saw the eagle rays and the school of snappers.

The dive continue along the Thila with more action along the way. What a beautiful dive!

The second dive was at Guraidhoo Corner. It was a nice dive as well but could not match the action of the previous one. We did see a beautiful coral reef at 6m and lots of colourful fish around.

The rest of the afternoon we took it easy.

On November 7 we got a visit from Alicia and went to the beach where we spent the morning. We went snorkelling but the water was infested with jellyfish… we were bitten so badly that had to leave the water.  We then went for a walk around the island.

Around 1:30pm we headed to the shark nursery area, a place where lots of baby sharks take shelter from predators. They swim peacefully and graciously very close to the beach. We got great videos of them passing by.

In the evening we went for a night dive. This was an amazing experience. The colours underwater with a light look much different that what you see during a day dive. The dive is a shallow dive, only 16m deep but we inspected a good portion of the reef looking for all sort of creatures. Look at the pictures for some of the marine life we found.

November 8 was our last day in the Maldives. In the morning we went to the beach and spent several hours just relaxing. By lunch time we went to the shark nursery and again the baby sharks were there but could not find them.

At 5:00pm we took the speedboat directly to the airport for our flight to our next destination… Taiwan!

We had an amazing time in the Maldives. This muslim country has found a way to open up its doors to “independent travellers” as they call us; people that cannot pay the expensive resorts but still want to visit and enjoy such a beautiful paradise. They have created an infrastructure of small hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, water sports and diving tailored to budget travellers. They have also designed “bikini beaches” where people can enjoy the sea in bikini and not fully clothed. Of course it is important to be respectful of their culture by dressing appropriately when not on bikini beach.

We arrived in Guraidhoo at 6:00pm last night. Again, the hotel staff was waiting for us by the ferry terminal to collect our bags and direct us to the hotel. We checking in to a small hotel, only 4 rooms, but the cleanest and nicest hotel so far in the Maldives. Solih, the owner, and the staff are very friendly and helpful.

On November 2 we went snorkelling and due to strong current ended up on a resort in the island in front of Guraidhoo. We walked around the resort for a little bit and then worked on a plan to swim back to Guraidhoo. We walked to an area where we jumped in the water and used the current to swim diagonally. It was hard work but made it safely across.

While having lunch we met Lara and Irene, two Spanish girls also staying in Guraidhoo.

On November 3 we went snorkelling in bikini beach where we saw a school of rays. After snorkelling we met Carolina, Cristina and Alicia, 3 more Spanish girls that had just arrived in Guraidhoo. In the afternoon we went to have lunch with all of them.

There is not much to do in Guraidhoo so we met again with our Spanish friends for dinner.

On November 4 we left Guraidhoo at 7:00am. We arrived in Maafushi at 7:30am, our last stop in the Maldives trip.

Of course the hotel had somebody waiting for us by the ferry upon arrival in Maafushi. He picked up our bags and directed us to the hotel. We cheked in, took a shower and spent the day walking around the island and getting information about diving.

We left Kuala Lumpur in the evening of October 24 on our way to Maldives. We arrived in Male at 8:00pm. Since we are staying in Hulumale, we arranged a pick up by the hotel we will be staying. We met with the driver at the airport and headed to the hotel for check-in. After check in we went straight to bed.

On October 25 we took the local ferry from Hulumale to Male, the capital of the Maldives. We walked around the city until we found the local market and the fish market. There was a lot of things happening in the area, the fisherman come with boats full of fish to sell to the locals; they also sell them at the fish market where you can have the fish clean and fillet. The skills of the guys filleting the fish are amazing, they can convert a 45Kg tuna into several fillets in 5 minutes… what the video filleting a small tuna!

After the market we headed to visit the Islamic Centre and Friday Mosque. We met a local guy who showed us a nice restaurant for lunch… after taking us to a souvenir shop where we did not buy anything.

After lunch we headed to the National museum. There is a nice collection of artefacts found through the Maldives, as well as things like the first generator used in Male.

We then walked to the ferry terminal to find out the schedule for the local ferry going to Rasdhoo, the first island we will be visiting. We crossed the island on foot, which took just over 20 minutes. Unfortunately there is no other way to get that information, even the info online is wrong so we needed to be sure.  After getting the information in the ferry terminal we visited the Tsunami Monument, a memorial for all the victims of the 2004 tsunami.

After a lot of walking around the city, dealing with lots of motorcycles driving like crazy (well, not as much as in Vietnam) we took the ferry back to the hotel.

It was a good experience to see Male, however it is just another busy city. It does not have too much to see or do, other than the fish market, the mosque and the museum there is nothing else.