Our time cruising the Maldives is over! We entered the country on March 27th, 2019 and left May 22, 2019, for a total of 56 days cruising from north to south. Snorkeling & Diving With the exception of the megafauna (whale sharks and manta rays), the underwater life in the Maldives was very disappointing. There…
After eight weeks in the Maldives, I can easily say Dhigurah Island in the southern part of Ari Atoll was my favorite stop. What made it so wonderful? It’s a little bit of all the best in the Maldives. Tourism in the Maldives is HUGE, but much of it is private island resorts. There are…
Despite trying to swim with whale sharks in Ningaloo, and actively looking for them while sailing up Southeast Asia, I never managed to get a swim in with these amazing animals. While, yes, technically I did swim with one in the Maldives, it wasn’t quite the experience I was hoping for. In Ari Atoll, whale sharks…
It all started with a little congestion in my ear. I first noticed it while snorkeling off Rasfari Island with our friends on Slow Flight. We were looking for the manta ray cleaning station that was supposedly in this area. I didn’t feel the pain until I tried to dive down and discovered my ear…
The Maldives may be known for its beautiful water and luxury resorts, but there are still pockets of important Maldivian culture to be found if you know where to look. We found one of these on Thulhaadhoo Island, a small part of the Baa Atoll in the northwest Maldives. Trade with mainland Asia, and China specifically,…
A small atoll in the Maldives named Dholhiyadhoo was set to be the home of a new, luxury resort in the Maldives from the same company that built the Zitahli Kuda-Funafaru Maldives. The project was slated to be finished with a grand opening in 2011. However, someone defaulted on the loan, and this year the property was finally…
Most of the tourism in the Maldives is all-inclusive resorts or liveaboard dive boats. There are definitely some benefits of the tourism industry here, such as the government requiring resorts to employ a certain percentage of locals or the tourism industry boosting the economy. The Maldives went from being one of the twenty poorest countries…
We arrived in the Maldives from Trincomalee, Sri Lanka after five days at sea with spectacular sunsets and a dolphin escort. We were dropping anchor on March 27th, our anniversary! Already, we were stunned by the beauty of these atolls, and excited to be spending 6-8 weeks in the Maldives. Anchoring in Uligamu Anchoring in…