Last week we headed to Maldives! Yeah Baby!
We headed out bright and early to the airport, after a sneaky subway breakfast of champions we headed to KL for a 2hr stopover then set off to the Maldives. The Airport is on its own little island, so once we arrived we headed to the ferry to take us across to Male - the capital of Maldives. It's amazing how many people you can fit onto one island! That place is jam packed with people, cars and scooters - why they needs cars, I dunno know - the island is so tiny you can just walk everywhere! We stayed in the LVIS Hotel near the centre of Male, it was pretty basic but had just what we needed after a long flight, comfy-ish bed, warm shower, air con, free bottled water and a warm welcome from the biggest cockroach we have ever seen! Hehe!
The Ferry was packed with people, TVs, fresh fruit and boxes filled with island supplies. It took 1.5hrs from Male to get to Maafushi - you can get a speedboat for triple the price that takes 35 min, but we weren't in a rush and the scenery along the way was just gorgeous!
Maafushi is one of the most popular local islands for tourists, it has so much character and definitely a little gem in the ocean. It's all of 1.2 km long and has a population of 2000 (800 of which are safely tucked away in the Maafushi Maximum Security Prison -Political prisoners only so it's quite safe!)
We stayed at Stingray Beach Inn - I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to visit Maafushi! It's a cute little guesthouse that's close to the beach, offers amazing tours and snorkeling trips, has an awesome little restaurant (amazing brekkie served!), hot-tub, comfy room, loads of movie channels and a parrot that says 'Hello' to you all day. Once settled in, we headed straight to 'Bikini Beach' (the designated beach for tourists wanting to sport a bikini!) to soak up some rays. The beach was white and the sea was a hundred of shades of blue...just stunning! Chill time had commenced!
On the first day, after an amazing breakfast at Stingers, we set out for a half day snorkeling trip. Once fitted with our snorkelling gear, flippers and a kiddies life-jacket for me, we set out to Banana Reef to look for Turtles and Sting-Rays... which we saw! I was a little stressed out when I launched myself off the boat- firstly i don't like getting my head wet and whenever I'm in the sea and my feet can't touch the ground the JAWS soundtrack plays in my head...panic! Once Kev calmed me down and the instructor assured me that there was no sharks in sight i put on the goggles, shoved in the snorkel and poked my head underwater for a sneaky peak! OMG... it was just amazing! the colours, the fish, the coral... then Mr Sting-ray made an appearance, followed by the Turtle dude! We saw everything apart from Nemo!
Kev help my hand the whole time.
Maldives is made up of 1190 Islands, 188 which are inhabited. It's somewhere I have always wanted to go but never in a million years thought I'd actually be lucky enough to visit. But, as we are living in Bangers, and it's easier to get therE from this side of the world... we thought 'why not'! So Kev got busy looking and booking and off we set for our Magical Maldives adventure!
Trip of a lifetime!
We headed out bright and early to the airport, after a sneaky subway breakfast of champions we headed to KL for a 2hr stopover then set off to the Maldives. The Airport is on its own little island, so once we arrived we headed to the ferry to take us across to Male - the capital of Maldives. It's amazing how many people you can fit onto one island! That place is jam packed with people, cars and scooters - why they needs cars, I dunno know - the island is so tiny you can just walk everywhere! We stayed in the LVIS Hotel near the centre of Male, it was pretty basic but had just what we needed after a long flight, comfy-ish bed, warm shower, air con, free bottled water and a warm welcome from the biggest cockroach we have ever seen! Hehe!
After a bad night's sleep (wondering if the roches buddy would sneak into bed with us) we checked out the capital before setting off to Maafushi Island. We hit the Local Market, Fish Market and the Old President Palace...I made sure not to blink in case I missed anything. After a few photo snaps and strange looks from the locals (not many tourists visit Male!), we headed back to the Hotel to collect our bags, say toodles to 'le coca rocha' and headed to the Ferry Terminal to get our tickets .
The Ferry was packed with people, TVs, fresh fruit and boxes filled with island supplies. It took 1.5hrs from Male to get to Maafushi - you can get a speedboat for triple the price that takes 35 min, but we weren't in a rush and the scenery along the way was just gorgeous!Maafushi is one of the most popular local islands for tourists, it has so much character and definitely a little gem in the ocean. It's all of 1.2 km long and has a population of 2000 (800 of which are safely tucked away in the Maafushi Maximum Security Prison -Political prisoners only so it's quite safe!)
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We stayed at Stingray Beach Inn - I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to visit Maafushi! It's a cute little guesthouse that's close to the beach, offers amazing tours and snorkeling trips, has an awesome little restaurant (amazing brekkie served!), hot-tub, comfy room, loads of movie channels and a parrot that says 'Hello' to you all day. Once settled in, we headed straight to 'Bikini Beach' (the designated beach for tourists wanting to sport a bikini!) to soak up some rays. The beach was white and the sea was a hundred of shades of blue...just stunning! Chill time had commenced!On the first day, after an amazing breakfast at Stingers, we set out for a half day snorkeling trip. Once fitted with our snorkelling gear, flippers and a kiddies life-jacket for me, we set out to Banana Reef to look for Turtles and Sting-Rays... which we saw! I was a little stressed out when I launched myself off the boat- firstly i don't like getting my head wet and whenever I'm in the sea and my feet can't touch the ground the JAWS soundtrack plays in my head...panic! Once Kev calmed me down and the instructor assured me that there was no sharks in sight i put on the goggles, shoved in the snorkel and poked my head underwater for a sneaky peak! OMG... it was just amazing! the colours, the fish, the coral... then Mr Sting-ray made an appearance, followed by the Turtle dude! We saw everything apart from Nemo!
Kev help my hand the whole time.
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After snorkel central we headed to 'Picnic Island' - a tiny island in the middle of nowhere that just has sand and a few bushes...stunning! At this point tho - the rain had arrived and it wasn't giving up! We were supposed to have lunch on the Island, but ended up chowing it on the boat (noodles with some unidentified meat) then had a quick swim and pics on the island. On the way back we got soaked! It rained and rained and rained...after what seemed like the longest journey ever... we eventually got back to Stingers... soaked.
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| Evening Entertainment! |
On day 2, we decided to tour Maafushi Island on bike! It was super fun cycling around, but after 10 minutes, exhaustion set in and my butt hurt! So we returned the bikes, put on the sun cream, set up our beach towels in a prime spot on 'Bikini Beach' and chilled! Swam for a bit. Tanned. Then chilled some more. I love island life!
That evening we head to the 'Naughty Boat'.
Maldives is a Dry Country... even in the midst of a major downpour...alcohol is prohibited unless you are staying at a resort. You can buy non-alcoholic beer and wine in the stores, but if you're after something more exciting...you wanna head to the 'Naughty Boat'! It's a floating boat that hangs around outside Maafushi, they send the speedboat to collect you and voila... Once there, you sign yourself in and head to the top where you can order exciting sundowners at extortionate prices! Seriously $20 for 2 little drinks!! We made them last while we watched the dolphins swim past (see- they even know the boat to be at!) chatted to fellow tourists and watched the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen!
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| Sundowner Sunset! |
The next morning we woke up to the most glorious sunny weather so we booked up for the snorkel tour and set off for round 2! This time we headed out to Turtle Reef and it didn't disappoint! We saw fish galore, coral reefs, a turtle dude and dolphins! They surrounded out boat and showed off with a few flick-flacks! I wanted to jump in and swim with them (Hayley the Dolphin Whisperer!) but the guide told us they can get quite aggressive!
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After a quick shower to get the sand out my hair and ears, and have our last delicious meal at Stinger s cafe, we headed to the airport...speedboat style! I was super sad leaving my beloved Maafushi behind. It really was such an amazing holiday and i can't believe how lucky we are to have visited one of the most beautiful places in the world! I hold a very special place in my heart for the Maldives, and have a very special place on my dresser for the hermit shell I stole from the beach!
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| kill nothing but time leave nothing but footprints take nothing but pictures |
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