Maldives

I have a new favorite geographical formation--the atoll.  In April, when the in-law's were here for a visit, we spent some time over the Easter holiday in the Maldives.  A sprinkling of atolls out in the middle of nowhere Indian Ocean, southwest of the tip of India.  Atolls are sunken volcanoes with coral reefs built up around them, which form these rings of small islands.

 

The whole country is just these wisps of land peeking out of the water and shallow lagoons of white sand just below the surface.  The photo is of Male, the capital and where we flew into, and it just looks like the city is about to sink into the ocean.  Which it probably will due to global warming considering the highest point in the whole country is 8 feet above sea level.

Not my pic, the internet's.

The view out the window was amazing, though the wing blocking it was not.

We landed in Male (pronounced MA-lay and supposed to have an accent mark over it, but I don't know how to do that with this keyboard), and when you walk out the front door of the airport, instead of a taxi stand, there is a boat stand with boats waiting to take you out to your various islands.

 

It was a 45 minute ride out to paradise.  This is the view of the over-water bungalows as we pulled up to our resort.  The water here is so clear and amazing.

The handsome Maldivian men greeted us upon arrival.

We wasted no time getting out to the beach.  Well, first you check in and pay your bill in advance (like ripping the bandaid off, get it over with, and then the view makes you forget about it).

This shot of Paul doing the backfloat would have been amazing if I had gotten the three foot wide feather tail stingray in it that swam over to check Paul out.  Paul couldn't hear me since his ears were under water so he missed seeing it and I was too busy watching it to get the camera out fast enough, but it was pretty cool.

I loved this hammock that you could swim or walk out to.  The kids and I went out during high tide, so mostly swimming to get there, and it wasn't very relaxing because all they wanted to do was try flip it to toss us off.

Here's a tour of our bungalow area-- out front on the beach with the hedges hiding the bungalows from view for privacy (and keeping the island looking more deserted)...

Then through the short path from the beach to our patio...

I didn't take a pic of the sleeping area, but here is the big outdoor bathroom that the kids loved.  No one minds taking a shower when it's outside.

Butt has been blurred to protect the innocent. No one tell PE this pic is on the internet. I couldn't resist. 

Here's the walk out to the over-water bungalow that Daddy Paul and Di-Di stayed in. 

View from their deck, and their open air bathroom had a window to look down to the water at the foot of the toilet so the sea view would never be far.

 

Down at the end of the bungalow pathway was a water path to a tiny island with a tiny bar.  We walked/swam out, which was more strenuous than we thought because of the currents.

   
The infinity edge pool also made for a nice continuous view with the ocean.

Love this one of the kids hanging out at the edge of the pool as the sun goes down.

The three hour time difference from HK meant sleepy kids at dinner time...

In addition to the hammocks, there were a couple of water swing sets that were fun.

And the kids enjoyed activities like this water sledding thing, which you could buy, but no thanks.  That's too much exercise for me, only if I can bring a Maldivian resort guy home to pull my kids around on it.
   

Most of the time was spent relaxing and just enjoying the different views around the island.

We did an excursion one day to go snorkeling with a group.  We had considered also going on a dolphin watching tour, but ended up getting a two-for-one since we had a large pod of them meet up with our boat on the way to the snorkeling spot.  In a video I took I counted about 25-30, though my pictures don't capture much.   

With the super clear water you could see them even far under the surface as they were swimming around, so neat.

The snorkel trip was out at the edge of a reef.  Everyone is suited up and ready to go!

The snorkeling was great and it was a nice spot where we had a combination of super shallow and also then the steep and deep edge of the reef.  We spotted nemo, dory, tons of other fish, pretty coral, giant clams, so many pretty things.  The kids loved it and Esme held her own for almost the whole hour (totally opposite from me at that age, no fear of the water or creatures).  We sunned ourselves on the top deck on the way back.

Sunset before dinner on our last night.  Esme was in charge of the camera.

They get along every once in a while.

 And then it was time, sadly, to say goodbye.  I'd love to come back some day.  This place is pretty special. 



Pressing my nose against the window for as long as possible...