Maldives is a bucket list item for Michael. It is an exotic location that garnered many oooohs and aaaahs from people when we said we were going there.
The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, about 470 miles from the mainland of Asia. It is the smallest country in Asia and has a population of about 500,000 people. There are roughly 1,200 islands, but less than 200 islands are populated.
Many people picture private resorts with over-the-water bungalows and think that this must be an expensive destination. It can be. We priced out the resort option. We ultimately decided to stay on local islands and take local transportation. Overall, it was an affordable trip.
We flew from KL to Male, the capital. We spent one night in Male before getting on a local ferry to Maafushi. A speedboat costs $25 per person. The ferry costs $3 per person and it is easy to locate and purchase the tickets.
Maafushi is 16 miles south of Male. The population is about 5,000 people. It takes about two minutes to walk from one side of the island to the other side and about 20 to walk from top to bottom. The south part of the island is a prison, the largest prison in Maldives. We picked the Rehendhi Villa for our stay. It is budget-friendly and very comfortable. The staff met us at the ferry and took our bags for the short walk to the hotel. It has a pool and includes breakfast. We stayed in a large family room with three beds.
We went scuba diving on our first full day at Maafushi. The conditions were rough. The current was strong, and some of us had trouble equalizing. We ended up doing two dives. We saw white-tipped reef sharks, turtles, and so many fish.
The next day we opted for a short snorkel trip to find manta rays. There is a 50/50 chance of seeing them because they do not use bait. The boats communicate with each other and report sightings. We were lucky and were able to see several mantas. They are graceful creatures.
On our last day on Maafushi, we did a half-day snorkel trip where we swam with nurse sharks, snorkeled at a shipwreck, and visited a beautiful sand bar for lunch.
The nurse shark experience was wild. They do use bait to lure the nurse sharks to the boat. Snorkelers are taken in the water two at a time. The guides pulled us through the water and let us go to take photos. The guide let us take family photos. Once we were done we were taken back to the boat. We were told to keep our hands in and not touch the sharks. But the sharks do brush up against you. You get up close and personal with them. It was a humbling
experience to have several nurse sharks circling us. They did not seem bothered by our being there. They swam around and did their own thing.
After swimming with sharks, we saw dolphins on the way to our next snorkel stop, a shipwreck. Spotting dolphins is not guaranteed, so we were excited to see them. Michael spotted them.
The shipwreck snorkel was tough because the current was strong. It took all of our energy to stay near the wreck. Lucas was able to dive down and get some good GoPro footage. We were all exhausted when we got back to the boat. One of the guests on the tour proposed marriage to his girlfriend during the snorkel.
Lunch on the sandbar was a treat. A little strip of white sand in the middle of the ocean. We swam in the crystal blue water and snapped some photos.
After spending four nights on Maafushi, we took a 2-hour ride on the local ferry to Fulidhoo, an island of 400 people, and stayed there for four nights. There are four restaurants, two small stores, and one school. You can see one of the islands from the other end.
We stayed in two rooms at the Kunaa Beach Inn. Our hotel and the staff were wonderful. We had access to beach chairs. They took us to feed the sting rays (another wild experience). They also organized a few excursions for us.
We spent our time in Fulidhoo hanging out on the incredible white sand beaches and swimming in the crystal clear water. We took a short boat trip out to a coral garden for snorkeling. Michael, Lucas, and Henry went night fishing and were able to eat what they caught. The hotel restaurant was accommodating about my vegan diet, but they were also intrigued. One of the staff could not wrap his head around the concept, and he could not understand how I survive (there are not a ton of vegetables, and there is no tofu on Fulidhoo).
We enjoyed our time in the Maldives. We are glad we stayed on local islands and not at a fancy resort.
