Paradise in the Maldives

Just back from my hols in a little bit of paradise known as the Maldives.

The hotel/resort was called the Chaaya Lagoon, formerly known as the Hakuraa Club. It’s an island of its own (as many hotel/resorts are in the Maldives).

The only way on or off the island is by seaplane or by dhoni, the local boats. Its protected from the Indian Ocean by the coral reef which forms the boundary of the atoll – on one side of the island its about 200 yards away. There are no cars, and the only sound is that of the waves breaking on the distant reef – very soothing.

The island has 70 water bungalows, built on stilts over the lagoon and connected to the island by a series of walkways. There are 10 beach bungalows just back off the gently sweeping crescent-shaped beach. One restaurant and two bars, a gym and a spa complete the amenities. But, as an island, it has to provide its own water and power; so there’s a generator and a desalination plant hidden amongst the palm trees.

The water is shallow (wading deep) for hundreds of yards in all directions, making it perfect for snorkellers. The water gets deeper at the end of the jetty where the planes land and where the scuba divers hang out.

The island is no more than a couple of feet above sea level, and stood no chance when the tsunami hit on Boxing Day 2004. The wave reached 10 feet high and destroyed everything. Staff and guests waited out on the roof of the restaurant until boats could be arranged to evacuate them to a neighbouring island that wasn’t as badly affected, and were eventually rescued by the Pakistan navy. It’s a miracle that only one person was killed on the island that day.

The resort got rebuilt in less than a year, and is a truly wonderful place. They say that the marine life will take longer to recover, however. I Saw proof positive of the marine life on the daily snorkelling boat trips out to a nearby reef. Whilst there’s dead coral (caused as much by the 1998 El Nino as the tsunami) there’s also lots of coral thriving, in all shapes and colours. And there’s thousands of fish too.

Lots more notes to come in the next week or so, but in the meantime there’s plenty more pictures on my Flickr website. There’s a link on the right.