I have always wanted to visit this island before the atolls disappeared altogether. I arrived on day 1 and boarded our boat in Male. We then headed to the fist sand bar which was 2 hours away. Once we arrived the first thing I saw in the ocean was a grey reef shark. This was awesome. Then we headed over to the sandbar and then we saw a baby sting ray just off the shore. All this in the first day.
Day 2 we started with a mid morning snorkel…I saw the most amazing fish. Weird types of fish that seemed almost cartoonish. You’d thought that someone chopped lots of fishes in half and then put them back together again with other halves. We saw even more funny fish in the afternoon snorkel although the current was stronger.
Meals on board were excellent even down to the afternoon tea. Most days I spent on top deck getting as much tan as possible and watching the dolphins on the way.
Day 3 we had the most excellent snorkelling yet. The fish were more visible and more curious to us. They actually came up to our faces and they were plentiful. Fish everywhere, it was amazing. Then after lunch we visited one of the inhabited islands which had a population of approximately 2000 people. Although the Maldives is a Muslim country there are some Hindus around and most of them speak a mixture of Tamil and Sinhalese. Apparently you can only be a citizen if you are Muslim.
After our island walk we went back to our boat only to discover a fire in the kitchen and one of the crew putting it put with an extinguisher. Luckily it was put out and not much damage done and things on the boat went back to normal.
That same night we had a huge storm…I practically flew out of my bed a couple of times. It rained the morning after too but the weather cleared in the afternoon. We went for a snorkel but visibility wasn’t as good and the jellyfish were out in abundance. Got stung on my right boob three times…damn them. Snorkelling didn’t last that long that morning and then the rain started up again. We had to find a harbour to dock in as there was going to be another storm that night. Turned out it wasn’t as bad as the previous night.
We visited another island on day 4, not as nice and with plenty of pesky mosquitoes. They loved me and after only 20 minutes of walking in the day my arms were covered in bites. It looked like some kind of allergic reaction on my arms as they were covered in unusually large shaped lumps. I’m used to this of course; remember the thick lips in Belem Airport and the swollen eyes in Malaysia. I sometimes get a bad reaction to different types of mosquito bites.
Day 5 we snorkelled with turtles…they were beautiful. The captain even caught one and brought it close up to us to see and touch. I wasn’t sure about doing it like this as the turtle was clearly scared but apparently they do this and they are trained. I got some of it on film although it does look like were torturing the poor bugger.
Day 6 snorkel was with giant manta rays. They were the most graceful looking creatures in the sea…alien looking too but so beautiful. They were humongous. As I tried to keep uo with them I suddenly thought of Steve Irwin and how he died. I didn't follow as hard after. Then we sailed to an island where we swam and took silly photos. This evening we had a barbeque on the beach. They grilled up the biggest fish the crew caught in the afternoon. And we watched some crazy drunk Russians do silly dances on the beach while we laughed.
The last day was a bit of a shame as we had a city tour around Male. We did the usual but really I wasn’t interested at all and the guide we had was a complete knob. It really spoiled the end of what would have been an excellent week in the Maldives.
