The Maldives have been on our bucket list for a long
time. The challenge is that this
collection of almost 1200 islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean is about a 30-hour
trip from San Francisco. You can either head east and connect in Europe or
Dubai, or head west through Singapore.
But since we actually live in Singapore, it’s only a 4.5 hour nonstop
and that floated it up to the top of our bucket list.
Unlike much of Asia, there really isn’t a low cost way to do
the Maldives—in a word it is expensive, especially if you want the almost
obligatory over water bungalow. But since
I celebrated a milestone birthday this year it was a great excuse to open the
wallet a little bit.
Since it was my birthday celebration, Julie handled the
research and booking. There are so many
questions to answer when deciding: How do you want to get from Male to the
resort? Seaplane or boat? Do you know that seaplanes are an extra $500
and can only fly in daylight? Do you
want the resort to be inclusive of food and alcohol? Just food? Or nothing at
all? How many can the bungalow sleep?
(we needed 3).
We finally landed on Club Med Kani for a few important
reasons: 1) They offered a complete package, including non-stop air from
Singapore, 2) Their boat picks you up right at the airport in Male so you don’t
need to spend an extra night in Male, 3) It was all inclusive including Hobie
cats and snorkeling trips, and 4) Their over water bungalows sleep 3 with a
little entryway alcove bed.
The flight times meant I could work almost all day on
Friday, take our 18:20 flight and we landed in Male about 20:00. We cleared immigration easily, but the line
moved slow as different nationalities had different levels of screening. We
watched some needing to give thumb prints, thumb and finger prints, one hand,
both hands. But our US passports were
just scanned, stamped and we were on our way to pick up our bags and head to
the arrival hall.
Male is an airport built for tourism. There were office/lounges for the high end
resorts. And for the rest of us there
were small counter kiosks. Club Med had
#61, so that gives you an idea of how many there were. There they tagged our luggage, copied our
passports, and sent us over to a waiting area as they were expecting 4 more
passengers for the boat ride to Club Med Kani.
We chatted a bit with the other couple, an American and
German currently living in Singapore and taking a long weekend break from their
3 kids. It was about 30 minutes before
the final couple checked in and we headed to the nearby boat jetty (I learned
that everything in Maldives is just a short walk from the water).
It was about a 35-minute boat ride from Male to the
resort, Kani. Not too much to see except for
some lights on and offshore. We were
greeted at the jetty by waiving staff and quickly escorted to reception where
we got our arrival briefing and then led to our overwater bungalow. There was a living room alcove with a murphy
bed that was perfect for Christopher. By
this point it was 10:30pm and we were tired and sleep came quickly.
Waking up early (Singapore body clocks were 3 hours ahead of
Maldives actual time) we opened the drapes and were greeted by an unbelievable
water view at sunrise. Our deck had
steps that led down to a swimming platform with a ladder into the Indian
Ocean. The water was about 4 feet deep
so you could stand as you put on snorkeling gear. The bottom was a mix of sand and sea grass and
filled with marine life.  |
| Julie Snorkeling |
The snorkeling was good with a fair number of fish, big and
small. There was an abandoned giant sea
clam shell nearby that provided shelter to small fish. It was quite enjoyable and easy to put on
fins and mask and enjoy the views. When
you got out there was even a handheld freshwater shower to rinse off both your
gear and yourself.
But the real treat was sitting on the covered deck and
watching the sea life pass by. It was
like sitting on the deck of a wilderness lodge and instead of watching deer,
moose, and bear, we watched black tipped reef sharks, sting rays, a sea turtle,
unicorn fish, and gobs of other stuff.
Really a highlight of the trip and it made the extra expense for the
overwater bungalow seem insignificant when measured against the reward. It was a hit with us.
 |
| Sea Cucumber |
Julie started referring to it as “our neighborhood”. There was a large sea cucumber that slowly moved around the sand and grass. There was also a school of yellow fish that inhabited the pilings under the swim deck.
 |
| Black Tipped Reef Shark |
 |
| Unicorn Fish |
 |
| Hawksbill Sea Turtle |
 |
| Stingray |
 |
| Lagoon Trigger Fisk (aka Sid Fishous) |
The highlight of the hood was the lagoon trigger fish who
attacked anyone that came near his small patch of territory. He would charge towards any fish or even you
and your mask if you drifted his way. He
was the neighborhood bully. We
immediately named him Sid after the bully in Toy Story. And that quickly morphed into Sid Fishous.
We were both a little apprehensive about doing a Club
Med. If you know us we are not the
partying type and reading about shows, dancing, and event nights worried us a
bit. But it couldn’t have been
better. Club Med caters to a wide
variety of clientele; couples, friends, and families—so there is no pressure to
participate in anything (which suited us).
The food was both varied and surprisingly good. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were served
buffet style, but it was not like a cafeteria.
Some of the specialty main courses and salads were beautifully plated
for you right after ordering. They had
something for everyone be it Indian, Japanese, Chinese, European, or even an
American hotdog and fries.
We borrowed one of their Hobie cats for a little sailing the
first day. Skimming along with warm
water splashing as it came through gaps in the trampoline was wonderful. The water was so clear you had no idea how
deep it was. And the colors ranging from
light aquamarine to dark green, to deep blue were captivating.  |
| The Drop Off from Above |
Another morning was the free snorkeling trip that was a
10-minute boat ride to the edge of the atoll drop-off (think of the "drop off" in Finding Nemo). There 25 of us entered the water a skirted
the edge of the reef. If I was scuba
diving it would be a nice wall dive full of marine life (including a seat
turtle chilling on a shelf), although the coral was bleached a few years ago
and just beginning to make a comeback.
 |
| The Drop Off from Below |
The highlight for Christopher was the tandem parasailing he
and I did. Christopher had done it once
in Puerto Vallarta, just a couple of guys with a parachute and a ski boat. Both his takeoff and landing were a little concerning
for us as parents. We have also seen it
done in Phuket where a small guy goes up.
This, however, was a different experience. Since no one else signed up for the trip, it
was just Christopher and I so the crew let Julie join us on the boat. The boats are specially built with a large
deck and a chute deployment system, complete with a winch. This means that you don’t get wet and really
don’t have to do anything other than sit.
The view was not to be missed. We traveled the entire length of both our and
a neighboring island. The colors were
spectacular and it was definitely the highlight of Christopher’s trip. It
surprised me how slow and quiet it was up there. It was similar to hot air ballooning in that
there was no real feeling of being up high.
One of the unexpected things that gave us a smile was the
sounds of the Asian Koel
bird. I have mentioned these birds
before and their distinctive
call. In Singapore they are here
from late October to late March.
Evidently in the Maldives they are common in late April. A little bit of home.
We enjoyed our three days at Kani. We had a 9pm flight out of Male and the staff
at Club Med handled this late departure extremely well. We asked the day before about a late checkout
and they said it would depend on arrivals and that they would know the next
day. When turndown came that night they
left a timed itinerary. Leave the bags
outside the door at 4:30, checkout at 5:00, and be on the jetty at 5:30 for the
boat to the airport. (Note: if there hadn’t been availability, they had a
dayroom with showers available for us so we could have enjoyed the day, but not
“the neighborhood”.)
And that’s one of the things that really surprised us—the
staff were wonderful. They were
attentive, engaged in conversations, and professional. They were the icing on the cake of a
wonderful trip. And a wonderful trip it
was.
