Life Takes Atoll

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.