Planning a trip to the Maldives

This is a Voyagescape Podcast. You can find all of our travel podcasts from around the world at voyagescape.com. (upbeat music) - Hey everybody, welcome to Travel in 10. We're this week we're gonna be talking about what many people consider paradise on Earth, the Maldives just off the coast of India. David and I have both been there. We're both excited to talk about this destination. David, how are you doing this week? - I'm doing great. As you say, just got back not so long ago from the Maldives was there just a little over a month ago. And it may have taken the place of my favorite destination in the world. I'd say Tahiti, Fiji, Maldives, I love the tropical beach locations, places with you know, lots of underwater life. And if it's not at the top of the list, it's certainly very near the top of the list after my experience there. - Absolutely, I mean to me, it looks like you're still radiating some of that energy from the Maldives. Maybe you still have a bit of the tan, maybe not, I don't know, but what are some of your favorite things about this destination? What makes it so special to you? - I mean, it is, it lives up to the Instagram hype for sure. I mean, it is crystal clear waters. It is white sand beaches. It is some of the most marine life that you're going to find and best preserved reefs that I've seen anywhere doing, doing snorkeling and diving. But it's a lot more than that too. It's incredibly, incredibly hospitable, friendly locals. It's, you know, they've got 180, 190 islands of the 1100 islands throughout the group that are populated and, you know, about 160 of those have resorts on them. And in almost each case, those resort islands, it's like one resort on one island. They're each this private island experience. So if you're looking for like, you know, you're going on that bucket list trip, a hunting moon, you know, something that you really want to, you know, go on a special unique experience. There is no shortage of opportunities to do that in the Maldives for sure. - Absolutely, absolutely. And so, I mean, I know with my experience, your time in the Maldives and how special it is will be determined by where you stay. And I know you have a couple of favorite places. - Yeah, for sure. I mean, I definitely went on two very different ends of the spectrum. I mean, I was lucky enough to go stay in one of those iconic private island resorts, a place called Kagi Island. Kagi Maldives, it's a resort just open about a year ago. Beautiful over the water, bungalows. It really focuses in on health and wellness focused experiences. So they've got a great yoga studio there, great gym. They even do like sound meditation classes that you can take when you're there. It really lived up to the expectations of that over the top luxury experience in the Maldives. And then on the other spectrum, I also went to a local island, a place called Mufushi, which where tourism has just started to emerge over the last few years and a lot of brand new resorts there as well, very different from a budget perspective. But you get a lot of what you would get at those luxury resorts at a much lower cost. - Absolutely. And I mean, Maldives, it's so interesting because when you fly into the airport in Maldives, in the capital, in many cases, especially if you're staying in the luxury resorts, you're met by an ambassador for the resort, you're escorted to a sea plane. And then that sea plane takes you to your resort. And for many, many people, that's the entire experience. And let's be honest, that's really an amazing experience. - Very interesting, yes. - You know, for me, I stayed at Two Resorts Fairmont, which was on the northernmost A-Tool at the time that actually had development. And then Conrad, which was very interesting, because they had an underwater hotel suite, and then they also had an underwater restaurant. And I mean, I did a tour of the suite. And I mean, I think it would be an amazing thing to stay in that suite. I did not stay in the suite, but I did a tour of it. And I mean, all the walls, you know, there's fish going by, there's other sea life going by, you have these coral reefs that are still alive. And then did kind of a champagne experience of the restaurant. - Yeah, in terms of float planes, it's got more sea planes and more float planes that fly out of that international terminal in the Maldives than anywhere else in the world. And I don't know if it was built out when you were there, or not, that they've got a quite new sea plane terminal. It's like four stories tall. And every level of it is filled with these, these over-the-top Uber luxury airport lounges. And, you know, there's one that's the local sea plane company has got like their own lounges that takes up about one floor of this terminal. But then, and it's got, you know, you can get a massage, you can get a shower, you can do great food. Everything you would expect that a really upscale airport lounge. But then a lot of the, you know, why it is four-starlies tall is because a lot of the individual resorts have their own exclusive lounges as well. So the four seasons has got its own airport lounges. The West has got its own airport lounges. So as you go through, you know, you're whisked from your international flight into, you know, this exclusive lounge area, you hang out there for a bit, and then you're off to your island. But you do really have to, you know, one thing I would say about planning a trip to the Maldives is you really do have to think about the transfers and figure out the timing because it will make a big difference to your experience. You know, when your international flight comes in, then, you know, some of the islands, it's, it's, it's gonna be a trek, right? You know, there's a few you can get to by boat, but the vast majority of them, it is by, by sea plane, and just lining up the timing of when your flight comes in and when it goes out, certainly that airport lounge experience helps, helps, you know, mitigate that. But, oh yeah, I know after like a 14 hours in the air, you know, having a shower, you know, is such an important thing, and maybe being able to change your clothes or whatever, and I mean, I think when you get on that sea plane, that moment, when you get airborne, and you're starting to fly over some of these islands, and you just see, you know, the open ocean, and then that blue sea, you know, that electric blue sea that surrounds these islands, and then they're just like little tiny green, you know, you poke knots or whatever in the sea. I think that's when you really realize that this is a different destination, you know, then maybe any place that you've been before, you know, at least it was for me, and I know you have a few favorite things to do. I know you, we might build this out into a separate episode, or bonus episode, but you spent some time with dive masters, and you spent some time in the ocean, and you know, that is definitely one of the top things to do here, and you know, tell us more about that. - Yeah, for sure, I mean, the experience at Kagi, there was an enormous amount to do there. It had an incredible host reef, where, you know, you would go right from your over-the-water bungalow, take a couple of steps down, and you were right in the water, and surrounded by marine life, and I had a chance to talk to the dive master there, a little bit about what the diving and snorkeling experience throughout them all dives is, so for sure, we'll put up another bonus episode. This week with a little bit about her talking about some of what you can see from a underwater and a sea life perspective, and yeah, it was just, it really was a phenomenal experience in a great resort, and yeah, somewhere I would highly recommend. One of the things that I really enjoyed when I was at Fairmont was going out on a traditional wooden fishing boat, you know, I mean, for centuries, you know, the Maldives, you know, it's not always been this tourist destination, and they survived on the unland and sea for many generations, I should say. And so going out, and I think we were fishing basically, which is hand-lined, as the traditional fishermen would have done, that was kind of a special experience 'cause you, you know, you talk to local people who were, you know, two guys who were kind of the local guides, their families had been in the fishing business for many, many years, and they talked about, you know, living off the sea and what that was like, and how much it's different now. I mean, I think better now in many ways, but that was such a cool experience. I mean, there's so much sea life in this area, right? It's just flourishes with sea life. So, yeah, that's definitely one of my special experiences. Do you, now you talk, can you talk a little bit more about, because I know it's a fairly recent phenomenon in the history of the country, to be able to stay on a local, you know, so can you talk a little bit about the cultural impact of that and, you know, and your experiences there? - For sure, I mean, I would say there are, you know, the thing that I think most people, They think of the Moldives, they do think of these private island resorts. the great international authorities with the overwater, the bungalows, and there is endless supply of those that you can choose from when you're there. But a new emerging part of the tourism sector there is, you know, these local islands where a lot of the local population lives that for years were sort of off limits to tourists. It's a fairly strict Muslim country, and as a result of that, you know, alcohol is not allowed on a lot of the islands or any of the islands where the local population lives, and because of that, they hadn't really built out any hotels for tourists. That's changed just really in the last, you know, five, ten years that the government has allowed the local islands to start building out their own tourist infrastructure. And the one that I stayed at, Mufushi, I mean, it's the closest to Mali, the main island that you first fly into, you know, you can get over to it on a private water taxi, is about $25, takes you about 45 minutes, and you know, all the hotels are brand new. I stayed at one called Triton prestige CVU. It was an all-headed, you know, a rooftop infinity pool, a great beachfront restaurant, and it was only about $120 a night, including breakfast. So really, really good value. There was a chain of hotels there called Kanai. They had the Palm Beach, the Sea Grandview, you know, all these places are right on these like, you know, white sand beaches, you're walking straight into the water and have phenomenal storytelling, and you're getting to meet the local population, and it's, so it is a much different experience, so you're going to have these private island resorts, and, you know, a good, good example of that, I went out, you know, they have two beaches on Mufushi, the Bikini Beach, where a lot of the tourists congregate, and the No Bikini Beach, which is where most of the local population is. The best storytelling is actually at the local beach, the No Bikini Beach, and my first day out, I went and did some snorkeling around, and I happened to run into some Germans who were there snorkeling as well, and two girls who called me over and were saying, you know, come check out, there's sea turtles and sharks, and so snorkeling around with them for a few minutes, but then they told me, you know, a few, or an hour earlier, we'd been just around the corner, and there's a place where the locals have planted a coral garden, where they're, you know, texting the coral and helping regenerate it, and there's a lot more sea life over there, you have to swim quite far out from the beach, but you should go around the corner. So I did, and went snorkeling out there, but I'd been out for about half hour, 45 minutes, trying to find it, and having no luck, and see some locals on the beach, you know, they'd seen what had happened and what had transpired, they knew what I was trying to do, and so a guy who was standing on the beach jumped in the water, swam out to me, and I thought, you know, was he going to, you know, ask me to take a tour or demand some sort of payment or something, but quite the opposite, I mean, he stayed with me for an hour and a half. He kept, like, encouraging me to go further and further, he took me out the coral gardens, we saw sharks, we saw amazing undersea life. He took my camera and, you know, was doing pictures, you know, where he could get spots where I couldn't. He was doing some pictures and videos and taking pictures of me, stayed with me essentially all afternoon, and then swam back to the beach, and, you know, basically just said, "Have a great day," and, you know, glad I could show you my island and, you know, didn't expect anything in return, and I happened to run into him because it's a very small island. You can walk around the whole island and, you know, probably an hour or less, you know, he was a dive master at a local water sports shop and, you know, just, you know, you can see that there was somebody who, you know, was trying to get the most out of their time in the islands and wanted to make sure that I saw everything that it had to offer. And I found that same, you know, hospitality really extended everywhere that I went. The local population was just so friendly. And these local islands are just like, there's no cars really, everybody's getting around my bike or some, I think, or a couple golf carts that would help you get your, your luggage from the, from your boat to the hotel, but very peaceful, you know, and my understanding is Mufushi is probably the most active of all the local islands and it was super peaceful. Like, as you go at night and it's, you know, just the very relaxing experience, you know, you've got, you can see all the stars, you can crystal clear waters, and you're getting a lot of the experience that you would get at resorts that, you know, people are paying thousands of dollars a night, but it's hundreds of dollars a night and they're brand new, beautiful hotels. You know, the one thing is it is, you know, you do have to respect the local culture. You know, we've talked about the bikini beach, the no bikini beach restrictions. There is no alcohol still allowed on those local islands, although in the case of Mufushi, they do have a, a sort of boat that's parked off the island that you can do excursions too, if you really need to go out a lot of the food drinks, you can still get a new group of screws. Yeah, exactly. And you can also do excursions out to a lot of the private island international resorts as well as a day trip as well. So, you know, there really are those both ends of the spectrum, you know, if you want the Uber luxury resort, the over the water bungalow, there's lots of that there. But if you want to get immersed in local culture and have something that's much more affordable, there's that choice there for you as well. Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, I mean, I love that. I didn't get that same experience, but, you know, I mean, you meet the local people even at the international resorts, but the next time I go back to them all these, that is number one on my list, is to go to one of these local islands and really experience a little bit more of the of the local culture. I think maybe you've just described it, but, you know, before we wrap up, any must-do stand-out experiences that you that you want to highlight? I mean, they've got some great local cuisine to try out. You know, you certainly see the influence, the Indian influence, the, you know, African influence on their cuisine as well. A dish that it doesn't sound super appetizing when you describe what it was, but I loved it. It was a breakfast dish. They, they had, at least it's called the Mishuni. I don't know if they don't say that correctly, but it's a traditional Maldivesian breakfast dish where they take a blend of fresh tuna, grated coconut, onions and chili. It even doesn't sound like your top like breakfast choice, but it's super tasty and they, they start it together with like a Maldivesian flatbread, so that, that was fantastic. We would certainly highly, highly recommend that. And then the other thing is just like in terms of marine life, you know, there is so much to see struggling and diving there, and one final tip I would have is like if you are going out to, something I would have to go out to by sea plane, just again, like thinking through the logistics and the timing because anybody who's a scuba diver knows like you can't really, you can't really dive within 24 hours of having fluent, particularly on a non-pressurized level sea plane like that, so it's important to, you know, make sure that you're just thinking through the logistics of when you're going to be able to dive while you're there, and you've got to make sure that you, you know, you schedule your trip so you can do that. You're going to see so much. It's one of the few places in the world where you've got whale sharks. You're round in the Maldives and some of them were remote atolls that you can get out to, it's just, yeah, the moment you get underwater, it really does live up to, to expectations for sure. Absolutely. And I mean, for me, for sure, the standout experience was joining, you know, with a marine biologist and going out and just seeing all that sea life, and you're just surrounded by it, right? I mean, when you're over the coral reef, there's so much to see as you've already described sea turtles and so many different kinds of fish, and then there's that point where it kind of drops off, and it's just that blue of the Pacific Ocean that just stretches on forever, you know, and it reminds you that you are on these islands and, and the cuisine is very interesting. I mean, I think all islands are interesting when it comes to the cuisine, you know, Maldives has so many fresh fish and, you know, so many influences from around the world, curries and all that kind of stuff. So I'm very excited, thinking of maybe my next visit to Maldives, and it's just been a pleasure talking about these islands with you, David. Sounds great. Okay, Tim, while looking forward to having you back next week, and as always, encourage everybody to jump over to our website at wayescape.com where you can find all of our travel podcasts from around the world and some new podcasts that we're building out and coming once as well, so lots of great content there to help plan your next trip, and in addition to that, we're starting to build out some travel guides, downloadable travel guides to some of the destinations that we're covering in the podcast as well, and you can find those on the website as well. Perfect. Can't wait to chat with you next week, David, and have a have a good week. Thanks, Tim. All right, thank you.