The Maldives have been an itch that Beck has wanted to scratch since forever.
As a water baby, the image of tropical seas teeming with colourful aquarium fish and bigger reef game, all bordered by pristine white sandy beaches, was a seductive one. But, with nearly 200 of the country’s 1,000 plus atolls being dedicated tourist resorts each offering a diverse range of facilities and amenities for different budgets, finding the right island was not going to be easy. And it was important to get it right given the distance and expense of making a trip. Highly recommended for those searching for the perfect spot is the Maldives Complete website which allows the user to prioritise various items and see a list of resorts which meet your needs.
Our final choice was Komandoo Resort in the Lhaviyani Atoll, around 130km north of Malé. Most importantly (for us) the island boasts an excellent house reef which encircles the resort and is swimmable from the beach. Another consideration was that, at 500 metres long and 200 metres wide, with only 65 villas, the island felt small enough to give some privacy, peace and quiet (why go all that way to share paradise with hundreds of other people?) Importantly it was also reasonably within budget – some quotes for other islands had run into five figures and while this was going to be the holiday of a lifetime, we weren’t going to splurge that sort of cash!
Given the expenditure and high levels of anticipation, we had some anxiety around the resort living up to our hopes. We needn’t have worried. Our arrival, following a 19-hour journey typified our experience for the rest of the week. We were ushered along the jetty by a friendly host who pointed out two turtles surfacing in the water beneath us – the wildlife watching had begun! Our bags were taken care of by porters, turning up in our villa moments after us. In the meantime, we were given fresh coconut milk and coconut ice cream to refresh us from the journey. A quick tour of the island and our villa and we were left with a half bottle of champagne on ice to enjoy on our private balcony. Said balcony overlooked a small strip of beach with the water almost lapping the steps at high tide. As we enjoyed our champagne, we watched a wide swathe of tiny silver fish swim up and down the shore. Suddenly they erupted from the water into chaos and it soon became apparent why, as a Black Tip reef shark swam through, almost beneath us, catching his tea. A heron swooped in to clear up any fish beached by the shark and stuck around to pose for photos with freshly caught fish. Oh yes, we had made the right decision on where to stay.
Our days lapsed into a sort of routine, roughly following a pattern of pre-breakfast snorkel for an hour or so to catch the marine life at their most relaxed. Then breakfast ourselves of poached eggs and smoked salmon, cooked expertly by the egg chef at the live cooking station. Sometimes, a moray eel or manta ray would make an appearance during breakfast, providing extra entertainment and testing Beck’s willpower not to leap into the water alongside them. After breakfast we would head back into the water for another hour or so, possibly taking in the reef on the opposite side of the island. Often, we ended our morning snorkel with a tropical fruit smoothie at Thundi bar, the smaller, beach side bar at the far end of the island to the main facilities, but closest to our villa. It was a real luxury to just walk out of the sea, plop down on a lounger and enjoy a drink, with no thought to taking money to pay or bothering to get dressed out of our swimwear.
Our afternoons kicked off with lunch, which was a buffet affair with salads, seared meats such as beef or tuna, curries, breads, pasta options and an array of desserts including tropical fruits. Our time was then occupied with either yet more snorkelling; a spot of windsurfing in the lagoon or a kayak round the island following shoals of silver flying fish, glinting in the sun. Our daily exertions were usually followed by a cocktail at Thundi bar, and then predinner sundowners on the deck at Aqua, the overwater restaurant, whilst watching the black tips do circuits. Dinner followed a similar buffet pattern to lunch, only with the addition of the outside tandoor, which we ate from most nights, offering charred chicken, fish, kebabs and lamb skewers, alongside freshly cooked naans glistening with butter and garlic. It’s easy to over eat and drink on an all inclusive holiday and we did feel a bit gout-y on occasion. Having said that, we probably made least use of the all-inclusive drinks opportunities (we heard one person ordering a quadruple rum and coke one lunchtime) but we had other priorities. Our evenings often included a night-time walk around the circumference of the island and jetties to walk down our dinner. In between meals, we could also enjoy afternoon tea of sandwiches and cakes in the main Kandu bar. We did this only twice, partly because we were too busy doing other things, but also because we really didn’t need the extra food! On our return from dinner we would also find tasty little shortbread biscuits left under a glass dome, ready for our morning cups of tea the next day.
Snorkelling was our main focus during the week and we were not disappointed with the experience. Beck tried her hand at keeping pace with the reef shark but was outdone each time, despite having the added thrust of fins to speed her along. A combination of excellent camouflage, aerodynamics and sun reflecting on the water meant the magnificent Chondrichthyes effortlessly melt away from view.
Other snorkelling highlights included a huge lionfish on the east side of the island; clownfish darting in and out of their anemone homes; shadowing a turtle as it took in the reef and coming nose to nose with another one, later on. Eagle eyed Ben spotted the shy and retiring lobster and octopus and, fittingly, an eagle ray. We also spotted a couple of sting rays which rapidly buried themselves in the sandy ocean floor. On occasion we follow some large translucent fish who tempt us to follow them out into the blue of the open ocean. Beck christens them siren fish as they appear to lure swimmers away from the safety of the reef. We feel like we’re swimming in an aquarium which seems ideal until Ben gets so carried away that he scrapes his head on the coral diving down to film the turtle. The resulting wound becomes the source of increasingly dramatic tales of shark attacks or moray eel encounters, so it’s not all bad. After six days of continuous water sports, Ben also manages to contract an ear infection so is landlocked for the last couple of days. Beck takes charge of the Gopro and manages to capture footage of the reticent octopus but none of the illusive reef shark. Swimming alone in the dawn light she feels quite vulnerable at times and it’s probably no bad thing to maintain a healthy sense of self-preservation in the water, yet the reality is that we are never more than about 200 metres from the shore and Beck has certainly swum in more challenging environments.
We also have a complimentary sunset cruise included as part of our stay on the evening of day three. In fact, the trip should be renamed Most Excellent Dolphin Viewing Cruise! We are only meant to be out for an hour or so, but the crew spots a pod of probably fifty dolphins just frolicking in the water and we stay out well beyond our allotted time just following the joyous pod. They pirouette, dive and generally show off – not at all for our delight and entertainment, but we enjoy it all the same!
On day four we take a break from snorkelling in the afternoon to try our hand at windsurfing. We get a thirty-minute lesson included and an hour’s free access to the equipment every day thereafter. Ben is a natural, although he has done it before some time ago. Beck is just happy to get the sail out of the water and upright, although her confidence is boosted the next day when another couple seem surprised that it’s only her second hour on the board. It’s a lot of fun and a good place to learn with relatively low winds and a safe lagoon to circle around, trying out the various manoeuvres.
With all the water-based activities we might have worn ourselves out, but the good hosts of Komandoo have thought about that and offer a 15-minute complimentary massage at the excellent Duniye Spa. We book in for day three and delight in the ice-cold treatment room after the heat of the outdoors. Ben has low expectations; his last massage in Vietnam consisted mostly of his ears being cracked by a mad masseuse. But this experience is blissful. Fifteen minutes last forever yet are also not quite long enough. We leave the spa feeling totally chilled out and even contemplate booking in for a longer treatment, but at $360 for the two of us we decide to stick to the excellent Losehill House Hotel just up the road from our home in the Peak District.
To try and work off a little more of the buffet we also take up the Strava challenge of running the 1km circuit of the island. Running on sand and in 30degree heat is not easy and Beck plunges into the sea immediately on finishing. Ben notches up 9th position on the leader board and fastest time in 2019! He challenges Andy, Dawn and Lee to better his time, safe in the knowledge that for once, his time is unlikely to be beaten by any followers. We rehydrate at Thundi bar with caipirinhas. Henceforth these will form an integral part of our post run recovery routine!
At one point on the second day, Ben makes a comment about it being the vote on Theresa May’s Brexit plan. Beck has totally forgotten about this – the sign of a perfect holiday! Komandoo has definitely lived up to all we’d hoped for from the Maldives; clear seas, abundant marine life, warmth, sunshine and total relaxation. Our accommodation is spotless thanks to the twice daily visits from Rasheed, our room boy, who does a fine line in towel art. Every place we visit on the island is similarly pristine and is deliciously scented with zesty fragrances from ever lit oil burners. The island is immaculate thanks to an army of around 150 staff (to a maximum 130 guests) who spend their days raking leaves from the sandy paths and coral from the beaches, barrowing fine sand to fill any gaps, sieving sea grass from the water to avoid an unsightly tide lines, plus a host of general maintenance jobs before the offending item even looks worn to us! The attention to creating the perfect environment is relentless and sometimes we wonder if it’s over the top. Our excursion to Hinnavaru, a local island, on day seven, gives us some pointers towards what Komandoo might look like without all the human interference. The island’s population halved from around 4,000 to around 2,000 after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami which flooded the Maldives. Many of the island’s residents moved elsewhere after the deluge and the island now has many empty homes which gives it a slightly down at heel vibe. The landscape is predominantly scrub land and a fair bit of litter. It’s pointed out that all rubbish in the Maldives goes to one central waste island which charges a fee for every collection. With a lower population we assume the island has less income to pay for rubbish collection, so it appears to collect in the streets. Sewage and water treatment have only recently been installed (in 2011 and 2017 respectively) and prior to this, domestic rain water collection was the main source of fresh drinking water. It feels like relatively little of the wealth from Komandoo filters through to Hinnavaru, although we know some jobs do go to local women who form part of the landscaping team and the wider staff team are drawn from other parts of the Maldives, as well as Sri Lanka. The reality is that we simply wouldn’t travel for nearly a full day to stay on Hinnavaru – it’s the pristine environment of Komandoo which is attractive. We feel privileged to have been able to visit the Maldives and especially to stay on Komandoo.