Heading to The Maldives

So I am off to the Maldives, one of the most beautiful and enchanted places on earth (so I've heard). The Maldives are a series of ancient coral reefs that grew up around the sides of towering prehistoric volcanoes. These immense structures have long since sunk into the ocean, leaving behind coral islands of incredible natural beauty. Most islands are surrounded by a ring of coral called the house reef. Between the beach and the reef the water is protected, quite shallow and very safe for swimming. The reef is the best place to snorkel where most of the fish lives. Beyond the reef is deep blue water where the bigger fish live, sharks, manta rays, sail fish etc. This area is great for snorkeling and diving and I hope to do some of both once I get there. Some islands do not have a house reef and are just in sandy lagoons. If you are a keen snorkeler it is always good to ask if your resort has a house reef. The atolls of Maldives encompass a territory spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometres (35,000 sq mi), making it one of the world's most geographically dispersed countries. It was then ruled by a sultanate and an authoritarian government.

Getting There

Most travelers fly into Male, the main island and capital of the Maldives. From there you can take a boat to your resort island or go by sea plane. There are speed boats for shorter transfers up to 20 miles from the airport, seaplane transfers to islands between 20 and 100 miles from the airport and domestic air services for resorts over 100 miles away). Some resorts offer both and give clients an option. The transfers are handled by the resorts which sign contracts with the competing seaplane and launch companies. Transfers are, therefore, an integral part of booking a room and are booked by the resort at the same time as the room. They are also significantly expensive.

The hotel will arrange the arrival and departure transfer around the scheduled timings of the long haul flight. It will not always coincide exactly and you should be prepared for a wait sometimes for their transfer on arrival and sometimes for time in hand before check in on departure day.

Seaplanes can only fly in daylight and many boat journeys at night are also unsafe due to unlit coral reefs.

If you're arriving or departing on night flights or departing on early morning flights you should think about making special arrangements. If the flight arrives at night and no night transfer is available, then overnight accommodation at or near the airport needs to be arranged. This also applies to early departures if the latest check in time is before 6.30.am. I had to do this since my flight arrives at night, but it isn't so bad. Ok, next stop is paradise!