A bit of background on the Maldives:
In the warm tropical Indian Ocean lies an archipelago of 1190 islands and 26 atolls, surrounded by clear turquoise water and white sandy beaches -The Maldives islands. Imagine paradise with magical sunsets, an abundance of marine life and perfect natural vegetation. The amazing coral reefs’ surrounding the islands ensures a haven for dive and snorkel enthusiasts. Each resort in the Maldives has its own white beach flowing around the island. These islands are surrounded by coral reefs resulting in a clear calm lagoon between the beach and the deeper waters.
Maldives resort accommodation varies from single to semi-attached bungalows, either facing the sea and beachfront or built over the water. The only inhabitants on each island apart from the tourists, is the resort staff.
Activities in the Maldives varies from diving or snorkelling to island hopping, seaplane excursions, swimming, visiting fishing villages or even doing some underwater sightseeing in a Whale Submarine.
Below follows a description of our very exciting trip to the Maldives and Dubai, which will be divided into five separate blogs.
Experience the Maldives – Part 1:
We departed from OR Tambo International Saturday 2nd May 2010 at about 14:15. Our flight was due to the Maldives via Dubai and we landed in Dubai just after 00:05 where we spent 3 hours prior to the next flight to Maldives. First of all, if you are flying to the Maldives from South-Africa, you will be able to fly either with Emirates or with Qatar Airways. We have chosen Emirates due to a slight better schedule on our preferred dates, but Qatar is also a great and highly reputable airline to fly with. We were once again pleasantly impressed with Emirates airlines. An eight hour flight really feels so much shorter with all the entertainment you have on board, very comfortable seating and enough leg space. We departed Dubai around 03:25 and arrived in the Maldives 08:30. From here we were easily assisted to our seaplane, from where we will be flying to Sun Island Resort on the South Ari Atoll, about 112 kilometres from the airport (about 30 min flight).
Arriving at Sun Island’s jetty in a hot tropical climate, we were just flabbergasted by the amazing beauty that lies before us. We were terribly excited to explore this amazing island, and our experience here will be looked at in detail in the next blog.
For more information on these spectacular islands, visit Travel Expeditions.
Posts
