You can swim now with the giant of the ocean while staying at this hotel

Spending your holiday just snorkeling seems passe now. A hotel in the Maldives now offers a one-of-a-kind experience, a swimming session with the extraordinary giants of the ocean — the Manta Rays.
Milaidhoo, located in Baa Atoll, offers escorted tours with the marine biologist so you can plunge into the sea and swim alongside these marine creatures Despite the fear associated with Manta Rays, they are peaceful and pose no threat to humans. The Manta Ray season lasts from June to November, the time when they migrate in hundreds towards the Baa Atoll to feed in the plankton-rich waters at Hanifaru Bay, a UNESCO world biosphere reserve.
Although Manta Rays can be seen on the Great Barrier Reef, in the Galapagos, Micronesia and Hawaii, the largest Manta Ray feeding station in the world is in the Maldives at Hanifaru Bay, a protected Marine Reserve just 12-minutes by speedboat from Milaidhoo.
These gigantic rays (from 12 to 24 feet in size and weighing up to 3,500 pounds) are filter feeders and listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Visits to view and swim with them are coordinated with the Marine Reserve rangers and conducted by a qualified team from Milaidhoo’s Ocean Stories Aquatic Center.
Accompanied by the resort’s resident marine biologist, you can go on a group trip or book a private excursion, including a picnic on a deserted sandbank after swimming with these stunning creatures.
On good days it’s possible to see up to 100 Mantas Rays and you don’t need special equipment or a Scuba diving licence, just a mask and a snorkel. To conserve the environment and avoid disturbing the Manta Rays, visits are carefully managed and limited to a small number of visitors every day.
Set over 13 acres in the Baa Atoll’s beautiful UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, each of Milaidhoo’s 50 private villas have been designed by a local Maldivian architect and each thatched-roof villa features generous private pools and is serviced by Island Hosts. The villas are just a short, barefoot stroll away to three world-class restaurants, incredible water sports, fitness, spa, yoga and world-class diving.

Source: esquireme.com

Sweet suites! Hotels get fancy with exotic rooms (up to $100K a night!)

(3TV/CBS5) -- Around the world, some very sweet suites have just opened.

 Hotels are unveiling more and more lavish and unique rooms as they try to attract wealthy guests and more importantly, attention on social media.

The Conrad Maldives Rangali Island is giving a whole new meaning to sleeping with the fishes. The Muraka suite is the world's first underwater hotel room in the open ocean. There's a bedroom, viewing room and bathroom 16 feet below sea level. An elevator ride up, your butler awaits in the above water section of the villa. The Muraka suite costs $50,000 a night.

The Maldives is becoming well known for its super suites. At the Joali Maldives there are three bedroom ocean residences with two pools and living rooms. This location also has the longest jetty in the country.

In French Polynesia there are two-story presidential villas at Conrad Bora Bora Nui resort. Monte Carlo also has a new extra-special view of the sea from the Princess Grace and Prince Rainier III suites at Hotel de Paris. The hotel was a favorite of the royal couple. "They loved coming here on special occasions. Either with friends or with families," according to Ivan Artolli, general manager of Hotel de Paris.

In Las Vegas, high-rollers at the Palms can stay at the two story Empathy Suite designed by artist Damien Hirst. It's the most expensive suite in the world at $100,000 a night. There's a two night minimum. Melanie Lieberman, travel editor with The Points Guy, says "At the end of the day hotels know they're going to get a ton of free press from these suites, as well as Instagram influencers and the occasional person who can pay $100,000 a night." Lieberman says in the age of Instagram, expect the penthouse to get ever loftier.

Source: azfamily.com

Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru dispatches submarine experience

Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru dispatches submarine experience

Deep-Flight produces the world’s highest performance personal submarines.

From today, Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru will become the first place to launch submarine excursions in DeepFlight’s most advanced model yet: Super Falcon 3S.

In a world exclusive, DeepFlight Adventures take up to two guests on a once-in-a-lifetime sub-aquatic ‘dive’ exploration of the Maldives’ only UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Landaa Giraavaru’s Baa Atoll home.

With a professional pilot at the controls, passengers can skim over coral formations; fly through shoals of brightly coloured fish; encounter creatures like turtles, sharks, dolphins and rays; and explore the Maldivian waters down to a depth of 37 meters – all without getting wet.

Brought to the Maldives in collaboration with leading water sports operator, Ocean Group, the Super Falcon 3S represents the pinnacle of personal submarine technology: an environmentally friendly, battery-operated submersible that offers unparalleled underwater ‘flying’ from the safety, comfort and style of a personal pressurized and air-conditioned cockpit, with individual viewing domes.

The Super Falcon 3S has also been designed with the environment in mind: its electric and acoustic emissions have been minimized so as not to disturb marine life, and it never lands on the seabed or reefs.

The pilot narrates each dive with a real-time commentary, educating and inspiring guests about the wonders of the underwater ecosystem.

Commenting on the launch, Four Seasons regional vice president, Armando Kraenzlin, said: “At Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru, we have long been aligned with DeepFlight’s mission to bring awareness to the oceans.

“These submarine excursions redefine marine exploration and bridge the gap between the world we see above the waves and the one that exists below.

“We couldn’t be prouder to be the first resort in the world to launch the Deep-Flight Super Falcon 3S.”

The Maldives' new star Villa is submerged

The Maldives' new star Villa is submerged

A sprawling villa at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island

On a recent trip to the Maldives, my itinerary was planned around a single hotel amenity: a bungalow with a two-story waterslide. In the luxury-friendly Maldives, more than anywhere else on Earth, it's extravagant design features rather than location or good restaurants that make a hotel.

Enter Conrad Maldives Rangali Island with the region's first underwater bungalow. When it opens late this year the Muraka ("coral" in Dhivehi, the local language) will have cost US$15 million ($20.4 million) to build, and the experience of sleeping 16.4 feet (5m) below sea level can be yours beginning at US$50,000 ($68,262) per night before taxes.

"The Muraka promises a unique experience that is not available anywhere else in the world," architect Ahmed Saleem explains. While it's true that there aren't many hotel beds suspended below sea level, encased in glassy tunnels and surrounded by tropical fish, Saleem was more concerned with creating a full experience than designing a single, iconic room.

The Muraka's bedroom, below the sea.

So guests to the Maldives - an archipelago in the Indian Sea, southwest of India - will be flown to a private seaplane jetty and picked up in a speedboat for their ensuing use.

The suite itself is set apart from the Conrad's beach villas and bungalows so its residents don't have to see other humans-or set foot on dry land-if they don't want to. The price includes four dedicated butlers in a nearby structure for round-the-clock service, a chef, a set of jet skis and an on-call fitness trainer. Guests are upgraded to Diamond Honors Hilton status and given a 90-minute spa treatment per day.

The sunset-facing deck of the Muraka.

The structure itself is made of steel, concrete and acrylic, with one level above the water and another below. It's more castle than hotel suite, with enough nooks and crannies to sleep nine guests plus a gym, butler's quarters and space for a private security detail.

But not all the action happens under water. The top floor has two bedrooms, a bathroom with an ocean-view tub, a sunset-facing deck and an infinity-edge pool. Guests can descend below sea level down a spiral staircase or elevator. There, nothing but a curved acrylic dome separates the king-sized bedroom and living area from the reef just beyond. The bathroom, with its see-through walls and ceiling, feels like a bona-fide fishbowl. But privacy isn't an issue, unless fish make you feel shy; the villa is far from the rest of the resort. The deep underwater darkness-or simply feeling lost at sea-might be more unsettling.

Conrad isn't the first to take on underwater residences. In Dubai, the developer Klenienst has been developing a community of partially submerged homes called the Floating Seahorse within the cluster of islands known as the Heart of Europe. The project was announced in 2015 with a projected completion in 2016; only three such homes have been completed to date. According to a local news source, one sank near the Burj Al Arab hotel, another "toppled into the sea while being transported onsite", and the third is a prototype that's being stabilised with sandbags.

An underwater bathroom at the Muraka.

That's all to say: Creating a self-contained island residence with undersea sleeping quarters is challenging, at best. Conrad Maldives Rangali Island has experience in that architectural arena thanks to Ithaa ("mother-of-pearl"), its underwater restaurant where diners enjoy eight-course feasts below a see-through, acrylic canopy.
Still, Saleem says, "Designing an undersea structure such as Ithaa and designing a sleeping and living experience is vastly different." Among his main concerns was safety. The restaurant, he says, is in shallow waters and always fully staffed; evacuating from the Muraka in the event of an emergency may have to happen unattended. A sophisticated air-quality monitoring and alarm system will help; so will safety instruction briefings like the ones on airplanes.

The project's scope presented logistical concerns. Saleem had to devise a lighting and design scheme that wouldn't reflect off the acrylic walls. "We couldn't use bright colours or variations of white, as that would reflect too much and impede the undersea experience," he says. He had to work with marine biologists to ensure the villa wouldn't affect the surrounding corals. Then the 600-ton structure had to be built on land in Singapore, hoisted onto a crane, and transported in a specialised ship that could moor near the reef and submerge the suite.

Ithaa, the underwater restaurant at the Conrad.

Even in the Maldives, whose resorts are known to command some of the highest prices globally, this type of building isn't sustainable as anything more than a one-off. "There are no immediate plans to create additional undersea residences at this point," Saleem says.

To Martin Rinck, who oversees Hilton's global luxury and lifestyle brands including Conrad, the debut of the underwater villa is a way to stay ahead of the industry. It's "a perfect example of the out-of-the-box thinking that meets guests demands before they even have them," Rinck says.

Nowhere is it more important to drive these types of trends than in the Maldives, where about a dozen ultra-luxe hotels will open this year. "The Maldives is indeed a competitive destination, but also a destination where guests expect the best," Rinck says. It's also a destination for which travellers are willing to shell out for the best. The starting price of US$50,000 may sound like a lot to pay per night, but the region claims a handful of private island villas at comparable prices that are popular, too.

One of the above-sea-level bedrooms at the Conrad's underwater villa.

"After 20 years in the Maldives, it's important that Hilton keeps pace with its newer, shinier competitors," Rinck says: "We need to continue meeting the expectations of travellers looking for that 'go big or go home' experience."

"Dive with a Purpose expeditions for 2k18" by Carpe Diem

Carpe Diem Maldives Cruises has announced its 2018 Dive with a Purpose series of hands-on marine expeditions for leisure divers.

The 2018 expeditions build on the success of three marine expeditions in 2017, in partnership with US based research organisation Coral Reef CPR.

“Divers with an avid marine conservation interest should not miss out on this unique opportunity to work alongside expert marine biologists in the 2018 series of Dive with a Purpose expeditions from Carpe Diem Maldives,” a statement issued by Carpe Diem Maldives read.

Taking a concerted approach towards protecting and restoring the health of coral reefs and marine life in the Maldives, three “Rescue a Reef” weeks with experts from Coral Reef CPR will look at addressing issues around reef predators, damage prevention and restoration. These expeditions are an extension of Carpe Diem’s support of the organisation’s Holistic Approach To Reef Protection (HARP) programme. A fourth week has been added to the 2018 Dive with a Purpose programme in partnership with Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP).

On each Dive with A Purpose week, up to 20 recreational divers can join the marine expeditions; divers must have an Advanced PADI qualification, excellent buoyancy control and ideally a minimum of 70 dives.

Priced from USD 1,863 per person for the week, the expeditions include:

Seven nights aboard the assigned Carpe Diem Maldives vessel
Three meals daily, plus between-dive snacks
Three to four dives daily (except for on day of arrival and day before departure)
Use of tanks, weights and belts
Drinking water, tea and coffee
Airport transfers on the days of embarkation/disembarkation
Evening workshops on marine ecology, coral reef, marine life and more
On-board marine biologists
GST 12 percent
Rescue a Reef: Crown of Thorns Starfish Removal with Coral Reef CPR

Expedition dates: May 19 – May 26 / July 15 – July 22 / Sept 8 – Sept 15

Reefs in the Maldives are currently being impacted by the third outbreak of crown of thorns starfish (COTS; Acanthaster spp.) that started in 2014 at the western end of North Male Atoll, near Reethi Rah, and has progressively spread throughout North Male Atoll, South Male Atoll and Ari Atoll, with smaller infestations reported on six other atolls. While normal densities of these starfish are generally not a concern, over 130 localised outbreaks were reported between 2014 and 2017.  Many of these have consisted of thousands of starfish and hundreds of reefs have been completely destroyed as a result of their voracious feeding.



Coral Reef CPR, in partnership with Carpe Diem Maldives, has removed over 10,600 starfish from reefs in the Maldives since 2015.

In the 2018 “Rescue a Reef” expeditions, divers on the trips can expect a hands-on role in eliminating the starfish from badly infested reefs. Divers on board these expeditions will assist the Coral Reef CPR scientists in collecting valuable data on the behaviours of the starfish and their genetic make-up. This will help understand why the outbreaks occur, where they originate from and what we can do to prevent a recurrence.

In addition to the COTS removal from reefs, the team will also visit a number of unique reef environments, including submerged farus and giris to explore the invertebrate life as and also collect valuable data on the diverse and colourful reef fish communities and larger megafauna such as sharks, manta rays and turtles.  During these dives and COTS removal dives, quantitative transects will be conducted to measure the health of the reefs and patterns of recovery following the 2016 bleaching event.



Working in buddy teams to remove the COTS from the reef, divers will be assisting Coral Reef CPR scientists in all aspects of research, including reef assessment surveys, collection of samples, and removal of crown of thorns starfish, cushion stars and coral eating snails. Across each of the one-week trips, divers will be trained in reef conservation methods and survey approaches, and learn about coral reefs and the vibrant and diverse life found on reefs through nightly workshops and discussions.

“Joining these ‘Rescue a Reef’ expeditions will provide divers with an opportunity to be part of a team who are saving thousands of hectares of reef and preventing the potential for future outbreaks,” the statement read.

The Great Megafauna Migration: Track whale sharks, mantas and turtles


There is a growing school of thought that the Maldivian ‘big three’; whale sharks, manta rays and turtles react to the changes in the monsoon seasons by moving to sites on the leeward side of the atolls. In May 2018, Carpe Novo will become a research platform for biologists from the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme providing them and 20 lucky guests an unprecedented opportunity to explore this phenomenon.

“The goal of this particular Dive with a Purpose expedition is to begin the 2018 southwest season’s data collection, documenting the movements of these iconic yet enigmatic animals,” the statement read.



There are two monsoons in the Maldives, Iruvai as the Maldivians call the northeast monsoon between December and April and Hulhagu, the southwest monsoon from May to November. How quickly these megafauna species transition from sites on the west coasts to sites on the east coast and vice versa is not defined and probably depends on currents and surface weather conditions.

The MWSRP will be setting out on Carpe Novo with the aim of seeking whale sharks, as well as manta rays and sea turtles at differing points amongst the central atolls. Whale sharks, manta rays and turtles will be photo identified, with individuals compared to previous sightings in national level databases to identify movements between locations, both within and between atolls. Equipment will be deployed to gather data on current and surface weather conditions in the hope of gleaning information on how quickly the 2018 season has changed and how the megafauna has reacted to it.

Special attention will be paid to whale sharks which have moved from other atolls, where a fledgling understanding of seasonal cyclic movements can be reinforced by any sightings of 29 individual whale sharks known to be regular inter-atoll travellers.



In areas where whale sharks are prevalent, the MWSRP will explore oceanic conditions in the isolated parts of the atolls where whale sharks are not expected to be sighted through the deployment of temperature and current reading loggers and compare that to data collected in areas where whale sharks would be expected to be seen.

Guests joining this expedition will be offered the opportunity to assist the researchers in the hands on equipment deployment and every data gathering aspect of their work and will be afforded nightly workshops, lectures and discussions on marine life and the leading edge findings from Maldives-specific research on these species.


The Carpe Novo vessel.
Established in 2008, Carpe Diem showcases a collection of three luxury liveaboard cruises, each accommodating 20 guests at a time. Carpe Diem is renowned for delivering a sense of discovery and adventure while enriching guests’ knowledge. The Carpe Diem name has built significant brand recognition within the top echelons of the travel industry for diving and leisure, and is currently developing a resort in the Maldives.

90-Villa Hurawalhi Island Resort Opens in Maldives

The five-star resort, nestled amongst the spectacular coral reefs of the Lhaviyani Atoll, welcomes guests above the age of 15.

During an exhilarating 40-minute scenic seaplane flight from Male, a distinctive collection of villas, comprising 60 over water Ocean Villas and 30 Beach Villas, can be seen on the glittering lagoon.

Measuring between 105 and 132 sqm, the villas are equipped with the latest technology including broadband internet connection, bluetooth sound bar and 48-inch flat screen TV.

Maldives: Hurawalhi Island Resort's under sea restaurant
Dining options at the resort include the scene stealing ‘5.8’ undersea restaurant which is submerged 5.8 meters under the sea. The minimalist-designed restaurant keeps the focus on the outside and rates high on romance, with every table being set for two. The menu concept is a multi-course tasting extravaganza and is available with wine-pairing options recommended by the sommelier.

Coming up for air above the water, the Aquarium Restaurant offers stunning sea views by day and romantic candlelit ambiance by night. Serving a contemporary menu with carefully sourced organic and artisanal ingredients and a Teppanyaki grill, there is a strong emphasis on the freshest local seafood and the finest quality prime beef with delectable sushi, sashimi and tempura.

Overlooking the Indian Ocean, Canneli is where guests can enjoy breakfast. It is also the third option for evening dining, serving international cuisines.

At the end of the Ocean Villa jetty, the Champagne Pavilion is a romantic spot to enjoy Champagne and canapés while the Coco Bar on the beach has an alfresco deck overlooking the lagoon and is perfect for enjoying sunset or after dinner cocktails. The over-water Aquarium Bar adds a third option.

Pool and in-villa dining and private beach dining al fresco under the stars are also available options.

The resort also features a spa, tennis, badminton and beach volleyball, and a sports fishing boat for deep-sea fishing excursions. A diver’s paradise awaits, with guided diving and snorkeling boat trips available and a complete PADI 5-star training center. A plethora of water sports activities include jet skis, para-gliding, water skiing wakeboarding, paddle boarding, windsurfing, kayaks and catamarans.

Airport Lounge

After clearing immigration and customs, guests are greeted by the resort’s airport staff and are escorted to check-in at the TMA seaplane ticket counter, after which they are transported to the TMA Terminal in a private hotel vehicle. A refreshing cold face towel, warm hospitality, beverage and snacks are offering with free Wi-fi while waiting until the sea plane departs.

 The lounge remains open in the late afternoon and evening so guests can relax in comfort until their check-in time for their flight home at the international departure terminal.

 The arrival service is provided free of charge and a nominal fee of US$25 per person is applicable for the departure service.

Environmental Responsibility and Commitment

With a strong environmental focus, Hurawalhi Island Resort is committed to giving  back and protecting its pristine environment.

Using solar panels to generate 60% of its power from sustainable solar energy, its own water bottling plant (hence no plastic bottles are used), energy saving solutions, hot water recovery and its own Marine Biology Centre with an in-house Marine Biologist, Hurawalhi Island Resort’s eco-credentials are impressive to say the least.

In addition, Hurawalhi Island Resort is collaborating with Manta Trust, the marine and conservation specialists. Manta Trust are teaming up with the island’s in-house PADI instructors to provide educational guided dives and snorkeling in the spectacular reefs and shipwrecks nearby. The Island is a nesting site for green turtles and a breeding ground for Manta Rays. Manta Trust is tasked with preserving this natural habitat as well as education visitors on these beautiful and endangered creatures.

UAE superyacht builder Gulf Craft says Maldives offers rich rewards

The UAE luxury boat builder Gulf Craft said today the Maldives offers a major opportunity for the superyacht sector.

And the chief executive of the creator of such dreamboats as the 155-foot Majesty 155 believes the market for large luxury vessels is likely to grow in the Maldives, where Gulf Craft already builds boats and provides the lion’s share of leisure cruisers.

"We see an emerging demand for bigger boats – over 45 feet in length – across the country, and we are investing in our local operations, in terms of both infrastructure and skill-set, to support this growing demand for larger and more luxurious leisure craft," said Erwin Bamps.

Maldivian tour operators are set to benefit from a growing demand from affluent millennial vacationers for luxury cruising experiences, thanks to the increased availability of domestically produced leisure craft, he said.

"The Maldives is host to a booming high-end millennial tourist demographic that is constantly looking for new and exciting ways to spend time on the islands, and offering guests the opportunity to enjoy the country’s vast seascapes from the comfort of a luxury yacht would be the perfect way to help visitors create lasting memories," said Mr Bamps.

Until now, most boats in the Maldives have been used to transport people from one part of the Indian Ocean nation to another, however, Mr Bamps said this trend is rapidly changing, with private operators looking to introduce luxury cruising to enhance the holidaymaking experience for visitors.

For example, the Maldives-based chartersmaldives.com operates the 90ft Anastasia luxury cruiser for guests wishing to experience the atoll’s beauty from the sea.

And with figures from the World Travel and Tourism Council showing that travel and tourism contributes to more than half (52 per cent) of Maldives’ overall GDP, Mr Bamps said the prospect of enabling visitors to explore the exotic coastlines from the water will be of particular interest to the country’s thriving hospitality sector, as the industry continuously strives to expand its experiential offering.

Gulf Craft has been a major contributor of Maldives’ transport infrastructure, and accounts for more than 80 per cent of the country’s boats, most of which consist of the builder’s Touring passenger vessels. It has provided the Maldives with more than 1,000 boats during its 15 years of operations in the country.

In addition to its locally-based manufacturing facility, the company also operates a dedicated marine services centre, ensuring around-the-clock access to support.

Gulf Craft also recently announced a partnership with Ooredoo for the deployment of the GPS-based tracking solution, Ooredoo Locate, on all of its passenger boats. The technology enables owners to keep track of a craft’s location and status via a dedicated mobile app or Web-based portal.

Founded in the UAE in 1982, Gulf Craft offers a wide variety of premium craft, ranging from 27 ft to 155 ft in length.

Book a mammoth Maldivian suite with your own private 24-hour bar

Luxury Maldivian resort OZEN by Atmosphere at Maadhoo, has opened the doors to a 430sqm ‘Over-Water Suite’, which includes an exclusive overwater bar, serviced 24 hours a day!

Positioned at the tip of the pier - and just a stone’s throw from the resort’s underwater restaurant M6m - the OZEN Water Suite offers panoramic views of the expansive turquoise lagoon all-around and can comfortably accommodate 8 people (4 adults + 4 children, or 6 adults + 2 children + maid/nanny).

The Overwater Suite includes three bedrooms, two of which are king sized doubles and one twin bed room. Additionally, there is a fully equipped personal gym, a maid/nannies room with separate access, a kitchenette, ensuite bathrooms, spacious outdoor dining pavilion, a private 35sqm pool and even a tranquil, private sand bank!

Indulgent special touches are in abundance throughout the suite, with fibre-optic mood lighting and sections of glass flooring in the bedrooms revealing the underwater world below and infusing a natural aesthetic. A standalone private bar is also part of the Suite’s complex, which is fully staffed and stocked with an array of beverages, including top shelf wines and champagne.

Taking the level of service one step further, guests will also have their own private butler service throughout their stay here and can relax without the worry of unexpected bills thanks to the Atmosphere Indulgence Plan, which covers dining at any of the resort’s five diverse restaurants, all beverages and non-motorised water sports.

The latest and most presidential addition to OZEN by Atmosphere, which opened in July 2016, the OZEN Water Suite will accompany the existing 89 luxurious stand-alone villas; 41 beach-front ‘Earth’ villas line the coastline of the main island, whilst an additional 48 over-water ‘Wind’ villas sit directly over the lagoon, many of them with their very own Pools. Other recent notable additions include Sub-zen, the resort’s semi-submersible submarine, available for excursions and private hire.

Centara Grand Island Resort And Spa's New Menu Inspires Euphoria With Every Meal

The Club at Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa Maldives launches colourful feasts, presenting an exciting new menu created by Executive Chef Yvan Marclay and Executive Sous Chef Ashish Domme. The resort strives to enchant all club guests with an extraordinary dining experience with these new creations that have bold and eccentric flavors, made with the freshest high-quality produce.

Chef Yvan Marclay, with more than 15 years of experience being in charge of professional kitchens in luxury hotels and resorts in the Middle East and North Africa, brings with him expertise and competence that shows in the exciting revamped menu.

These impressive dishes that distinctly portrays the essence of sophisticated dining were officially introduced on the 21st of November 2016. Dishes that were featured include; Quinoa Couscous with Goat Cheese, Filled Zucchini Flowers, Baby Fennel Tempura, Pomegranate Reduction and Coriander Oil, White Onion Soup Served with Pan Seared Scallops, Salmon Roe and Baby Spinach, Olive Oil Poached Barramundi with Chlorophyll, Dry Fig Risotto, White Balsamic Beurre Blanc and Herbs, along with desserts that were delicious even to the eyes such as Walk On Saturn, Nutella -Hazelnut, White Chocolate-Pistachio Croquet Ice Parfait Served with Trio Sauces.

Their first serving received remarkable reviews from guests who had the privilege of visiting the resort at that time. Executive Chef Marclay said “These comments on the new dishes are the best feedback we’ve ever received. Some English guests told us our new dishes were the best they ever experienced”.

The Executive Sous Chef Domme also added that “An Australian couple told me that they had never had anything this amazing before and this was like spending 500 Australian dollars to dine at one of Sydney’s top restaurants”.

The two notable chefs have explained that their focus is on trying to take a modern and healthy approach on creating the dishes. They aim to create dishes full of flavour that are also aesthetically pleasing - and they really are! The dishes are available all day at The Club, Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa Maldives, it is really worth trying.

5 Things Newlyweds Shouldn't Miss Out When In Maldives

Maldives is probably one of the most popular honeymoon destinations out there. But there are just a lot of things to do in Maldives that sometimes you can't decide what to do first. For those couples planning for their honeymoons, here are 5 things newlyweds shouldn't miss out when in Maldives.

Underwater Adventures

According to Travel Triangle, there's nothing more enjoyable than to swim with whale sharks and manta rays with your loved one. There's also a lot of stunning coral reefs and beautiful marine life in Maldives so it's something that should be on your list.

Island Hopping

Maldives has about 1192 coral islands so why not go island hopping during your stay. Each island is unique on its own with so many attractions to offer so try to stay at different resorts in each island. According to Overwater Bungalows, there are lots of island resorts like the Cocoa Island resort, Baros Resort, Mirihi Island Resort and Veligandu Resort.

Spending The Night At The Glowing Beach

If you want a magical experience with your loved one, the glowing beach of Vaadhoo Island is a must see. You could just spend the whole night staring at the glowing tides of the sea. The island is just next to the airport so it should be on your itinerary.

Country Cruisin

There are different kinds of accommodations when you're in Maldives and one good option is to try a cruise with your partner. The ship will take you to destinations that are also worth seeing while you enjoy your stay in a classy cruise on the sea.

Try The Dhoni Cruise

If you prefer a more traditional kind of cruise, then the Dhoni Cruise is a must try. It's a boat made out of coconut palm wood and it will take you to places where you can taste delicious seafood and enjoy bird watching with your partner.

These 5 things newlyweds shouldn't miss when in Maldives should be on your itinerary if you're already booked for a stay in this beautiful country. It's definitely an unforgettable experience that you will enjoy with your partner.

It’s time you tried diving in the Maldives

I’m floating through the water when a boulder-sized rock beneath me begins to move.

Startled, I struggle to turn my body around in the water. As the rock continues to rise, I notice two pairs of coffee-coloured fins protruding on either side. The wizened grimace of the turtle confronts me, decides I’m not worth bothering with, and begins propelling itself towards the open ocean. Diving brings some hairy moments, but it’s safe to say that this isn’t one of them.

I’d never thought of turtles as elegant before. But watching this graceful creature gently flap its fins reminds me of a bird at soaring great height. I follow the turtle as it zig-zags up and down, first toward the seabed and then up toward the light. All I can hear is the steady, muffled exhalations of my respirator mouthpiece. My turtle swims on, totally unperturbed by my spellbound presence. He’s got better things to do. 

The Maldives might be synonymous with smitten honeymooners, but I’m here to discover the archipelago’s world-class diving spots. Celebrated for its clear, pristine water and diverse marine life, the Maldives boasts near-perfect conditions for divers. Coral reefs teeming with exotically decorated fish ring many of the islands, so you’re never far from the magnificent show of the underwater world.

Our resort, OBLU, occupies an island in the North Male Atoll, whose house reef is particularly impressive. Founded by Atmosphere, OBLU specialises in giving guests unparalleled access to the waters. OBLU’s idyllic, palm tree-lined island is less than an hour from Maldives airport by speedboat. Cruising through the ocean with the wind whipping through my hair, it doesn’t take me long to conclude that it’s the best airport transfer I’ve ever experienced.

With its own diving centre and in-house instructors, OBLU is a great place for beginners to get into diving. As a first-time diver I’m especially interested in the quality of the instructors at OBLU, and I’m impressed. Simone and Davide, both experienced, both French, both tanned the colour of cafe au lait, prove to be unflappable guides.

After landing on a particularly blistering afternoon, we’re greeted with some welcome cocktails in the airy, high-ceilinged reception lounge. From here you can gaze on as the boats bobbing in the blue of the bay make their way out to sea, to catch the day’s fish or take a group of guests snorkelling on one of the nearby islands.

After an eleven-hour journey and stop-over in Dubai, I’m glad to be shown to my villa. OBLU offer over one hundred villas across four categories, spread out across the island. As a ‘lagoon’ villa, mine features a private infinity pool and steps leading directly into the ocean. At night, you can sit on your decking watching the reef sharks searching for food, patterns of light illuminating the seabed like the glamorous floor of a ballroom.

A five-minute stroll beneath the shadows of the palm-leaves brings you to Spice, the island’s main restaurant. With sand under your feet and vast ocean views on three sides of the dining room, the best qualities of the Maldives are brought directly to the tabletop.

And it’s not just the scenery. Chefs from Sri Lanka, Mongolia and of course the Maldives itself whip up some mouthwatering dishes. A dedicated fish bar invites guests to choose which freshly caught fish they’d like, before it’s fried in front of their eyes. A curry station tempts me in with its promising heaps of amber and ochre-coloured spices, the aroma of cumin drawing me near and keeps me lingering until a spicy prawn curry is ready.

A self-service buffet style helps to maintain the informal vibe, and the choice is fantastic. For breakfast, diners can choose anything from eggs and bacon to Belgian waffles, with some fragrant fish curries for those after something more authentic. And after you’ve made your last trip to the buffet, you can wander next door to Helen’s Bar. Sitting in the shade, looking out at the ocean with a drink in your hand – it’s an attractive offer, and one which we end up accepting every day after lunch.

Of course, all this relaxation and comfort is nice enough, but it’s even better after a long day of watersports. As well as offering some fantastic diving, there’s also snorkelling and parasailing. The latter is the only one that’s weather-dependent, and as luck would have it a storm blows in and rattles the island on the one afternoon we’d set aside for parasailing.

“Don’t worry” says Dhiley, our Maldivian guide. “We’ll wait until it passes. It won’t last a long time, I can tell”

As with many things on the island, Dhiley is right, and within a couple of hours we’re tearing across the newly-calm ocean, preparing to take flight. One by one, we’re fastened to the ropes and hinges of the red parachute, ready to be hoisted into the sky. Seated on the tail of the boat, parachute beginning to billow threateningly behind me, I feel a tug on my back as my feet begin to drag across the boat. I’m lifted into the sky like a rag doll, drifting away like an untethered balloon.

Parasailing looks intense, but the one thing you take away from the experience is the peacefulness. Up there in the sky, the only sound you hear is the distant whine of the speedboat as you watch the sea foaming in its wake. Suddenly I find myself spontaneously singing I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles, favourite of West Ham fans and hopeless nostalgics. I blame altitude sickness.

Diving, however, demands far more concentration. Something inside of you rebels at the thought of stuffing your feet into oversized, unwieldy flippers and jumping into the sea with surprisingly heavy tank on your back. Even once you find yourself miraculously breathing underwater, your body struggles instinctively toward the surface,

“Relax” Davide the instructor soothes me. “If you’re breathing so fast, in out in out, you will not enjoy it. Scuba is all about breathing. If you get the breathing right, everything else will go perfectly”

A few deep breaths later, of the calm-down-everything’s-going-to-be-okay sort, and I’m settling into it. Look: a school of clownfish inspects a rock. Look: an eel peers menacingly through the coral. Look: a reef shark swims innocuously past. There’s so much to see. Every glance reveals something new.

After practising underwater signalling and how to use our masks properly, we descend deeper into the ocean. The light doesn’t penetrate as far, and the water feels colder and thicker somehow. Luminous, brain-shaped mounds of coral mask ungainly, otherworldly creatures. You get the sense that down here, little has changed in hundreds of years.

With a military-esque swish of his pointed fingers, Davide indicates that we should follow him. We drift along to the restful sounds of our ponderous breaths, each one tinged with relief that I’m not choking on saltwater. We drift past shoals of silvery trout, their movements in sync as though they were individual scales of one enormous fish.

Davide drifts towards a rock, and points to a dark patch beneath it. We peer within. Two long antennae rise from the blackness. A monstrous lobster slowly peers back at us.. Every breath sounds like a drawn-out gasp when you’re diving, but this is a breathtaking sight. Soon the antennae disappear again, as though they were never there at all. I turn and leave him in peace.

Swallowing to prevent the painful pressure from building in my ear, I swim through a torrent of multicoloured fish. My limbs brush against their bright fins as I swim past, the fish totally unafraid of these odd interlopers. A crab passes silently underfoot, its movements careful and tentative, as though it suspected the ground to crumble beneath from beneath it at any moment.

Although the OBLU island is small, day trips and excursions to neighbouring islets give you a sense of the spaciousness of the Indian Ocean: the whole island archipelago is spread over 35,000 square miles.  On the midweek morning of our sojourn to an uninhabited atoll, I’m excited to see a wooden ship, reminiscent of a Greek trireme, pull its pointy brow into OBLU’s harbour. Within minutes we’re skipping along the waves, as passengers gaze across the ocean and sun themselves on the boat’s top deck.

The island we visit could have been lifted straight from the imagination. Palm-lined corridors of shade open out to pristine beaches of white sand, disturbed only by the tentative pilgrimages of crabs and the lapping of the waves. Beneath the forest canopy which shelters the centre of the island, our Maldivian guides light a barbecue: the day’s catch is waiting to be grilled. Meanwhile Dhiley and I kick a football around. Dhiley’s a keen Man United fan who rarely misses a game, and his tricks put mine to shame. After a stray kick sends the ball bouncing away into the bushes, we’re summoned to a barbecue beneath the trees. Running about in the heat, even as ineffectually as I was, makes you hungry.

With the days spent beneath the glittering water and the nights spent lingering over island cuisine beside the ocean, a week goes by very quickly in the Maldives. Our final evening is spent at Just Grill, the island’s a-la-carte restaurant. With tables scattered between a sandy beach and a thatched roof outpost at the tip of a pier, every diner is treated to magnificent views.

At night, the candlelight illuminates the grilled silver skin of fresh fish and green bursts of salad. You could quite happily visit OBLU and dine every day in the inclusive Spice buffet, but the delicious seclusion of Just Grill is an unmissable experience. Over traditional island fare of dorado, shrimp and chicken, we say a final goodbye to the moonlit beach, and raise a toast to the islanders – and, of course, to the cast of creatures beneath the water who make the diving so special.

 Words: Chris Zacharia

Enjoy Maldives nature at its most beautiful

Once upon a time, in an archipelago surrounded by the clearest blue water, there were only honeymooners. The Maldives used to be a destination mainly for those in love, just married or celebrating anniversaries, but not anymore.

This year has seen a flurry of new hotels from local and international developers keen to attract a wider range of guests, from families to groups of friends and younger visitors.

Nowhere does this better than Finolhu, which opened in July. Think vintage-inspired beach shacks serving crab and buckets of prawns, retro touches and quirky Instagram-ready signs on the quiet Baa atoll, half an hour plane ride from Male.

From vintage-style Marshall amps in the rooms, to al-fresco treatment divans in the spa inspired by 1970s divas, and a Milk Bar serving up avocado on toast and healthy smoothies, this is a fun shakeup of what a Maldives resort should be.

At Amilla Fushi, they are playing to the Maldives’ amazing weather and gorgeous island scapes as a perfect place to focus on wellness. This year, they have created five private ‘wellness tree houses’ (collaborating with Bodyism), which encompass a bedroom, bathroom, and your own spa and infinity pool. You can go for a digital detox, arrange a yoga program, or just eat clean with your own healthy minibar and meals.

If you want to catch a few breaks, head to Gili Lankanfushi on the North Male atoll, which has set itself up as the place to learn to surf. The resort shares its reef with the famous Jails surf break, which attracts the best of the surf crowd each surf season (April to October).

There are more beginner-friendly breaks a 10-minute boat ride from the resort, and the hotel has teamed up with Tropicsurf to offer both group and private surf lessons all year round. The calm lagoon is perfect for newbies, while keen learners can head out to the Ninjas break.

Other resorts focus on giving something back to the environment and teaching guests about marine conservation. At Baros, the original (and still extremely luxurious) Maldives resort, visitors can spend time with the onsite marine biologists and see how the island is creating its own coral reef out of guest-sponsored ‘trays’ that attract octopus, batfish and surgeonfish.

Hurawalhi will open in November, and is also looking to attract the eco-interested guest. Some 60 percent of the island will be solar-powered, and it has its own water-bottling plant and food-recycling program already in place. It has partnered with Wise Oceans to support research into local manta ray populations.

Recognizing that the Maldives is an extremely fragile ecosystem, the hotel is wearing its green heart on its sleeve, something that more and more travellers expect to see, without losing any of the luxury touches you would expect in the Maldives.

Maldives resort offered exclusive access to new rooms to UK divers

Maldives-based Eriyadu Resort is offering exclusive access to its newly completed Beach Club rooms to UK divers booking with Regaldive.

The resort's 16 Beach Club rooms are in a two-storey block and boast panoramic views. Just minutes away from the main restaurant and dive centre, the Beach Club rooms are in a prime location.

Located on North Male Atoll, Eriyadu Island offers a relaxed, comfortable atmosphere and wonderful diving. The house reef around Eriyadu is breath-taking and offers a wide variety of marine life with more than 350 different species of fish.

Some of the most spectacular dive sites in the Maldives are located nearby, making the island a diver's paradise.

Kuoni backs Maldives dive clean-up

Tour operator Kuoni has teamed up with a resort in the Maldives to carry out a dive clean-up as part of Make Holidays Greener month.

Instead of a traditional beach clean-up, Kuoni and the Kuramathi Island Resort are holding a clean-up of diving areas on Friday (July 15).

The dive clean-up is being organised from the resort’s main dive school with volunteers collecting debris and rubbish underwear around the resort’s reef.

 

Kuoni reps Darryl Dyer and Joe Kendel, who are both qualified advanced divers, will be among those taking part in the reef clean-up.

 

This will be followed on Saturday (July 16) by a presentation on underwater plastic pollution at the resort’s eco centre by Kuramathi’s resident marine biologist, which will include advice on how to prevent this type of pollution.

 

Kuramathi Island Resort is a Travelife Gold member and is sold exclusively by Kuoni in the UK market.

 

This year’s Make Holidays Greener month is being run by Abta and one of the main initiatives involves beach cleans at resorts around the world.

Luxury restaurants go under the sea

Nowadays it’s no longer enough to wine and dine in the tallest skyscrapers in order to prove your upper-class bona fides. Apparently, you need to go deep, too.

Next month, luxury-seekers will find another reason to revisit the Maldives with the opening of the 5.8 Undersea Restaurant. Part of the expansion of the five-star Hurawalhi Resort, it is being billed as the world’s largest underwater restaurant.

It’s yet another feather on the proverbial cap for tourism in the Maldives, a trailblazing destination in the field of underwater hospitality. The 5.8 Undersea Restaurant will open on the heels of two submarine Maldivian restaurants: the Ithaa at the Conrad Maldives and the Subsix at Niyama.

In addition to 360-degree views of marine life, Hurawalhi’s restaurant will come with its own wine cellar. The Maldivian resort of Anantara Kihavah opened a dedicated wine cellar under the sea in 2011.

While not every atoll or isle is cut out to be the next trendy submarine restaurant, the Maldives has the perfect synergy of factors favouring such a “niche product,” according to Nihat Ercan, executive vice-president for investment sales at Jones Lang LaSalle.

“The Maldives works very well for the underwater concept,” Ercan said. “Tourism there is generally based on the principle that one island hosts one resort.”

More: Only in Dubai… it’s the world’s first underwater tennis court

On that note, India’s pioneering underwater resto, the Real Poseidon, was shut down shortly after launch, due to building code violations and safety risks.

Developers around the world have been trying, with various degrees of success, to replicate the concept on lodging. In Florida, an underwater laboratory was converted into Jules’ Undersea Lodge, which guests can access only by scuba-diving 21 feet into Key Largo waters. Off Pemba Island in Zanzibar, the Manta Resort offers the Underwater Room, a submerged bedroom in a floating house.

Surprisingly, it’s an idea that makes business sense. According to Ercan, underwater rooms are cheaper to develop than overwater villas. The key lies in prefabricated the structures on land and then submerging them later.

The Ithaa restaurant was pre-constructed in Singapore for USD5 million before it was cast into the Indian Ocean in 2005.

More: Architect gets eco-political with new underwater city design

Unlike underwater restaurants, a fully underwater hotel seems to be an idea that doesn’t hold water, so to speak. Plans to build the Hydropolis Hotel in Dubai and the Poseidon Resort in Fiji, both of which feature multiple submarine rooms, are now figuratively dead in the water.

For now, visitors to Dubai can make do with the Poseidon and Neptune suites at the Atlantis hotel, which gives the semblance of a submarine environment through “windows” that are actually the panes of the hotel’s larger-than-life aquarium. Similarly, guests at the 11 Ocean Suites in Singapore can sleep in rooms that share walls with the massive South East Asia Aquarium, the largest oceanarium in the world.

While it’s still years before most people come to sleep underwater, it’s clearly becoming evident that when it comes to eating out with class and attitude, you don’t keep your head above water.

Get a glimpse of what to expect here:

Malaika Arora Khan sizzles in bikini on the beaches of Maldives

Malaika Arora Khan, who is enjoying a much needed break post the completion of India's Got Talent, was sizzling in a burnt yellow bikini on the beaches of Maldives.

Malaika was seen having some fun and trying out yoga postures in the middle of the sea with none other than her son Arhaan.

The mother-son duo can be seen sitting on a surfing board trying yoga asanas.

ALSO READ: Is IGT judge Malaika Arora Khan back with husband Arbaaz?

Yummy mummy Malaika wrote on Instagram: "Wat a perfect way to start ur day......SUP yoga in the middle of the blue sea.thank u @fsmaldives for this unreal experience #standuppaddle #yoga#kudahuraa #fourseasonsresort #maldives"

Malaika, who is known for her famous item numbers Chaiyya Chaiyya, Munni Badnam, is known to a fantabulous figure. In another picture, the actress looks perfect in a blue monokini.

And in the next she can be seen having fun snorkelling. "I love the ocean ....... #maldives #snorkeling #fourseasonsresort #kudahuraa @fsmaldives 📸 credit@@waseemshaikh3"

And the mommie dearest was joined by her teenage son as they explored the deep ocean and its marine life.

At the first annual World Luxury Restaurant Awards, Conrad Maldives Rangali Island wins seven awards

Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, is delighted to be the recipient of seven prestigious accolades at the Annual World Luxury Restaurant Awards, held at The Grand Kronenhof Hotel in Pontresina on June 18, 2016.
In recognition of the resort’s outstanding food and beverage offerings, Conrad Maldives Rangali Island was awarded the following accolades at the World Luxury Restaurant Awards:

• Mandhoo Spa Restaurant – Country Winner for ‘Luxury Scenic Setting’
• Ufaa by Jereme Leung – Country Winner for Chinese Cuisine, Continent Winner for Best Head Chef
• Ithaa Undersea Restaurant – Country Winner for ‘Fine Dining Cuisine’, Global Winner for ‘Luxury Scenic Setting’
• Vilu Restaurant – Country Winner for ‘Best Wine Selection’, Finalist for ‘Fine Dining Cuisine’
• Koko Grill – Country Winner for ‘Ambience/Romantic Atmosphere’

Recognised globally for its excellent food and beverage offerings at its 12 restaurants and bars, Conrad Maldives Rangali Island is a true gourmand’s delight, providing an array of international cuisines in a truly inspired setting. Conrad Maldives is world renowned for setting benchmarks in resort dining in the Maldives, being the first to create an undersea restaurant, Ithaa, the first to build an underground wine cellar, the first to establish a cheese bar, and the first to invite world-class chefs and winemakers to its islands.

With 78 categories, the World Luxury Restaurant Awards recognises restaurants across the globe for their culinary excellence and memorable experiences, as well as assessing the quality of the atmosphere and service. The awards aim to provide luxury restaurants with increased recognition, as well as introduce them to potential new guests, both local and international. Votes come from both guests and industry experts, thus providing a balanced and unbiased outcome based on the food experience as a whole.

Conrad Maldives Rangali Island is delighted to add these awards to its growing list of accolades received in 2016, with the resort’s commitment to excellence also demonstrated through its success at the World Travel Awards earlier this year, where it was recognised in two highly coveted categories: ‘Indian Ocean’s Leading Hotel’ and ‘Maldives’ Leading Water Villa Resort’. These awards were voted for by travel and tourism professionals worldwide and recognise hotel leaders across the globe.

Conrad Maldives Rangali Island offers the popular Conrad Concierge mobile app, which gives global luxury travellers the ability to customise details of their hotel stay before, during, and after each visit via a smartphone or tablet. Whether it’s pre-selecting bath amenities or checking in while in-transit from the airport, guests can access a variety of features by using the app.

Conrad Maldives Rangali Island also participates in Hilton HHonors®, the only guest loyalty program where guests who book directly through www.conradhotels.com have access to benefits including the digital Conrad Concierge app and complimentary Wi-Fi at 26  Conrad hotels.

Magic of Maldives which will you fall in love again – travel story

It's still a top choice for most honeymooners, but which Maldives resorts are the ones to really fall in love with? We visit the five-star Velassaru and recommend other top spots.

As I sink back into a turquoise beanbag almost the same colour as the glistening Indian Ocean ahead of me, I relish the silence and seclusion of my secret island escape.

Only days earlier, we'd arrived at Velassaru, an elegant boutique resort that can easily be reached in 25 minutes by speedboat from Maldivian capital Male. But as it turns out, my husband has even greater treats in store.

A romantic adventure

Armed with snorkelling equipment, bean bags, a glamorous muslin tent and luxury hamper, we head to a private island for a romantic adventure.

While we swim in the water, our talented crew create a cabana with bamboo poles to shade us from the midday sun, and prepare a picnic of champagne, sushi and sashimi.

Looking out across crystal clear waters, we sip bubbly and get to grips with our chopsticks, as small sand crabs gatecrash our private party.

Sleek and laid-back

It's just one of many romantic moments during our stay at Velassaru.

The resort itself has a laid-back vibe and sleek, modern furnishings with a palette of white and turquoise.

There's a beautiful infinity pool framed by hammocks strung between coconut trees, but we prefer the privacy of our luxury beach villa with uninterrupted views of the lagoon.

The beach is only metres away, and every day we snorkel along a house reef teeming with tropical fish.

Intimate dining experience

Come nightfall, the 21-acre coral island gears up for intimate dining experiences that make you want to fall in love all over again.

Out of a choice of five restaurants, our favorite is Sand, where we dine under a private beach pavilion lit by torches and candlelight.

While burying our toes in the sand, we enjoy culinary delights such as king prawns and fillet steak from the stone grill, finishing off with an exquisite chocolate dessert.

One night, our seats and table have even been sculpted in the sand, with seawater used as glue to seal our sunken thrones.

With a menu of Australian beef, local reef fish and Maldivian tuna, along with a good bottle of red from Velassaru's library of fine wines, we're almost tempted to start building castles in the sand, in the hope we might stay forever.

Best of the rest

Best for intimacy: Kandolhu

Pretty and petite with a chic tropical island atmosphere, Kandolhu is a luxurious paradise hideaway that's 25 minutes by seaplane from Male.

Thirty villas make up the resort, dotted around the lush vegetation or overlooking the ocean - all offering an intimate island experience without sacrificing the dining options or activity choices you would expect in some of the larger, flashier resorts.

It takes about 10 minutes to stroll around the island, walking barefoot along sandy paths shaded by coconut trees as butterflies flit past, so there's no chance of losing your way.

Kandolhu's 90sqm water villas are a Maldivian dream and feature a king-size bed, a day bed, private sun deck, plunge pool and free-standing bathtub. Step straight down into the balmy sea to snorkel among schools of tropical fish.

Although the resort is small, there's still a choice of four restaurants serving a la carte international food, Italian dishes, freshly caught seafood and teppanyaki.

There's also an option to book a canape sunset dolphin cruise on the resort's sailing yacht.

Best for all-inclusive: Kuramathi

Kuramathi, one of the first resorts to open in the Maldives in 1975, has had a revamp and now offers five villa types in addition to its great value all-inclusive packages.

A 20-minute seaplane journey from Male, this large-scale resort has seven bars, three buffet restaurants and nine a la carte restaurants, with options such as a Romance or Lobster Dinner served in a private corner of the beach.

Along with a wide choice of beach houses and water villas, its new sunset villas are set on the secluded tip of the island, near the long stretch of its famous 1km sandbank. The most romantic is the sunset water villa with an 18sqm pool and steps down to turquoise waters.

New restaurants on site include Kobe, where diners can eat teppanyaki cuisine while suspended above the water, Inguru, serving Asian fusion, and the Champagne Loft, which has glorious views of the Indian Ocean.

Beyond the wining and dining, if you head to the spa for a treatment in one of the over-water pavilions, your ritual will be serenaded by the sound of the sea. A highlight is the hydropool suspended over the blue lagoon.

Coral Protection and Regeneration Programme Launches by Anantara in Maldives

With four luxury resorts in Maldives - Anantara Kihavah Villas, Anantara Dhigu Maldives Resort, Anantara Veli Maldives Resort and Naladhu Maldives - guests can take their pick from some of the best locations and experiences in the Indian Ocean, including getting up close and personal with the local marine life and vibrant coral reefs, snorkelling with manta rays in an UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, free diving with whale sharks or cruising the house reef 18 metres below the surface, just a few strokes out from the shoreline.

In line with the philosophy that environmental responsibility begins at home, the Anantara team in Maldives has joined forces with marine biologists from Coral Reef CPR - conservationists, biologists and ecologists whose mission is to reduce threats and promote sustainable management and rehabilitation of reef ecosystems - to develop ways to protect the coral ahead of the anticipated environmental stresses of El Niño, a climate cycle that has a global impact on weather patterns.

Led by Chief Scientist, Dr. Andrew Bruckner, the five-year programme, Holistic Approach to Reef Protection or ‘HARP’, encompasses practical environmental protection and marine education with the goal of limiting potential damage to the reefs in Maldives and ensuring the coral reefs continue to not only survive, but to thrive.

 As well as Anantara taking its responsibility to the local environment very seriously, the programme will also ensure that guests at each resort – as well as the local community – can continue to enjoy the spectacular world beneath the waterline for many years to come.

Corals in Maldives

Extending across the expansive Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean, Maldives is a country of atolls; small coral islands encircled by azure lagoons. Unique to Maldives, luxury resorts are the sole occupants of each island, providing a truly private and unique experience. Coral reefs beneath the shimmering waters of Maldives protect the pristine beaches and guard the crystal-clear lagoons. They also support an astounding array of tropical fish, crustaceans and bizarre-looking molluscs. But for all of its beauty and apparent resilience, coral is a sensitive organism, vulnerable to extreme weather, sudden environmental changes, the effects of global climate change, as well as outbreaks of coral predators.

Principal investigator and lead scientist with Coral Reef CPR, Dr. Andrew Bruckner, said, “Some reefs in Maldives are experiencing unusually high water temperatures which is causing coral bleaching. These coral animals contain symbiotic single-celled algae within their tissues, which provide the coral with up to 90% of its energy. Once stressed, the coral expels these algae, causing them to turn completely white. If algae loss is prolonged and the stress continues, corals can die. But it’s not all doom and gloom, when a coral turns white, it is not dead and if the stress-caused bleaching is not severe, coral can recover.”

Director of Conservation for Minor Hotels, John Roberts, elaborates further, “On their first visit in October 2015 the visiting marine biologists performed a major Crown of Thorns Starfish removal from the reefs surrounding Anantara resorts in South Male Atoll. In the process, the scientists helped save a great reef on Anantara Veli Resort, which is now also proving most resilient to current bleaching. As part of those efforts last year, Coral Reef CPR and Anantara have produced a manual to distribute throughout the country outlining best practice should there be another Crown of Thorns Starfish outbreak.”

Holistic Approach To Reef Protection (HARP)

Currently all project work undertaken in Maldives by Coral Reef CPR for HARP is funded by the Anantara initiative ‘Dollars For Deeds’, whereby Anantara guests are invited to donate one dollar for each night of their stay, which is then matched dollar for dollar by Minor Hotels Group.

Dollars for Deeds funds raised in Maldives are committed over the coming five years to three key focus areas: protection of marine and coastal environments; environmental education; and community welfare.

In January this year, Coral Reef CPR returned to Maldives for the first of four monitoring phases throughout 2016. Ten monitoring stations were set up on coral reefs surrounding Anantara resorts in South Male Atoll and Baa Atoll, with the purpose of evaluating the water conditions and marine populations before, during and post 2016 El Niño phenomena.

 Already widely reported by international media across the globe as being the longest El Niño on record, during Coral Reef CPR’s second visit to Maldives in April this year, promising results have been extracted from the monitoring stations, despite some alarming findings.

“Since the beginning of March, temperatures on the reef have exceeded 30°C and they remained above 31°C during April, reaching 32 - 33 °C in lagoonal environments,” explained Dr. Andrew Bruckner. “Under normal conditions, sea water temperatures should be 3-4 degrees cooler at depth but these high temperatures are extending beyond 35 metres depth. These high water temperatures are due to an unprecedented El Niño event which is now in its second year. Simultaneously the sea has been unusually calm which has allowed excessive levels of UV light radiation to penetrate the reefs.”

“Due to stressful conditions corals in some areas in Maldives began to pale in colour at the beginning of April and several sensitive species bleached white. By mid-April between 60-80% of corals on the reef we were monitoring were fully bleached or a very light yellow in colour. In certain shallow lagoonal environments bleaching was much more severe, and sensitive corals were affected. On a positive note, by the end of April temperatures on Baa Atoll had begun to decline and there was very little coral mortality on the outer reefs,” he said.

Super Corals

Through this research some surprising and exciting revelations have been discovered. Georgia Coward, Project Manager and Fishery Biologist with Coral Reef CPR said, “Although the level of bleaching is similar to that reported during previous El Niño events and is comparable to reports from other countries, we have observed a number of colonies of each species that have proven resistant to changing conditions, possibly by producing protective fluorescent pigments. Similarly certain colonies have not bleached at all despite being located adjacent to corals of the same species that bleached severely. We refer to these as “super corals” and feel that these may have adapted to elevated sea temperatures. Over the coming months we will be analysing extracts taken from the super corals and other coral species in laboratory conditions, as well as looking closely at the fish population reports surrounding them.”

Looking Forward

The third and fourth phases of the HARP Programme with Anantara involve creating a coral nursery to assist in the rehabilitation of degraded and damaged reefs. Through coral mariculture, when the scientists return in July and October 2016, small branches from the identified super corals will be extracted and propagated. Once matured, these corals will be transplanted back on to the reef.

During the visits from Coral Reef CPR scientists, guests at the Anantara resorts in both South Male Atoll and Baa Atoll can enhance their diving and snorkelling experiences by joining the marine biologists on their excursions, and participate in Anantara’s endeavours to keep the reefs healthy and vibrant for generations to enjoy.

Future visits from Dr. Andrew Bruckner, Georgia Coward and other Coral Reef CPR scientists are set for the end of July until mid-August 2016 and October 2016.