Top 10 things to do in Maldives

The Maldives is one of the leading scuba diving destinations on earth and if there is one place you need to give it a try, it’s here. There are many affordable PADI dive centres where you can take a discovery dive if you are not certified. All dive centres offer an introductory lesson to help guests decide if they feel confident enough to proceed with training.  For those who haven’t the time to take the complete course, some dive centres offer an introductory course (theoretical and practical) of four lessons including training in shallow water (sometimes in the resort’s swimming pool) and a supervised fun dive at the resort’s house reef.

To ensure safety during snorkelling, swimmers should determine where to enter and where to leave the water, check the tides and watch the current, always inform friends about your snorkel route and never snorkel alone. It is also important to drink enough water to avoid dehydration. When in the water close to a resort, watch out for motorboats, check your position from time to time and leave the sea before sunset. Also, help preserve the environment by not touching or taking corals and shells or feeding fish. Snorkeling is a good and inexpensive introduction to the glorious colors to be seen underwater. Unlike the fish you’re watching, you’ll soon be hooked.

The Maldives is home to 21 species of whale and dolphin and they are frequently sighted as they cross in the channels from one side of an atoll to another.Spinner Dolphins are the commonest species, and they occur here in their tens of thousands. They have a regular daily routine to their lives, feeding offshore at night, coming into the atolls in the early morning, and leaving again for the open ocean in the late afternoon. They are sometimes spotted during the crossing from the airport to Male’. Many resorts organise cruises to the sea-lanes that dolphins regularly use, and independent dolphin watching cruises by dhoni can be arranged by the accommodation provider.

Most resorts have canoes available to enjoy for entertainment and pleasure. Around the resorts, the sea is often shallow and this makes it a safe and fun activity for the whole family. When canoeing always wear a life jacket and a heavy dose of sunscreen. If it is not too windy, a hat will be a good idea as well. A catamaran is a watercraft that has two parallel hulls of equal size. The sails are in the middle. There are plenty of options for catamaran outings – if you are experienced you may want to rent a catamaran yourself and take it out with your family and friends. Most visitors to the Maldives charter a catamaran for an outing and are accompanied by a guide and crew.

Less than a third of resort watersports centres have facilities for parasailing and it is a thrilling, but demanding watersport. The participant is towed behind a boat while harnessed to a specially designed canopy wing, the parasail. As the boat gains speed, the wind catches the parasail and it, and the participant soar above the waves. The Maldives is famous around the world for its extreme surfing and there are several surfing areas within the atolls, with Male’ Atoll being the most convenient because of proximity to the airport and for boat transfers from Male’. Great surfing is possible between April and October when three good swells come each month, lasting a couple of days, and the best thing is that these are off-shore. Waves are commonly 2m high.

Jet skis are a bit like motorbikes as they roar across the water leaving spray and foam in their wake. It’s a fun ride clinging to the Jet Ski’s driver or taking over the controls. Kayaking is a fun and rejuvenating activity to take up on your trip to Maldives. The island is extremely popular for its water sports, kayaking being one of them. In this activity, one is required to paddle a small boat known as a kayak, using a double-bladed oar. The specialty of these boats is that they sit low in the water so you can experience every little turn of the water. Most of the resorts have provisions for kayaking, which generally include a kayak, oar and a guide. The activity does not cost a lot, and the experience of driving your kayak on your own in the blue ocean waters is thrilling.

The Maldives is great for stand up paddle boarding (SUP), because most islands are surrounded by calm shallow waters that only ebb and flow with the rising tides. You can paddle along in safe bays with water so clear you can see fish swimming right below your boards. Kite surfing is a surface watersport that combines all the thrills of wakeboarding, windsurfing, paragliding, skateboarding and gymnastics in an extreme sport demanding strength and agility. The kite surfer harnesses the power of the wind by hanging on to a large, controllable kite that sweeps across the water according the wind’s force.

Most spa therapists at the resorts have long experience observing the effectiveness of the treatments and products available so they can offer the best. For instance, Anti-Ageing facial therapies usually have the same techniques and ways for a basic facial. What’s different in the Maldives is that the ingredients used during the course of the treatment are chosen to treat a sun-stressed or mature skin according to the patient’s age, to achieve a joyful sense of rejuvenation. Spa therapists are experienced in infusing universal remedies with natural, botanical, sea and herb based products to inspire a unique experience to balance mind, body and spirit.

If you want a honeymoon that’s exclusively yours, the Maldives is ideal. These picture-perfect islands are a real-life desert-island fantasy with accommodation that is secluded and guarantees privacy. The splendor of the accommodation lives up to all you expect on a honeymoon. Elegant overwater villas on columns above the lagoon are especially popular with honeymooners because of their romantic location away from it all. Many come with open-to-the-stars bathrooms, private plunge pools and steps directly down into the lagoon. From the balcony, views stretch to the far horizon as the moon bathes you and your partner in its seductive glow.

One of the greatest pleasures in the Maldives, after the sunbathing and snorkelling, is eating. While resorts spoil their guests with international cuisine and gargantuan buffets, most of them also offer a taste of typical Maldivian cuisine. This naturally includes what is plentiful on the islands: fish and coconuts in a variety of preparations. Chicken is the main alternative to fish and is usually prepared in a curry boosted with coconut milk to bring out the flavors’. Maldivians enjoy fish, usually tuna, for virtually every meal of the day. Combined with onions, chillies, coconut, lime juice and rice, fish forms the basic diet. The tuna can be freshly caught or it could be smoked and sun-dried (called “hikimas”) or only smoked (“valhoamas”).