I always wonder to see the turquoise crystal clear water
I always wonder how the salty hair and the sun-kissed skin on my entire body
I always wonder how the salty hair and the sun-kissed skin on my entire body
I always wonder the feeling surrounded by hundred fishes
...and at the beginning of 2016, I wonder if I can stay longer to enjoy those feels in Maldives.
5 days in the islands, without mall, without cafe, without any public transportation, without the city hustle bustle like I've been living currently at Singapore. This is change my life, totally.
5 days only me and my husband, without waking up early morning to make him breakfast or sleeping very late because wait him comeback home, without only books or TV, or radio, only me and him. Was this honeymoon? Yes it was.
Thanks God, we have so plenty time to be together, replacing the lack of the time in between his super busy and tiring work. Definitely gonna miss this kind of time soon if there're babies already (like they said!)
So, our kind of honeymoon at Four Seasons Resorts Maldives at Kuda Huraa begin with as we landed at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport and wait at the Four Seasons Resort Maldives's private air-conditioned waiting room, the friendly staff offer the cold towel and a cup or coffee or tea and the fruits while waiting the boat that will take us crossing the ocean to reach the resort.
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| and yeah, first coffee |
As the boat arrived, there was a soft blue boat seat cushion soothing your eyes from the very bright sky of the Indian Ocean. With the wi-fi connection and (again) the cold towel that refresh your face, and remember the water bottle to keep you hydrate.
Closer to the resort, we can heard the sounds of traditional drums played, bunch of people sang along and clapped their hands welcomed us. Our colleague Budi that worked there, with his wife Denique, and their son Bima already at the jetty. Glad to see you guys :)
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| This little guy, was in the very front row to see us |
First meal when we arrived was the Maldivian Pizza, the very unique pizza with the tuna chunks and curry taste. Inhaling the fresh air in this spacious villa. With the private bathtub, gazebo, and plunge pool.
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| first day here and somebody can not wait to dip in |
The best thing is you just can lay down for hours and forget the time... Seriously I don't know why holiday inside the island make the time walks faster. You just do not realise the sunrise is there and suddenly it has sunset already.
And here we go the 11 of January, I glad that we can survive till this day. And there more long way to
go... We begin with the breakfast at the al-day dining Cafe Huraa. We sat at the table that had a greeting card on it. What a very warm gesture :)
After the brunch, we left for the visit to Four Seasons Explorer, yeah Four Seasons has it all, from the busy city hotel to the secluded resort, from the private jet to the luxury catamaran. That will bring you to do the islands hopping and sail you to both Four Seasons resorts, Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa and Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru. And all the on-board water activities while you are staying? Snorkeling, free diving? Who can resist?
And the dinner at Baraabaru, the Indian restaurant.
We woke up like this! With the lush plants bordering your open area to be more private. Just naturally beautiful. For the five days we just wake up by the pretty sun was shining through our villa's glass door, did the morning yoga conducted by the staff there or simply just dipped into our private plunge pool. And just walked 5 metres frontward and did the snorkeling (our most favourite activity). Our villa was just in front of the ocean. Like you have your own private beach area.
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We surrounded by the hundreds fishes. Unfortunately we didn't have any GoPro so we can shoot underwater. Seriously. We need GoPro :"(. We bought the $20 underwater Kodak roll film camera. So it's only unlimited shoot and we can not see the result right away. When we produce the film and it was ALL FAILED!
Another regret moment was when I was not confident enough to take off my life jacket during the snorkeling. So I just saw the surface of the ocean beauty. There will more plenty fish swam deeper and pretty corals if I wanted to do the free dive. Even though it was only 4 metres. *cry*
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| ate spring rolls when taking break from snorkeling being so luxurious since these spring rolls has the amazing turquoise water background behind :P |
Inside the resort, there was a local Maldivian house built. Very traditional thatched house. The bed and the chair also very unique. They tied the rope to be very tight so people can sit and lay down on it. It looks like hammock system.
Strolled around the resort, we walked to the water villa. The villa here was even more amazing. Because the ocean was right in front of your bed room window. What a scenery! But still the beautiful snorkeling point is in front of our villa. ;)
On the following morning we did another water activities. It was kayaking. My pinky paddle suits well with the yellow kayak. And yes it's definitely need extra hard work and excellent teamwork. We paddled to the tip of the island resort and went back again. If I'm lazy to paddle I let him paddle alone and the kayak went slower and slower and he got exhausted more and more haha.
When the sun was setting down, we experienced the shark feeding. Yes they came to the shore. Not the big sharks, but yeaaah the baby and the teenager sharks maybe. Ha! FYI, Maldives is a good island to interact with shark. We can see sharks very close. At Four Seasons they have guest activity called Shark Safari. Guests will be brought at the shark point so they can do snorkeling or free diving as close as they want with sharks. Maldives has different shark species. Yes they have the man-eater shark but for sure the sharks point is not for the killer sharks. The local said Maldives's shark is harmful and they never heard any news about shark attack there. From one resource I read that Maldives water is too shallow for that kind species of sharks.
When we watched the shark feeding, this bird keep stealing the chicken chunks that the staff throw away for the sharks. I don't know what kind of species he is. But we all call him as Henry. So naughty :p
The next day we follow Budi, Denique, and Bima to go the capital city of Maldives, Male. The journey by boat was approxiamtely1 hour.
And this is it. the capital city, Male. All of the administrative needs you can found in Male. They have supermarket, banks, hospital, and so many offices building was also there. This photo was taken in front of Shaheed Hussain Adam Building, the Headquarters of Maldives Police Service. So beautiful with so many birds flying around you. Very Instagram material though :) A long way down to the road, there were so many local cafes, coffee shop, restaurants, and the huge mosque. Yes Maldives is a Moslem country.
Glad we have the opportunity to visit the local market. I saw a very hugggeeeee tuna as big as human. After years just eating tuna flakes in can for my spaghetti aglio olio pasta, I never imagine before that tuna fish can be that huge. In Maldives, Tuna very cheap, there was a market hall only sell tuna there.
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| the Habanero chilli, so HOT but I like it, the hot is different, I don't know how to describe but it's kinda fresh and hot at the same time |
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| just noticing the street seems like Seminyak / Legian street at Bali :) |
Went back from Male, Denique brought us to island hopping, this time is not far, only 10 metres by the small boat. If Four Seasons was located at Kuda Huraa, so this was Bodu Huraa, the island next to Kuda Huraa. The small island, there were a big field equipped with the huge stage as well. I don't know, like for a mini concert there maybe ;) And I can saw where the local live in this small village. Some of the houses turned into souvenir shop that pretty expensive. I bought the cheapest simple fridge magnet for USD 2 each. And on this island also has school. Bima's school is here. A very nice kindergarten with spacious playful playground even more nicer than some Jakarta's kindergarten.
If usually in front of our house is soil, here is sands. Yeah sands everywhere. Like you live everyday on the beach, even in front of your house. But the house was not look like the one above, they no longer using thatched house but built it by regular material. It is modern house now. But the chair still the one with the rope and wooden. My husband took this picture when he was sitting on the chair while I was bargaining to get USD10 for 5 magnets. Haha. And ohh he said, sitting in the chair like this, there, with the breezy wind make him fall asleep.
We continued exploring the island by dolphin cruising. So we went to the dolphin points a 45 minutes to the center of the sea. Sadly on that day the tide is very high so the dolphins were there but they were not performing very nice. I could not capture from my camera :(
Came back from the dolphin cruise, I tried the stand up paddle boarding. Oh, it needed very deep focus and concentration unless you want to fall down to the water. Some people have very good balance till they can do yoga poses upside there.
and another amazing moment happen, when the sun was setting down...
Been 5 days already, and it was time to go home. I didn't lie that I cried at the boat on the way back to the airport. My first time I feel so close with the underwater creatures. And I adore them so much. A few things I could not did there. So here are my some suggestions for those who wanna go to Maldives:
- Will be an advantage for you, if you master it how to snorkel properly. Seriously. You should inhale and exhale through your mouth. Looks easy but when you dip down your self into the sea, is another story. I was too enchanted saw so many beautiful corals and hundreds fishes surrounded me. And yeah I forget to breath. And my human reflex, spontaneously breath through the nostril. And it can, c'mon Amanda, remember there was a mask sticking on your face and it's underwater. So I was choked, and panicked, and it is 4 metres depth water. And I was not wearing my life jacket and I drowned. And Denique's friend helped me. So shame on me. The key is as long as you move your feet with the fins there you will be absolutely fine and not drowning. But yeah panic...
So it is also important for you to learn how to float in the water, water trappen for example so you are not easily panic when you can not breath you just come to surface, calm your self and continue snorkel again.
- It is more even better if you certified already with the diving PADI license. You can explore more about the ocean. Not only finding the Nemo, you can find also the Sharks :)
(but yeah it's okay if you not have one, the snorkeling session will be nice also)
- Bring your GoPro. Oh c'mon please, not the disposable underwater camera. It will not work. AT ALL. Or at least the underwater digital camera. So you can snap as many picture as you want.
- Not only the sunblock, but the after sun gel, the aloe vera soothing gel will helps. A LOT!
- Do ALL the water sport activities.
- Maldivian food is very similar to Indian food. They put curry in everything. Make your self try once even you don't like the very thick and intense taste of it. It's good to know what the local eats.
- Make sure you have enough storage and battery in your camera.
- Do not stay very short. I think a week is the minimum. It just sounds silly. Like what will you do there. It just sea and beaches. But the ambiance will change. Like I said because here is very slow and relaxing so after wake up, you nap for a while and it's evening already. And I bet you will miss the feeling on your check-out date
- Take a day for the capital city, Male tour. Tried some cafes and see the park or market is a good idea if you want 'more city' different view. But do not go there on Friday afternoon between the Friday prayer time. All restaurants and places will be closed. As a moslem country. Friday prayer time is the sacred time for the locals to pray and close the business for while.
- Do not come on January. The sky is not bright as usual. It's considered still the rainy season. As you can see my photos here with the dark cloudy sky.
This is where I fall in love to the sea for the first time. and I want to be back for sure, not only to Maldives, but to everywhere that can bring me to dive in into the ocean and see the beautiful down there.
because nothing is more beautiful than the way ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline no matter how many times its sent away
