Maldives vacation: Turquoise lagoons, white sand — and Frank the barracuda

I gained a boyfriend within the Maldives, and my husband didn’t thoughts one bit.

Regardless of Frank’s undivided consideration, I wasn’t immediately enamoured, particularly when he gave me a toothy grin. As an alternative of being impressed, his pearly whites freaked me out.

The truth that Frank was a metre-long barracuda and he wouldn’t go away me alone, following me in every single place as I snorkelled within the Indian Ocean whereas staying on the beautiful Pullman Maldives Maamutaa resort, didn’t assist issues.

My husband thought it was hilarious. Me? Not a lot.

Later, I realized from Amandine Vuylsteke, Pullman’s resident marine biologist, that the barracuda they nicknamed Frank was staying shut simply in case I caught a fish and there have been scraps available. Realizing that he didn’t need me for dinner made me really feel a complete lot higher.

The Maldives, which is positioned southwest of India and consists of greater than 1,000 islands, has been on the prime of my bucket checklist without end, because of it constantly being named one of the crucial naturally stunning international locations on this planet and since the over-the-water villas seemed so engaging.

Upon arrival, I used to be blissful to study I had chosen correctly. The turquoise lagoons, lush greenery and pristine white sand seashores had been breathtaking, making the 25 hours of journey throughout 10 time zones nicely price it.

I’m not the one one who lusts for the tranquility and fantastic thing about the Maldives. Tourism is booming there. In 2019, pre-COVID, the nation had greater than 1.7 million guests, 200,000 greater than in 2018. And the federal government expects these numbers to proceed to climb.

A part of the Pullman Maldives’ draw is that it’s an all-inclusive resort that options all-you-can eat eating, a spa, a cinema beneath the celebs, numerous excursions comparable to fishing, scuba diving, sundown cruises and nature walks, and tons of water sports activities together with snorkelling, wind browsing and jet snowboarding.

And, in fact, it has over-the-water villas. The resort even has two aqua villas that characteristic a submerged bed room with a glass wall so visitors can benefit from the ocean’s underwater life from the consolation of their mattress.

Our villa had its personal non-public pool and a ladder that descended into the ocean so we may get pleasure from a dip each time we needed. With wonderful daytime highs of 28 C, we did simply that, enjoyable within the pool or snorkelling within the crystal-clear water, delighting within the kaleidoscope of ocean life darting in regards to the coral.

We even had hawksbill and inexperienced turtles examine us out, four-foot stingrays glide gracefully by, and blacktip reef sharks stare at us with their small, beady eyes.

And, oh, don’t overlook about my romantic rendezvous with Frank.

Vuylsteke mentioned the Maldives has a tremendous range of sea life, with greater than 2,000 species of fish, starting from reef fish and reef sharks to moray eels, stingrays and even often whale sharks. She added reef sharks aren’t a menace as a result of they’ve small mouths so that they solely feed on small fish and so they solely eat at dawn and sundown, instances when individuals aren’t snorkelling.

We positively ate extra typically, taking full benefit of the resort’s three all-inclusive eating places.

Their all-day buffet eatery supplied an incredible array of Arabic, Italian, French, Chinese language, Maldivian and Indian dishes, in addition to a tropical fruit counter, a contemporary baked items station, salads, roast station, pasta, sushi, pizza and a lot extra. There have been new choices day by day, and whether or not it was the eggs benedict for breakfast, dim sum for lunch or prawn masala for dinner, all the pieces was scrumptious. We additionally preferred that on account of COVID, employees served us on the stations as an alternative of it being assist your self.

Over on the resort’s Italian bistro by day and Center Jap and Turkish restaurant by evening, we loved mushroom arancini, Moroccan hen tajine and a Lebanese blended grill.

And for the reason that Pullman is the positioning of the primary vegan and vegetarian restaurant within the Maldives, we visited that one, too, regardless of being meat eaters. An natural vegetable backyard grows in the course of the out of doors eating room, ensuing within the meals actually being backyard to desk.

If we needed a fast meal, we visited one of many three bars, which served tapas or common bar meals comparable to burgers and pizza along with the standard beverage menu of premium spirits, worldwide beers, wines and cocktails.

If starvation struck in the course of the evening (it by no means did), our villa had two drawers filled with sweets and snacks comparable to Toblerone bars, Ferrero Rocher, granola bars, Lindt chocolate and luggage of blended nuts, all of which had been restocked twice a day, as was the mini bar.

The culinary spotlight was positively a personal eating expertise that my husband booked to shock me on my birthday. The romantic dinner was served within the Juliet, an over-the-water non-public eating venue on a secluded seaside. Whereas being soothed by the rhythmic sound of waves rolling over the reef, we loved a five-course dinner that included caviar, lobster, barracuda (don’t inform Frank!), lamb chops and steak.

It was extravagant, scrumptious and, oh, so particular.

Which just about sums up the Maldives.

Pullman Maldives Maamutaa

The Pullman Maldives Maamutaa is a luxurious, all-inclusive resort on Maamutaa Island within the Maldives, an archipelagic nation located within the Indian Ocean. It lies southwest of Sri Lanka and India, about 750 kilometres from the Asian continent’s mainland.

Straddling the equator, the Maldives is heat and tropical year-round, with common highs of 30 C and common lows not often falling under 24 C. January to April are the driest months, with little rain and low humidity, making this peak vacationer season.

The resort is positioned by itself island, and has 122 villas in 12 totally different designs. Some are on the seaside, some over the water, some have swimming pools, and a few have sundown views. The biggest has 4 bedrooms and might accommodate 10 visitors. Most individuals go for 5 or eight nights. Staying within the Maldives just isn’t low-cost, with costs various relying on the time of 12 months. For instance, on the Pullman Maldives web site, a seaside villa is $1,716 Cdn an evening plus tax in April, and $1,185 Cdn plus tax in August. Nonetheless, offers may be discovered. Luxurious Escapes (luxuryescapes.com), an internet journey company, often options this resort for 50 per cent off.

Spherical-trip airfare is round $1,800 Cdn per particular person. The flight from Toronto to Malé, the capital of Maldives, normally has a number of stops and takes 25 or extra hours. On the Malé worldwide airport, visitors board a 55-minute home flight (included within the resort charge) to Kooddoo Island’s airport, adopted by a 15-minute speedboat journey to the resort.

Airways that fly to the Maldives embody Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Austrian Airways and Emirates.

For additional info, go to pullmanmaldivesmaamutaa.com or electronic mail h9924@accor.com.