|
The picturesque of Maldives invites visitors just
to come and ease in the breeze of the wonderful,
calming tropical beach. However, a lot of visitors are
keen to pursue water sports, especially, scuba diving
for which the island is renowned. Snorkeling, sailing
and windsurfing are available at all resorts but less
demanding while water-skiing and parasailing are
offered at some of the bigger ones and more expensive.
Diving
Maldives is the paradise for scuba diving, it's
estimated that over 60% of visitors dive at least
once. There are hundreds of renowned diving sites,
many of which are accessible from resorts - the rest
can be reached by boat or diving safari trips. Aside
from multitudinous fish and corals, there is the
thrill of diving with turtles, moray eels, manta rays,
sharks, and whales and exploring some of the Maldives
accessible wrecks, including the Maldives Victory
off Hulule Airport, believed by many enthusiasts to be
one of the most exciting wreck drives in the world.
Surfing
There is some great surf in Maldives; though there
are only small numbers of accessible breaks are within
the tourism zone and they only work from March to
November. It is optional for surfers whether to base
themselves at resorts and taking a short boat trip to
the nearby breaks or taking a live-aboard safari
cruise to the less accessible area. Either way,
arranging in advance with the reputable surf travel
operator is advised as Maldives is not such a place
that surfers can just turn up spontaneously. The
period of the south-west monsoon (May to November)
generated the best waves and the best breaks occur on
the outer reefs on the south-east sides of the atolls
where only the gap in the reefs allow the waves to
wrap around. All of the recognized and reliable breaks
in the tourism zone are in the North Male and South
Male Atolls.
Island hopping
Every resort offers guests the opportunity to visit
some of the nearby islands, usually on a half- or full
day 'island hopping' trips. In general, a full-day
trip will include a visit to a fishing village on an
inhabited island, an uninhabited island for snorkeling
and a barbecue lunch, and then another resort island
where drink and provision are provided. Half-day trips
usually just go to a fishing village and an inhabited
island for snorkeling.
Fishing
Most resorts organize regular night fishing trips
of which about a dozen people go out in a dhoni for
two or three hours with a handline each and a bucket
full of bait. On a typical evening over 80% of them
are expected to catch something and everyone would get
a few nibbles and they can always arrange to have the
catch prepared by the resort's chef. Some resorts
arrange traditional Maldivian fishing trips, which
start early in the morning and return in the
afternoon. Traditional fishing is for tuna, with a
pole, line and unbaited hook. This is a much more
authentic experience. For the high rollers there is a
game fishing on the open sea between the atolls with a
fast modern boat and some specialized equipment. This
is an upmarket option but there is a 'tag and release'
policy which means you cannot keep your catch so bring
your camera along.
|