OUR MALDIVES EXPERIENCE: FROM WHERE YOU'D RATHER BE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JBGZg_J9Bs&list=PLYLi7gA3tKMQeIM1khC_HeKWoLBVwu93S
The day had arrived, all of our hard work of saving every last dollar during our final year of university had finally paid off. We stepped out of the plane in the Maldives and walked straight out the airport onto a boat which was destined to take us to paradise.
As the sun slowly set we pulled up to the jetty on our island. We saw a wedding party leaving their ceremony and honeymooners relaxing on the beach. We slowly realised that we were the youngest people on this tropical island and certainly here for different reasons than the majority.
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A Surreal Experience
This was an almost surreal getaway for us due to the majority of our travels being done rather cheaply. This very luxurious stay is aimed at honeymooners and couples spending their anniversaries together, which we were not.
All the local workers seemed to be amazed that there were young people on their island. They all seemed to been drawn to us and even now after the trip we have a few of the locals on Facebook and Instagram.
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Activities on a Tropical Island
After a few days of relaxation on the beach, cocktails at the bar and stuffing our face with way to much food we started to get a bit jittery as we wanted to pursue some adventures. Being on an island that only took 15 minutes to walk the entire circumference meant that most of our activities would be spent in the water, which of course we loved!
Sleeping on a hammock in the Maldives
Scuba Diving
A quick stop at the dive centre and a few signatures later we had signed up to go on an underwater tour of our little island and its surrounding reefs. We explained to our tour guide that we had been diving at the Great Barrier Reef only a year before which helped with her decision to take us a little bit further out than her usual cliental.
It's always interesting to go scuba diving somewhere new as we find each reef has its own unique characteristics. We noticed many differences when compared to Australia and were happy to add the Maldives to places that we had scuba dived. The marine life was interesting to view and it was very cute to see tiny turtles being rehabilitated on our island.
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Snorkelling at Turtle Island
Every day the communal notice board was filled with new activities for the following day. On the way to breakfast one morning we noticed a tour that peaked our interest with an eye catching title of 'Snorkel at Turtle Island'. One of our main goals of heading out to this tropical island was to see and capture a wild turtle...and we are very pleased to say we did!!
We charted out to an atoll reef and did a few laps, seeing lobsters, sea cucumbers and clown fish before our tour guide pointed furiously to a camouflaged shape moving up the reef towards the surface, she had spotted a needle in a haystack!
We watched in awe as a turtle headed up for air, took a few breaths and headed back down into the darkness - it was a beautiful moment.
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We also rented out a paddle boat and caught some massive waves (note - there were no massive waves but still fun none-the-less).
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Where We Stayed
Adaaran Club Rannalhi Maldives
Certainly the biggest highlight of our stay and probably one of the main reasons we headed out all the way to the Maldives was because of the very luxurious over water bungalow that we were lucky enough to call home for a week. It was one of those once in a life time places that we will tell in stories for years.
A picture of bungalows in the maldives
Once all is said - would we recommend this?
This is a tough one to answer, the first word that comes to our head is "yes" but at the same time the high costs of this trip could equate to several cheaper holidays. We are very pleased that we undertook this trip at such a young age and also to experience a trip that was more about taking in the scenery and enjoying life than frantically rushing to the next high adrenaline activity.
Once all is said and done - this trip will always stand out to us and will always be remembered.
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What tropical holiday have you experienced?
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