70 Russian girls on an island yoga retreat ... and me!

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There have been long periods of solitude during a month of island-hopping in the beautiful Maldives. Although I am a seasoned solo traveller, we all crave the company of fellow travellers when on the road. The weather has been prefect, the sea views sublime, and the marine life totally out of this world. Getting to know the local people has been a real treat, but nothing could have prepared me for what was to come on the final island visited during the trip. Kamadhoo is a beautiful island in Baa atoll and a highlight of the trip so far; the perfect destination to bring my trip to a close with a full week of downtime booked. The views from the bikini beach are gorgeous, featuring a perfect blue sea and abundant marine life, with private resorts nearby adding to the picture. The seaplanes and speedboats are constantly moving tourists around, and the sunsets from the beach are absolutely out of this world.

The journal left off in Vaadhoo, where I farewelled my host and boarded a speedboat south to Baa Atoll. The boat stopped off at a nearby island, however my host had arranged in advance a private speedboat ride out to Kamadhoo. I didn't know what to expect but felt excited to have a full week at my final island destination for the trip. I checked in to a lovely hotel with a friendly greeting from the owner, he even walked me around the island and introduced me to some people from several establishments I would get to know over the next week. The room is spacious, and it's great to be able to settle in here. The first day down at the bikini beach set the tone for an amazing week on this lovely island. While lying on the beach, a skilled dancer approached nearby and began to practice her pole dancing moves on the pole, with the base buried deep in the sand. I couldn't believe it, pole dancing on the beach, but there she was! Later in the morning as I was looking out to sea a pod of dolphins just happened to swim by less than a hundred metres from the shore. There must have been a dozen or more dolphins, what an incredible experience!

Could the beach life possibly get any more interesting? Oh, indeed it could. The next morning a girl went skinny dipping at the main beach. I kept my reaction low key as one must, but that's not something you see every day! Then while looking out to sea an eagle ray suddenly leapt out of the water less than 50 metres away from the shore, literally flying in front of my eyes. Kamadhoo is incredible, and the unique island experiences just keep on coming. I got to chatting with the Russian girls in the adjacent rooms, they told me they came to Kamadhoo for a yoga and meditation retreat for an entire week. To be honest I already noticed a large group congregating at the venue near the beach, and this is where the 70 girls gathered for the retreat. The ones I met are friendly and open for a chat, and one girl advised they had freedom to come and go from the classes, often heading out for a a swim or to sun themselves on the beach.

There are a good number of restaurants to dine at on the island, it certainly made a difference from the one and only cafe option in Vaadhoo. It was great to try out the menu at a few places with friendly local staff ensuring the island holiday is a seamless experience. Midway through the week a resort nearby informed me they had a place available with a group for a snorkelling tour. My goodness, what an amazing experience this day trip proved to be. While heading out to one of the stops we came across a large pod of dolphins who swam close to the boat, providing a magical period of interaction. The frisky dolphins engaged in skylarking and showing off, one of them treated us to a twisting flip as he leapt clear of the water. The tour featured three stunning snorkelling stops, and of course the ubiquitous stop at a beautiful sandbank. On the way back to the main island the dolphins were again out in force, overall this trip has been one for the ages!

My days on Kamadhoo consisted of beach time aplenty, with incredible beauty all around. I headed out each night prior to sunset to capture snaps of the beautiful sunsets. Every night proved to be a natural wonder, and the beautiful colours of the sea and sky will live on in my memory. The final sunny day on the beach featured what seemed to be a sudden ruckus, and the Russian girls all swarmed down from their beachside venue to the water's edge. I had seen dolphins even closer to the beach a few days prior and assumed that more of them were coming by to say hello. To my shock and surprise a pair of eagle rays chose to glide by in their graceful manner mere metres from the shore. It was an experience of a lifetime and I'm thrilled with the video footage from the clear waters close to shore. I was so close that one of the eagle rays took fright and went flying by with an effortless flap of his wings, later on a few of the girls asked for a copy of the footage. The experiences on the beach in Kamadhoo have been unique in all my years of travel to beach destinations. A week on the island of Kamadhoo is how this month-long visit to the Maldives is to wind up. I jumped on a speedboat for an hour and a half commute back to Male, and an overnight stay for the third time at Fatuur Inn sharing yarns in the company of the staff left me buzzing about the trip. There have been so many wonderful local islands I've had the pleasure of visiting - I wish to thank the lovely local people with all my heart. When I think of the stunning beaches, crystal clear water, beautiful coral and marine life of the Maldives, basically all of you should be here now!

"Work, Travel, Save, Repeat." Unknown

It's home time so until next time, I'm signing off for now

Tom

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Comments

[Ake Och Emma]

It seems to work well to travel around
It seems to work pretty well to go around the islands of the Maldives after all. How much planning did you have to put in to do it? /Ake

[Tom Rooney]

Travel plans
TBH there is not a lot of information online for solo travellers. The atolls are built around luxury tourism. I made a few mistakes that were a bit costly, but it all worked out in the end for a wonderful trip!