Blogs from Maldives, Asia - page 13

Dawn breaks as the alarm goes off and another day beckons. It's dive time again and I've got an hour to get ready including breakfast before I have to meet the dive boat. On board today we have 5 divers, 2 instructors and 3 crew. Normally at this time of year it would be double the amount of divers & instructors but the hotel is unusually quiet (political unrest in Male and the general world recession has seen occupancy slip to 50% whereas it would normally be 85+ at this time of year). From a selfish point of view I don't mind as the dive sites have all been quiet as well, we've not seen another dive boat anywhere near us. The first site is called 'Ali Thila' and we dived on the site for nearly ... read more

An even earlier rise on the fourth day as I'm diving on two sites this morning. Here's hoping for a good trip... Wow! what a fantastic experience that was! Two great dive sites and some great encounters. The first was a 'Thila', full of coral and loads of under sea wild life, including a turtle who posed for his picture. The second dive site was called Rangali Outside which was situated on the reef which protects the two islands on which we're based. I managed a full 60 minutes which for me is something of a bonus as I'm not good when it comes to air consumption which shortens the dive time. I got some great photos including an 'Oriental Sweetlips' but the best was the Manta Ray which joined us. As luck would have it ... read more

Who invented happy hour? whoever it was was a genius! Tanqueray and tonic (large) very refreshing. Next morning saw us up early so much so that we were the only ones in the restaurant. After an excellent breakfast (including prawn dim sum and smoked salmon - wouldn't work in the UK but somehow does out here) I visited the dive centre and booked a check dive for the afternoon then hit the beach. Check dive went OK apart from the fact that I'd forgotten how to put together my kit - very embarrassing! I also signed up for the Nitrox course for the next day. This included a wreck dive (don't tell my Mum!) Rest of day spent on the beach followed by happy hour and an excellent meal in the Mandhou restaurant. Tomorrow up early ... read more

Being a traveler, we often end up in taking a lot of photographs. But after every trip, how many photographs do you find where the word "awesome" comes out from the mouths of your relatives and friends when you show it to them? To be honest, I would assume not even a dozen photographs for sure. :P Taking awesome images is not just a hobby but it is a creative art too. We all love clicking great pictures but not a lot of us are generally good at the aesthetics of it. We blandly take photographs during out various travels around the globe without caring to look at the aesthetic appeal of the captured images. For every location, there are several methods to click the picture and we need to think out of the box test ... read more

和男友約定過，一年總要去一個地方旅行。因為有了這個約定，2011年夏天，我們來到了馬爾代夫。 第一次聽到這個名字，是在18歲那年。透過文字的敘述，它竟然可以如此動人。我也在心裡告訴自己，有生之年，要親眼看看這一個被譽為“人間天堂”的地方。 我們用了半年時間，籌備這次旅行。馬來西亞時間8:45PM，飛機準時起飛。經過4小時，我們來到了這個讓我夢想了很多年的人間天堂。 過了海關，開始聞到海的味道。我的腳，踏踏實實地踩在這一片天堂。按着心裡的興奮，看到工作人員拿著渡假村的牌子，引導我們走向44號櫃檯。另外一位工作人員向我們確定了名字，將行李綁上房間號碼，就帶著我們走向碼頭。船都在等著了。此時已經是晚上9點（馬爾代夫時間），但站在碼頭往水里看，我竟然看到了珊瑚，看到了海底。以往只在DISCOVERY CHANNEL看到的珊瑚，真實的呈現在我眼前了。20分鐘的後，我們到達了渡假村。當時天色很暗。靠著微弱的燈光，我還是可以感受到，眼前這一幕。和照片看到的是一模一樣啊！！！ 工作人員帶我們去前台坐下，接著就送上冷冷的迎賓茶，還有帶著淡淡香茅味的毛巾。搽一搽臉，時差帶來的睡意一掃而空。經理前來向我們打招呼後，就讓工作人員帶我們進去別墅休息。踩在腳下的，是柔軟的沙子，我的嘴角，竟然不自覺地往上揚。 渡假村別墅分4大類：Oceanview Villa 海景別墅、Beachfront Villa 海畔別墅、Deluxe Oceanview Villa 豪華海景別墅 以及 Deluxe Beachfront Villa 豪華海畔別墅。男友喜歡海，因此我們選擇了海景別墅。別墅屋頂為圓錐茅草型，很田園式的別墅。走進房間，柔柔的燈光、淡淡的熏香、輕輕的音樂。工作人員和男友講解房間內的設備。而我，就到處參觀房間。左看看右看看，看到建在木地上的戶外按摩池、一個靜思涼亭，以及徐徐的海浪聲，真是低調的奢華。。。其實在安排這次旅程時，我很想住馬爾代夫聞名的水上屋，卻因為心裡中意的水上屋渡假村價錢太高而放棄了。可是心裡還是念念不忘。後來看到文章，寫出水上屋是炸掉海底的珊瑚才能建成的... read more