Maldives Day 2 - Through the Monsoon - Welcome to the Maldives!

July 27, 2021

After a sleepless night on the plane, we arrive in the Maldives in the early morning.

From the window, we can see the first atolls and islands. According to the flight monitor, we will land in 8 minutes, but after a few minutes, the display changes to 20 minutes. I am already wondering why we fly over the same island information 3 times when the cockpit announcement comes that there is a traffic jam on the only runway due to bad weather and we are being put in a holding pattern. Since only one aircraft can take off or land at a time, we have to wait.

Oh ....

While we see the sunny islands from the plane, it is raining in Malé?

Over 20 minutes later, we land - in pouring rain....

Welcome to the Maldives!

That somehow fits the history of the vacation so far. Nothing has gone smoothly. And monsoon too. Great...

We actually experienced this in our last two trips to the Maldives (23 and 18 years ago), as well as in Thailand. It rains heavily, then the sun shines again. Let's see if it's the same here.

We leave the plane in pouring rain - it's humid - and take a bus to the terminal.

The immigration process is quick, our luggage is the first on the baggage carousel (they were the last on the plane ).

It is very humid. At the exit, we look for the man with the TUI sign and find out which counter we should go to for the onward journey.

There is no employee at our counter!

So, we wait again. About 15 minutes later, the employee appears and tells us to wait in front of the restaurant near the jetty. It will leave in 45 minutes, we are still waiting for guests from other planes..

45 minutes???? Oh man ....

We find 4 empty seats and wait across from the jetty, watching one boat after another depart and take vacationers to their islands.

As it turns out, we are waiting for a Russian family, who arrive after us on Aeroflot, and a German couple, who arrived on Qatar Airways.

In the meantime, we realize that everything has really changed here since our last vacation 18 years ago. Back then, the airport island was just a runway with a small terminal and a harbor. THAT'S IT!

Now the island has probably grown by 6 times, with skyscrapers, several ports, complexes, and buildings, and it continues to grow. Incredible!

We nostalgically remember that on our first visit 23 years ago, we stood at the "harbor" where our Dhoni was waiting (yes, there were hardly any speedboats back then), we looked into turquoise clear water, it looked like a big swimming pool!

The "harbor basin" is no longer turquoise swimming pool-like. It's actually a shame how the Maldives are being "commercialized" in tourism. This "small perfect world" of barefoot islands is hardly to be found anymore, everywhere we see advertisements for luxury resorts with numerous water villas (a shame!) and freshwater pools, slides (!?), spas, 5-star restaurants....

Not a nice trend.... my opinion.

The capital, Malé, has also grown, and it is now connected to the airport island by a bridge.

Crazy....

After about 35 minutes, the Russians arrive, and together with the German couple, we start on the island by speedboat.

Although it has stopped raining, the waves are rough. The 15-minute boat ride is like a roller coaster. It goes up and down all the time.

When we reach the island, we are thoroughly shaken. Luckily, no one feels sick.

Two weeks ago, I sent a bungalow request directly to the island by email. Many reviews said that the most beautiful bungalows in terms of location are 110-120. Let's see if we are lucky enough to get a bungalow right on the main beach area 🤩

We are allowed to sit in the "Sand Bar" and get information about the island, our temperature is taken, PCR tests for the return journey are arranged, and then the nice staff member comes with the keys. He winks at me and says 'Nice Bungalow for you'.

Hurray, it worked. Since we are traveling as a family, we get one of the few double bungalows on the main beach area, number 117+118 💪🏻 Single bungalows would have been nicer, but I can understand why families are placed in the double bungalows (they are quite noisy).

The bungalows are slightly set back behind palm trees, but they have a direct view of the sea on the left and right. That works, so we have some privacy and it's sheltered from the wind by the palm trees and bushes, because the wind is still quite strong.

The bungalows are simply furnished, everything is very clean, the bathroom is huge, no one needs a bathtub, the outdoor shower is amazing 😛

We are on a "Barefoot Island", you can walk on sand everywhere, even in the restaurant, so our shoes end up on the shelf:

Freedom for the feet 🤪

We are assigned a fixed table and waiter for the rest of our stay. Our waiter Mohamed (looks a bit grumpy and is not very talkative) helps us with the choice of the table. The first assigned table in the "passage area" is not to our liking, so he moves us to the upper restaurant section, quite far in the middle. We now have a panoramic view of the beach and water villas.

Our waiter Mohamed has organized a table with a view for us and promises that if a table near the window becomes available, he will arrange an even better place for us.

Only in the restaurant and at the buffet is it mandatory to wear masks. Otherwise, you can move around the entire island without a face mask.

After lunch - buffet, but you can't serve yourself, the staff behind the buffet puts it on the plate for you - we relax on our super comfortable loungers in front of the bungalow.

Each bungalow has 2 rattan loungers with cushions in front of the bungalow, and there are also white plastic loungers on the beach, with the bungalow numbers on them, but there are more than enough of them, so no one pays attention to the numbered loungers.

Due to the bad weather, the waves are quite high and it is very windy. The kids like it and so, in the afternoon, we jump into the turquoise blue waves and have fun jumping over the waves.

After the water fun, we sit a few meters further at the Beach Bar and treat ourselves to a cocktail.

As after lunch, where we had to find out that drinks like cappuccino and cocoa cost extra and are NOT included in the all-inclusive package, we are given an extra all-inclusive drinks menu upon request.

The popular cocktails are included, some cocktails like White Russian or non-local spirits cost extra. Ice cream or chips and other snacks that the kids had their eyes on are NOT included. But we can live with that.

We take what we get and start with a 'Lovers Special' and a 'Cuba Libre'.

Back at the bungalow, a small gray-and-white rabbit is sitting under the beach lounger. Ohhh, there are rabbits here??? I expected hermit crabs and geckos, but rabbits? So cute!

There are also parakeets that fly around in the trees here. Unfortunately, they have been too far away for my mobile phone camera so far.

Dinner is also served in buffet style. But this time there are 3 buffets: Salad/Appetizers, Main Course, and Dessert. Again, you are served at the buffet, which is why there is a longer queue at the main buffet.

There is something for every taste, we all get full.

After dinner, we sit in the Sand Bar next to the restaurant and play card games with the kids.

At 10 pm, we fall exhausted into bed. It was an eventful day!!!