Articles from this Category
11 November 2024
Even though Maafushi is a lot more built up than Gulhi, it still has pockets of island vibe. The bikini beach here is deeper but it doesn’t have the pure sandy bottom that Gulhi’s has. We had been skipping lunches a bit, at first to be virtuous, but now because we were running low on […]
10 November 2024
Above: In front of Maafushi’s prison. Because the prison offered employment to locals, they had capital to start guest houses and hotels when the tourism industry was liberalised in 2009. Today, we have a fifteen-minute ferry ride at 1615 from Gulhi to Maafushi, as we move our base over for the next three days. We […]
9 November 2024
Having rested well yesterday, we took a full-day excursion today. Having done this excursion before last year, I tried looking for others but this was the best value one. Shorter excursions cost only a little less. We met the group, consisting of two others, at 0920 and set off on the boat at 1000. The young guide […]
8 November 2024
Today was Boo’s first full day in Maldives. As he’s still gainfully and sometimes stressfully employed, we took it easy with a morning swim and an afternoon one. We skipped lunch and had junk food in bed in between the two swims. We organised our excursion for tomorrow and took little walks. In the evening, […]
7 November 2024
Flying to Male I had set the alarm for 0445 but woke at 0230, having had around 5h30 of sleep. I lay down for a bit longer but hopped out of bed around 0420 and prepared for check-out. I managed to get on the first train to the airport at 0500 rather than the third […]
15 April 2023
In anticipation of poor internet at my next destinations, which is kinda rural, I opted to stay in my room to do some work on the internet after breakfast. The hotel’s complimentary shuttle took me to Cebu’s Mactan Airport around 1130, getting there more than 2h before my 1405 departure for Camiguin. I had time […]
10 April 2023
Leaving Maafushi for the airport Today I say bye-bye to paradise. I’m very brown already so I decided to spend the morning indoors attending to things like tax, admin and video-calling a friend whom I may travel around Saudi with in December. Check-out was at 1200, which was perfect for the public ferry to Male […]
9 April 2023
Today is my first day on the Maldivian islands without any activity. No ferry rides, no diving, no snorkelling excursion. I went to swim at Bikini Beach late in the morning and again late in the afternoon. Eight years ago, it was an isolated beach for foreigners. Today, there were high-rise hotels right on the […]
8 April 2023
My options for the day Today, I move to Maafushi, an island I visited 8 years ago. The public ferry leaves at 1615 and I had three options for killing the day: Spend the morning at the beach then the afternoon in the café, Go diving in the morning and then the afternoon in the […]
7 April 2023
Today is my third and last full day in Gulhi. Due to the dive times and opportunities, I had fallen into a routine on all my days here, meaning the last two days and today. The day would begin with an early wake-up around 0630 to 0700, followed by the hotel breakfast which began at […]