The best part about travel is seeing things from another point of view…
After our interesting arrival at the Male Airport we met with the small group of 12 travelers that were sailing with us for the week. Figuring out what to do for our honeymoon was a feat in itself but the dates lined up perfectly with a charter company to take us sailing. Chartering a cabin on a catamaran or small yacht is a more cost effective way to see some pretty incredible places you wouldn’t usually see all while meeting new people. The companies we used are based out of the USA and rates are in USD, but quite reasonable for what you get!
The Maldives are beautiful pods of islands in the Indian Ocean with more than 1200 to explore and the majority of them are uninhabited! We wanted to make sure to see not just a high end luxury resort on one island but to see local villages and as much sea life as possible. We are so happy we did!
Breakfast, lunch & dinner are included onboard as well as water, soft drinks & alcoholic beverages for purchase. Maldivian food or ‘Dhivehi’ cuisine suited us just fine - the fresh fish, curries and coconuts were so savory to eat. The cabins were spacious with your own ensuite and recommendations to bring softsided luggage for easy storage kept the cabin tidy while onboard. There was turndown service and towels to use throughout the week as well as snorkel gear for everyone.
One week was the perfect amount of time to lounge around and explore these lush islands. We had a beach picnic on one empty island that was only home to two tiny bunnies!? How they got there I have no idea but it was incredible to see; another island, Guraidhoo, was a small village with approx. 1500 locals on it and majority have never been off the island. There were small shops and souvenir places to see and walking around the island took approx. 40min. It was beautiful to see how the locals were living and that they got to wake up to the stunning beauty surrounding them.
My most and least favorite time on this catamaran was at night - the air conditioning shut off around 10pm each night and the cabins were sweltering hot. We tried to cool down with the small window, but sticking our feet out of it only helped a bit. My husband and I decided to see if there was wind on the deck so we could at least feel a breeze haha so we gave it a try. There was no wind the first night, just unbelievable stillness. The ocean was so still it looked like the moon was reflecting off glass while the air wrapped around us with such warm humidity. Making the most of our evening we tried to find a spot to lay down outside, but it seemed we weren’t the only one’s with the same idea!
The back deck couches were taken by one guy who’s snoring could wake the neighboring islands and the skipper was sleeping on the starboard walkway so we went the other way upstairs; where we found the cook, the captain and one other couple laying about. Heading back in we decided sleeping on the port side walkway was better than the sauna of a cabin so a couple of chair mats with bed pillows and a bed sheet would have to do....& as interesting as it was to sleep there it was my favorite part of the trip.
Usually being a late “sleeper-in’er” having the morning sun wake you up with the sound of dolphins swimming next to you knocks away any tiny bit of a bad day. Sleeping inside we would never have seen or heard the stillness of the evening or serenity of the morning. We were greeted with dolphins swimming past us to say good morning & a sunrise that takes your breath away. Imagine calm waters with a sunrise glow that you don’t want to blink to interrupt. Even at 5am in a stairwell, there’s no wrong side of the bed to wake up on - you just sit up, stare, and are amazed; this is what the Maldives is all about..
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