Jewel of the Indian Ocean - Maldives

Jewel of the Indian Ocean – Maldives ( Part 1)

Maldives has always been one of my top list of the must-go destination. Unlike most of my other trips which took months of planning to the absolute details, this one I left it to my wife to take care of all the last minute bookings on our accommodation, sea and air transfer as well as the what-to-do list for this wonderful family vacation. Although Maldives is more suitable for honeymooners or couples, I decided to bring along my 3 sons as well since all of us really enjoy the sun, sea and underwater world of Maldives that awaits us.

Male town from Airport Island

Trans-Maldivian Air terminal

Taking off next to Ibrahim Nasir International Airport

Aerial view enroute to Helengeli....

Aerial view enroute to Helengeli...

Aerial view enroute to Helengeli...

Floating raft/docks for disembarkation from seaplane

Seaplane docking upon arrival

As the month of January until March is the peak season here, finding a last minute accommodation at Male or on the islands resorts was  really a daunting task. I found out that the best time to have your holiday in Maldives is around May until June during the low season. Accommodation prices are also much cheaper and easily available during this time. Finally my wife managed to book our accommodation at Sala Boutique Hotel http://www.salafamilymaldives.com/ in Male for 1 night prior to our transfer to Helengeli Island Resort at North Male Atoll, Maldives http://www.helengeli.net/

Being greeted by Thomas the owner of Sala Boutique Hotel on our arrival, the establishment’s atmosphere is highly influenced by Siamese elements, which make you feels like checking-into a hotel in Phuket. The rooms and restaurants also have similar concepts for its art-deco. It’s a shame that we could not enjoy our stay here being arriving very late at night and leaving very early in the morning for the seaplane transfer to our resort hotel. But definitely we will come back here if we had the chance to visit Maldives in future…..god willing…

In order to take the seaplane, we have to take the boat ride from Male to the airport. Just to highlight that the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport is located on an island by itself. Upon arrival into Male, everybody must take the boat ride to transfer to Male town, another island of its own. With hundreds of islands within the Republic of Maldives, the concept here is that “one island one resort” concept. All of us were too excited to take the seaplane ride as this will be our first time experiencing it.  I remembered during my childhood time one television series called “Fantasy Island” where this small seaplane carrying the guest to the resort……”…the plane!!! …...  the plane!!! ..…”

The seaplane is operated by Trans Maldivian Air http://www.tma.com.mv/ using 20-seater twin propeller aircraft.  The journey took almost 25 minutes from the Trans Maldivian Air terminal located on the Airport island itself. After take-off, I was mesmerized by the magnificent aerial views of a few island resorts and lagoons along the way with the azure blue water beneath…… opportunity not to be missed!!!

The seaplane landed a few kilometers away from the island, and has to dock onto a big floating jetty/raft. A transit boat was waiting for us to ferry the guest and the luggage to the resort island. Looking down into the cobalt-blue water, we can see manta-rays, big angel fish and others swimming around us….. can’t wait to snorkel and dive into the sea……

Helengeli Island Resort

Helengeli Island Resort

Helengeli Island Resort

Helengeli Island Resort

Prestine white beach....

Prestine white beach...

On arrival at Helengeli Island Resort, we were greeted by Sydney, the Sales Manager that my wife communicated with during our reservation. The welcoming fruit cocktail was really refreshing and we checked-in to our rooms in no time. After we settled down, my kids and I rushed to the sea and snorkeled for hours. The house reef surrounded the island is home to so many coral fish and sea turtles. I even managed to spot 12 inch lobster crawling between the hard corals. The crystal clear water enabled us to see the vivid colors of the underwater world as if we were snorkeling inside a huge aquarium.