Male and Dhoni boat and Akasdhoo, South Male Atoll, Maldives, Country 12, Stops 28, 29, 30

As Ferris Bueller says, "It is so choice. If you have the means..."

Sept 9

We arrive in Male and 3 of our 4 bags arrive. We had to check bags—even though we are so VERY against this—because they were over the weight limit. Everyone’s bag arrives but Jack’s. The one with the drone in it! Sigh. I mean, really???? Is the world trying to tell us to put our recording devices and tech away and be present? Is that the grand message? I mean, really! We are spending tonight in a hotel but tomorrow we are getting on a liveaboard boat for a week! Luckily they have had this issue before and from the airport apparently they just send a boat out with the delayed bag. So, that’s good news. But the bad news is that they have no idea where our bag is. So there is no timeline for when or even if it will show up. And OF COURSE that is the bag the drone is in. The new drone to replace the old one that glitched a few weeks into our trip. Also, all of Jack’s clothes. Luckily, he isn’t as picky or as fashion crazed as some of us. We head out and buy him a replacement bathing suit and a few other things to tide him over until we either get his bag or do a serious shopping to replace what was lost.

Tomorrow we will get on a Dhoni boat and cruise around the islands of the Maldives for a week.

***Dmitri--Ah, and we’ve lost our first bag. Well, it‘s been misplaced by Turkish Air. It seems that while ¾ of our bags are fine, Jack’s maybe didn’t leave Berlin. No one really knows. We’re assured it’ll be fine, but to quote “Barcelona,” the only thing that worries me more than “don’t worry” is a heavily accented, smiling person assuring me “don’t worry.” We’re told that the bags (almost) always show up, and that they’ll get it to us, even if we’re on a boat. This should be interesting…

We are staying for just one night in Male to adjust for time and so we can fully appreciate our time here. We’re in a cheapie little place called the Three Inn, and it’s our first exposure to the Maldives and the locals. Here I’ll be wildly ethnocentric and say I do not like it. The streets are full of trash, the shops are full of knock-offs, and the women are all covered in burqas and hijabs despite the heat of the equator. I’m not a big fan of most religions, which I’ll spare you all about and hopefully avoid offending someone. Suffice it to say, I don’t like systems where any particular group is made second-class. Seeing women roast while guys walk around in shorts strikes me as an egregious example.

Of course, no one comes to the Maldives for this part. Everyone’s coming for resorts and live-aboards for surfing and diving, and we’re no exception. ***

Sept. 10

We are up early and back to the airport, where we will meet our dhoni boat and our fellow travelers. We check in with the baggage people and still no word on our bag. We board a little dinghy that takes us out to our boat and we meet Dana and Cody, a couple from Canada, who are on their honeymoon. Max capacity on the dhoni boat is 8 people, with 4 cabins. Since they are tiny, we put our bags in the 4th cabin and dub it the luggage room. Jack announces that he will be sleeping there, so he does. He shares his cabin with our empty suitcases and seems pretty happy with the arrangement.

We take off and start cruising the atoll and the weather is idyllic. I mean, the breeze, the temperature, the blues of the sky and the water. This place is perfect. We arrive at a small uninhabited island and do some snorkeling in the reef off of it. Then we swim over to the island and it has the most perfect white soft sand. Jack says he wouldn’t hate the beach if all sand was like this.

Dinner is family style on the back deck of the boat and our CEO (Chief Experience Officer) is Sham and he explains a little about what the week will look like—daily snorkel sites, cruising around, just basically chilling out. We are here for it.

***Dmitri--I manage to get my first Montezuma’s Revenge of the trip and am totally waylaid for two days on our boat, then about 50% power for the rest of the days. It’s not ideal because the scenery is about as beautiful as it gets, but I’m often belowdecks and near a bathroom. Ah, the glamor of travel. When I do get on deck, it’s perfect weather and blues and whites that are as amazing as you’d expect. I’m sure our photos and video will look good, but these colors need to be seen first-hand. I don’t know that it beats Bora Bora for my most-beautiful-place-anywhere award, but it’s certainly in the running. I think it's the most beautiful sea-scape anywhere, that's for sure.

We’re hoping to get the drone back soon so we can literally get more perspective on this. The Maldives are pretty at eye level, but more so from above.***

Sept. 11

After breakfast we cruise to another gorgeous area and head to Turtle Reef in search of turtles. Success! We spot some and this is truly the first time I have ever been snorkeling when I haven’t gotten cold within like 15 minutes. The temperature of the water is heavenly. We see tons of brightly colored fish and beautiful coral.

It's hard out here for a Mia.

For our afternoon snorkel we see a lionfish and I am the one who spotted it! I don’t get too close, but Sham got right up close and got some fantastic Go Pro footage of it. Look for it in Mia’s video blog. Also for the record, Sham is an amazing free diver and can hold his breath for an incredibly long time. He also is able to spot all kinds of sea life.

Dinner again is tasty and we really really like Dana and Cody. It feels like we have known them for much longer than 36 hours! We have beers with them on the top deck of our boat and watch an amazing sunset.

Pictures truly cannot capture the beautiful pinks of the sky. We all agree how lucky we are to be in this beautiful place. We end up heading down to the middle deck and play a board game and a card game and then head to bed earlyish because tomorrow we are up early for snorkeling before breakfast.

Sept. 12

We are a little sleepy before 7 am and some of us are considering not doing the early am snorkel. And then we spot the sharks! And wow. There are SO many of them and they are SO big. Dmitri was thinking he might skip the snorkeling but he very quickly suited up when he saw what we were going to do. There are maybe 20 or so nurse sharks swimming all around the boat. It is a bit terrifying and as we put our snorkel and fins on we kind of wonder if this is a good idea. We make Sham go in first. I go in second and try not to think about it too much as I get in the water. All of a sudden there are about 10 nurse sharks swimming around me. Dana bumps into me and I think it’s a shark and start squealing into my mask like a crazy person. The whole experience is so surreal. The sharks are all around us and under us and next to us and it’s wild. Ever direction I look I see a nurse shark. I feel like I could reach out and touch one—I don’t! But they are RIGHT THERE!!! Every few minutes, a few of us surface to exclaim how amazing this is!!! Mia says this is the best experience she has ever had and I don’t think I can disagree with her. It’s pretty magical.

After that we have a delicious breakfast and we are fully awake now! Shortly after, we head to our second snorkel stop—a long reef with a big drop off. Sham spots an eel and a cushion starfish and once again the amount of fish swimming all around is quite something.

Our third snorkel spot is a wreck and it’s also incredible. The current is very strong, but it’s incredible to see and a good time is had by all. It’s already been a long day and we still have a stop to make at a local island. Sham tells us that about 1000 people live on the island. There is a small school and several guest houses and a few local stores and cafes.

We try some local pastries and I have no idea what they are called but they are delicious. So is the peanut butter brownie we indulge in. Since alcohol is not permitted except at touristy resorts, the café offers mocktails. Too bad, because I could really go for a beer. After a few days living in bathing suits and shorts, we are back in long skirts to cover our knees and shirts that cover our shoulders. We are also back in masks. We take a short stroll around the island and then dinghy back to our dhoni.

***Dmitri: The people of the island are cheerful and wave hello to us. The kids shout out “ciao” because apparently the island is mostly populated by Italian tourists and to them we look no different. We say “ciao” back.***

The sky is more soft grey and peachy tonight rather than the vibrant pink of last night. What an amazing day!

We also get the amazing news that Jack’s bag has arrived. Hooray! For reasons we don’t fully understand, but #covid and #booking we are switching boats tomorrow. According to Sham it’s an upgrade—not that any of us are suffering on our current boat. Good news is that when we transfer to our new boat, the bag will be waiting for us! What a system. While it would have been amazing to have drone footage of the first few days and the shark swim, we are simply pleased that it has been located and we will have it for at least part of the Maldives.

Sept. 13

The bag saga continues! First we are told that we will get it today, then no. The airline won’t release it to the tour company to bring to us. Dmitri calls the airport; Sham calls them. The tour company calls them. This is getting ridiculous. After some back and forth they text photos to Sham. Proof of life for Jack’s suitcase. I joke they need to put today’s newspaper with the date next to it. Cody is thinking when we get the bag back it will be minus one drone but we remain hopeful. Some of us do, that is. A few days ago I thought we would never see that bag again so I hope I’m wrong. So tonight around 5:30—or maybe 6:30—the bag will be delivered to the boat. We think. We shall see.

We have a final breakfast on the first boat (Gulfaam) before switching to our new boat and Dana and I gorge ourselves on a Maldivian specialty. It’s tuna mixed with ribbons of collard greens and shredded coconut. It’s sprinkled with lime and wrapped in a tortilla. I truly wish there was a device that could take a picture of a taste because WOW. I will, of course, try to recreate this at home but I’m not sure it will be the same. The view sure won’t be.

Or new boat is called the Hope Cruiser and it’s an upgrade to be sure. The cabins have air conditioning and all the common areas are roomier. We head up for a reef and on the way see this enormous pod of dolphins. Like maybe 40 or 50 of them, around our boat. It’s incredible. Just another day in the Maldives. We snorkel and head back to our new boat for lunch and the food is amazing. Dana and I didn’t think we would need to eat another bite after the large breakfast but turns out we can and do. After lunch, we all find various areas of the boat to chill out and read or play video games and whatnot and suddenly we get the call to get to the dinghy. Manta rays have been spotted and it’s time to jump back in the water. Good thing we didn’t change out of our suits from earlier because it’s go time. The dinghy cruises around and we spot them and they are so much larger than we imagined. We swim for maybe 5-10 minutes without much luck and then all of a sudden they are right by us. I feel like I keep writing amazing and spectacular and fabulous over and over again and I need some new adjectives. But truly we are all blown away. The mantas swim laps around us and it does not get old. One time we watch one swim by and all of a sudden there is a second one right behind the first! Mia didn’t have time to charge the Go Pro and it’s low on battery so we hope it lasts because this is worth documenting. She hands the camera off to me and the ray is coming right at me and I think it’s going to go around me and it doesn’t so I flail about a bit to get out of the way because that’s more than a bit scary. It swims RIGHT UNDER me and I’m a little freaked out.

Sham is back in the dinghy as we start to head over to get ready to return to the boat when all of a sudden he jumps in the water. He calls us over and we see this cauliflower jellyfish perhaps the size of a basketball. Sham gets VERY close to it and no doubt gets amazing footage of it but we keep a distance. I swear, the jellyfish seems like it is after Cody because it seems to be doing its little pulsing thing in his direction, no matter how quickly he backs up. We swim over to see one more manta before getting out and on the way see a sting ray swimming near the bottom.

***Dmitri: That would be a hell of a basketball. Sham calls it a Cauliflower Jelly and it’s about 2.3 feet across--maybe 3 when pulsing. It’s so alien, and although I’ve seen things like this in aquariums, it’s different when this freakish life form is cruising around near you. Apparently they are also super dangerous. Extra points.

The big mantas are indeed “amazing.” It’s appropriate. They are about 10 feet across their wingspans, maybe a bit more. Their mouths gape open wide and they coast while eating plankton all around here. They’re graceful, and just massive as well. We all want to get close, but yeah, not that close.***

It’s all like a crazy dream that gets better and better! Nurse sharks! Dolphins! Turtles! Jellyfish! Rays! We are winning the sea life lottery on this trip for sure! I can’t wait to see Mia’s video of all of this. We are a bit bummed we don’t have the drone because we can only imagine how awesome the footage would be of the rays and the dolphin pod from above. Oh well.

Side note. The manta ray area is near where we transferred from our old boat to our new one. It was going to head off to pick up a new group for a surf trip starting tomorrow. When we get back to anchor we see our old boat and get word that the engine has died. Yikes! We feel terrible for them, but are thinking that was pretty good timing for us to switch boats.

As we wait for dinner, Sham heads off on the dinghy to meet up with a speedboat from the airport with Jack’s bag. We haven’t told him it’s on the way just in case something else happens! It arrives and there is much excitement—from everyone, that is, except Jack. He mumbles a “that’s great news” in a very underwhelming tone of voice. However, he is happy to be reunited with his drone and even though it’s getting dark, he takes the drone up.

Dinner is incredible again and I feel like I might sink to the bottom of the ocean with all the food I’m eating. We celebrate our day with beers while playing cards and it’s the best kind of way to end a day with our new friends.

Sept. 14

Breakfast is early today, as we want to head to a snorkel spot early to try to catch some turtles. Our favorite from the other boat—the tuna/coconut/lime/tortilla concoction—is on the table when we arrive.

As are some of the BEST homemade chocolate-covered donuts. I mean, I could eat the whole plate of them. I don’t. I split one with Mia and then we decide to split another one. But they are eaten too quickly by the gang and I am not able to get a photo. After breakfast, the anchor comes up and off we go. We pass the place we had planned to snorkel and keep on going since turtles haven’t been spotted. Instead, we come across another pod of dolphins and they are a delight.

Mia watching only a very few of the many, many, many dolphins!

They come and play near the boat, swimming right alongside and jumping in the air. We get REALLY over the top excited when we see a very cute baby dolphin. We tell ourselves we are living in the moment when it jumps RIGHT in front of us and no one is able to catch it on video. It’s not even 10:30 am and we have already had donuts and seen a baby dolphin do a corkscrew jump out of the water.

***Dmitri: The baby dolphin doing the corkscrew is the highlight of the trip for me. Eat your heart out, SeaWorld!***

We reach another reef and jump in the water. What on any other day in any other place would be a GREAT snorkel trip is average for us here in the Maldives. We are truly spoiled. Another day, another snorkel. Jack opts to stay back on the boat and gets some footage of us snorkeling. We see a few lobsters and lots of colorful fish. Dmitri sees a pufferfish and this very cool fish that looks like it has geometric shapes on it.

***Dmitri: It's worth saying that when you snorkel, you're excited to see fish. Like, hey, there's a fish! No, there are two. No, there's a school of them. This is something else. This is like 10,000 fish all around you. Schools upon schools. Every color, shape, size. Big 2-3 feet tuna-like fish by the dozens zipping around. Little Nemo-style clown fish in anemones. Parrot-head fish of all colors. It's dizzying, and it takes a long time to get old.***

Lunch is outstanding. How can I even be hungry after that enormous breakfast? But yet, I am. We head to a sand bank and see quite a bit of rain off in the distance. When we arrive at the sand bank it’s drizzly so we take a post-lunch “break” before swimming over to the sand bank. I’m happy it’s close and so is Cody—no need for flippers to swim there. We each have some areas on our feet that have been rubbed pretty raw by the flippers.

Jack fishing off the back of the boat.

The kids are having a low key hang around the boat kind of a day so Dmitri and I head over to the sand bank with Dana and Cody. We are halfway there when we notice a palapa with flowers all over it and what look to be a bride and groom. Ooops. Are we crashing a wedding? Or maybe it’s a photo shoot. Well, we swam this far and are committed so we go to the far side of this little spit of sand. We sit and chat in the surf and spy on the couple and their retinue of photographers, a drone pilot, and officiant. We then swim back to the boat, feeling pleased that at least we got some minimal exercise.

***Dmitri: I smack my foot on a reef on the way back and think, that's not too bad. Then I see it's kinda bad and it'll take a week or two to heal. Then I realize I've been swimming in the ocean leaking blood for a while and yeah, I get right out of the water...***

They give us these on the boat at snack time. Dmitri finds them hilarious.

After another amazing dinner, we ask Dana and Cody for their advice on Dubai. Before the Maldives, they spent a week there and they give us many great recommendations.

Sept. 15

Our final full day on the Hope Cruiser. The boat is a little rocky as we wake up and once we head to breakfast, we see why. There is quite a bit of wind and rain. It gets more intense as we eat. The crew puts down the shade to keep the spray off of us while we eat breakfast. The dinghy is bobbing about in the waves. Waves! This is the first we have seen of waves outside of the time we saw surfers on a surf break. It’s crazy. While we are eating, we see a few dolphins off the boat. They seem to be having a blast—jumping and spinning out of the water. They are only near us for maybe a few minutes but it’s a thrill nevertheless. Seeing dolphins really never gets old.

Today we are supposed to be going to a snorkel spot where we have a good chance of seeing sting rays. That is now pending. We will see if the weather clears up. The six of us have PCR tests scheduled for 2 pm today. Dana and Cody need them for flying home and we need them to continue on to our resort. The ever-helpful Sham has arranged for someone to come out to our boat to give us the tests.

The ocean is rocking and rolling and we are 50-50 on whether or not to go for a final snorkel trip. It's a lazy day and we have inertia. Dana finally puts her foot down and tells us that we are here, we are going! And I am so glad she did because So. Many. Stingrays. The dinghy is rocky, it's windy, there are big waves, and we are snorkeling next to this concrete structure that we are hoping we don't get splatted on to. Below the surface, it's another story. There are maybe 25-30 sting rays and some of them are quite large. It's an unbelievable experience and one we won't forget.

Sept 16

After one last Maldivian dhoni breakfast, we get off the boat back in Male. We say goodbye to the crew and head via dinghy to the airport. It's bittersweet saying goodbye to our G Adventures family for the week--Dana, Cody, Sham and all the crew. Hopefully our paths will cross again, and soon.

Although we are off the boat it still feels like we are rocking. It's takes a good 3 days for this feeling to abate. We take a speedboat to the Hard Rock Hotel and it is nothing short of spectacular.

Jack relaxing on the speedboat on the way out to the resort.

Having a complimentary drink while checking in. Shortly after this photo was taken I was happy to be out of my shoes for the duration of our stay!

Dmitri tried to find a place that would be chill and relaxing but not too overrun with honeymooners and couples. A place that would be fun for the kids. I think he's outdone himself. This place is perfect. They outfit us with complimentary plant-based flips flops and we are off to our rooms. The kids have one that has a gorgeous view of the lagoon and Dmitri and I are in an overwater villa with a plunge pool. Yes, this should work out just fine. The vibe is perfect for Mia and Dmitri. There are speakers subtly placed all over the property with music playing. There are tons of activities every day. There is more of the soft, white sand for Jack, who is in his happy place. Mia can play beach volleyball. Paradise is an understatement.

***Dmitri: We reserved and paid for this place forever ago, so it's great to finally be able to get here. It was our one big splurge in advance. You can spend some serious money in the Maldives and we didn't go for that (the boat being a great way to keep costs down), but they don't really have a lot of cheap options! Still, well worth it.***

Jack orders chicken tenders from room service and hides out in his room while Dmitri, Mia, and I walk across this long bridge to the sister resort for lunch. Everything we eat is delicious--my salad, Dmitri's ceviche, Mia's pasta and, most especially our shared dessert--roasted fruit over olive oil ice cream. Also, the drinks are pretty great too!

We while the day away and for dinner, Dmitri, Jack and I go to the Hard Rock Cafe, which is great. We walk around a part of the island with other shops and restaurants, but it's pretty empty. Darn you, covid!

We sleep to the sound of the ocean crashing on the reef and a lovely breeze.

Sept 17

Luckily, breakfast isn't too early. There is an a-maz-ing buffet breakfast. Probably the best breakfast buffet I have ever seen. Mia is here for the bottomless mimosas. It's hot during the day in the Maldives so we spend time enjoying the view from our villas and catching up on emails and things. It's hard to believe but in a few short days, we will be headed back to Istanbul and we need to know what we need to do in order to fly. So many rules/restrictions/tests/forms. The trip is not all vacation. We are doing a great deal of planning and logistics and such pretty much on a daily basis. Not that I'm complaining. I truly cannot think of a nicer place to get work done. And this hotel is probably the nicest place we have ever been service-wise. Like, every company in hospitality or hotel management should send their people here to see how it's done! I'm not even exaggerating. The people are friendly, with a sincerity that is not forced or fake. They love their country and their jobs and want us to to be happy. Carlton, the food and bev manager, comes to see how we are doing at breakfast every day and remembers Jack’s name and that he likes the chicken tenders.

Jack chilling in the pool

The color of the water in the lagoon is just amazing!

***Dmitri: Did you know you can get sunburned in the shade? Some part of me knew, but not quite enough. I spent a couple hours on our back deck in the shade, but apparently the sun was bouncing off the pool water on to my chest, so I got rock lobstered pretty badly. The Maldives are kind of kicking my ass. Ah well, it's also a nice place to recover.***

Sept 18

Another day, another breakfast buffet and mimosa. We settle into a groove of work, play, swim, work out, drone, blog, beach volleyball, and hanging out enjoying the view. We also spend a little time catching up on Ted Lasso. Dmitri and I go to dinner again at the place we like that is one lagoon over. We ride the free bikes that are all over the island. It's a great system. If you see a bike, you take it and ride it wherever you want and leave it wherever you want for the next person to take. There are solar powered golf carts and if you don't feel like walking or biking, they will transport you around.

Golf cart on the first day, taking us to our rooms.

Sept 19

It's our last day in the paradise that is the Maldives and we have our last buffet breakfast. We let Carlton know that we have to leave at 6:30 tomorrow and he assures us he will have food sent to our rooms. Sigh. It just won't be the same. The four of us scatter after breakfast to work on blog/work on vlog/read/work/play video games and the like. I am *so* close to being caught up on blogs!!

Late in the afternoon, Jack and I take one last dip in the lagoon while Mia and Dmitri have one final game of beach volleyball. I don't have my phone so I am able to see the last Maldivian sunset with no distractions. (Got a few on Jack's phone.)

***Dmitri: It's my first team sport in about a decade, thanks to knee surgeries. I'm stoked to discover that I don't suck, can still hit a little, and in fact I manage to spike on a hapless German guy. Mia is the best player on the court, with real experience and youth on her side. We have a lot of Russians on the court who don't seem to realize that you aren't actually allowed to catch and guide the ball when you have a touch. Ah, well. Then I manage to badly skin my shin on some dives, and think I need to get out of the Maldives before I totally fall apart.

Still, like Cindy said, kudos to this resort for killing it on service and setting. What a great place.***

Sept 20

We wake for the last time at our beautiful resort. We are up with the sun and what a gorgeous sunrise it is! We have an early flight so our boat to the airport is at 6:30 am. There are maybe 20-30 other guests who are checking out early and will be on the same speedboat so the hotel opens the breakfast buffet early at 5:30. Now that is service! Wow. We say our goodbyes to Carlton and get on the boat and head to the airport.

Taking one last look around.

We certainly hope so!

The flight from Male to Dubai is easy peasy. It's practically empty and we each have a row of 4 seats to stretch out on and try to get a little sleep. Emirates is a wonderful airline. For our layover in the Dubai airport, a few things are notable. The first, it's a silent airport. This means they are not announcing things every few minutes and it's just lovely. Why aren't all airports silent airports?? It's such a little thing but it keeps the travel experience just a bit less stressful without all the extra noise. I also spot an Insta 360 like the one that we lost in Portugal. They don't have our model, but it reminds us to look for it when we get to Istanbul. The DXB lounge is fantastic and we have a delicious lunch and make our way to our gate for the flight to Istanbul. The flight from Dubai to Istanbul is uneventful. Dmitri has recommended a movie called Nobody and I enjoy it quite a bit.