Despite the 2h time difference, I woke up surprisingly early at 0745. We both wanted a sluggish start and didn’t take breakfast till 0845. In view of our 1500 departure to Maafushi, we opted to stay in till check-out at 1200. I edited photos while Kim read his book.
We had lunch at a waterfront cafe before withdrawing more money, this time in USD from HSBC. We returned to the hotel to collect our bags and taxied to the western port for our 1500 dhoni to Maafushi.
We had booked a boutique hotel there. About six years ago there was a law change to allow guesthouse so that ordinary people can participate in and enjoy the benefits of the tourism industry. Previous to this, foreigner could only stay in resorts owned by a select people, and were segregated from local to preserve the local culture. Even now, tourism is limited to certain islands.
The USD2 boat ride was comfortable once it got going, with seabreeze and ceiling fans. Time went quickly chatting to Florian, a German guy who had lots of interest in travel. We subjected him to my travel photos of various places and dive sites. He didn’t protest but seemed to show a genuine interest.
About 1h30 after leaving, we pulled into the harbour at Maafushi. Various hotel staff were there with their signs and baggage trolleys. We walked to our home for four nights, the Leisure Boutique Hotel. The staff were all Bangladeshis while the manager was local. All were equally welcoming and we were shown to our clean, simple air-con room.
We went out pretty swiftly afterwards for a wander to get a preview of the island in daylight. We went north to bikini beach (where bikinis and speedos are allowed) then the public beach (where more conservative swimwear is required).
It appeared to us that the public beach was nicer but didn’t have the facilities to hang out for an extended period. But we couldn’t be more wrong when we visited bikini beach the next day; we then realised that it was a natural pool even at low tide.
We had dinner at one of several restaurants. Pricing was very reasonable for such a touristy location; in fact it was cheaper than in Male. Our concerns about whether to bring USD or MVR were unfounded; pricing was in MVR but a USD equivalent is given in the bill at a reasonable conversion rate.
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- Dhonis at the harbour.
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- Comfortable passenger and cargo ferry from Male takes only 1h30 and costs USD2.
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- Comfortable passenger and cargo ferry from Male takes only 1h30 and costs USD2.
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- All accommodation is within walking distance.
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- On the tiny island village of Maafushi.
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- On the tiny island village of Maafushi.
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- This is bikini beach on Maafushi,
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- This is the public beach where western-style swimwear is considered too risque.
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- This is the public beach where western-style swimwear is considered too risque.
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- Our lovely hotel where a room costs USD34 per night.
