Male’, Maldives
The Maldives are a former British protectorate. Independence was gained in 1965. Male’ is the capital. The Maldives are a collection of 26 atolls. These are islands that form a ring around an extinct volcano.
We arrived at 8am and were anchored off the port of Male’. From our balcony the area looked beautiful. Male looked like a major city and the other islands had sandy beaches.
I would have never guessed a city this size existed in the middle of the ocean on such a tiny island. Male’ is 1.5 miles by 1 mile. A lot smaller than Grosse Ile.
We ventured out about 9 or so. No tour. Sight seeing on our own. Not sure there is much to see. We do want to have dinner on the island in the evening. I had a difficult time trying to call so we are going to stop by to see if we can make reservations.
The tender ride was about 10 minutes and the water was very calm. The weather was blazing hot. Full sun and humidity. My shirt was already drenched with sweat by the time we arrived.
Male’ is almost entirely Muslim. It is Ramadan so a lot of the stores were closed. We walked around to try to find the hotel first. It was a lot more difficult than one might think. The address didn’t seem to take us to the correct location. We finally spoke to someone on the street and we were pointed in the right direction. The Cloud restaurant was on top of the Sammandgrand Hotel. We went up to see the menu and make reservations. We learned that most restaurants on the islands had a buffet at 6:30 for local residents who wanted to break their fast. We couldn’t make a reservation until 7:30. We decided to pass.
We continued walking around. There were thousands of motorbikes parked along each side of the street and the sidewalks were very narrow. It was very difficult to walk around. There wasn’t going to be much here for us. Sometimes we will just sit an enjoy a beer and wine. Not happening here. Against Islamic practice. No alcoholic drinks on Male’.
The Maldives are very popular with tourists. The many atolls have awesome hotels with rooms built right above the ocean. Most tourists go right from the airport and on to a ferry to the island their resort is on.
HAL only had many tours that put you at one of the resorts. Quite expensive. One was over $900 for a day at a resort where you didn’t even have a room. We passed on that. Snorkeling was an option but we passed on that too.
Male’ is one of the most densely populated areas on the planet. There was a park or two that had a bit of grass but most of the island was covered with buildings.
We spent a few hours walking around and went back to the ship. This port was added after the Red Sea forced an itinerary change. I’m not sure why a cruise ship would want to come here.
We are here overnight and have yet decided if we are coming back to the island. There is plenty to do on the ship if we choose to stay.
Team trivia after dinner really made us feel like we walked into the time tunnel and landed into a period of time where we don’t belong. Elton John’s husband’s name? Who is the godmother of their children? Who was the star of the Bond Film Casino Royal? Who did the voice to Disney’s Aladdin? We had five more questions where we couldn’t even guess at the answers. Are we on the right planet?…