We’d originally planned to go to Maldives in 2020, but of course, the pandemic put a halt to the plans. As soon as flights there were greenlighted by the Singapore government, and quarantine restrictions were lifted, we booked in our trip. Up until we actually set foot on the island though, I was constantly trying to tamp down my anticipation.

What a glorious week it was! I’d picked well selecting Villamendhoo as our resort island of choice. For its over the water villas, but most importantly, for its raved about house reef. We debated long and hard about bringing our own SUP boards, so we could go for a paddle at sunrise. Ultimately though, the strict seaplane baggage limits caused us to drop that idea, and we easily filled our days from dawn to dusk everyday on the water anyway, either snorkeling or diving.

The diving was outstanding – the dive center put up dive boat excursions to various reefs for the next day every evening, and we’d go eagerly up to the boards outside the dive center to choose our new adventures – anywhere from full day affairs on long haul trips up north to see the mantas, down south to spot whale sharks, to exciting dawn dives at the nearby thias, the Maldivian word for underwater mountains. We signed up for most of them.

The diving highlight was spotting the magnificent whale shark – not on our dives, but during the surface interval between our first and second dives. The captain heard on the radio that one of the other boats had spotted the creature, so we gunned for the spot. As soon as we neared the area – we could see a mass of people just swimming excitedly en masse towards us. We jumped in, and started paddling towards them, though initially we couldn’t see anything on the ocean floor but the beautiful gigantic plate corals. Then, just as the water surface started roiling with the frantic splashing of arms and legs, I spotted a dark silhouette looming rapidly towards me. I had just a moment to admire the distinctive white spots of the whale shark when the crowd was upon me.

Haha, thankfully, the guides had warned us about the enthusiasm for the crowd, so I was prepared for it, and willing to give as good as I got. The snorkelers’ fins had nothing on my dive fins, and I easily broke my way to the front of the crowd again, through desperate hands that tried to pull me back. But I kept easily ahead, just abreast of the creature swimming placidly and regally below, ignoring the excitement at the surface. I swam with it for long minutes, until it moved towards deeper waters and its brilliant white spots merged into the darker blue. At that time, I finally looked back, and saw that most everyone was already out of the water, and my own dive boat was back in the distance.

The snorkeling was stellar too. With my underwater strobe malfunctioning, I couldn’t get magnificent colors in the deep, but the shallows provided a ton of interest. Along the house reef on our daily leisurely and languid swims, we spotted grey reef baby sharks, white tip sharks, marble rays, grey sting rays, eagle rays, mobula rays, turtles, lobsters, octopuses, and tons and tons of fish – triggerfish, fuisiliers, angel fish, banner fish, Napoleon wrasses, golden blue-striped snappers etc. What a feast for the eyes!

Certainly one of our most active but also most restful vacations. We’d be up around 5am every morning, to catch the sunrise on the eastern end of the island. If we had an early morning dive, we’d then grab breakfast before going to the dive boat. Otherwise, we’d take a 2 hour snorkel around the island. We’d be on the water until sunset, whereby we’d hit the tennis court, or grab a pre-dinner cocktail. By 930pm, we’d be hitting the bed already. And unlike my fitful sleeps back home, I’d get up just once in the middle of the night maybe, to drink some water. I didn’t even open a book once that week haha.

We’re already trying to plot a return next year. 🙂