Maldives

the perfect combination for a round trip in Sri Lanka

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Everyone has probably heard of the Maldives. I was in the Maldives for the first time in 1999 after a week in Sri Lanka. The Maldives are the perfect combination for a round trip in Sri Lanka. It's been a long time and I was really bored at the time because I'm not really a persn to spend holiday at the beach.

But in 2022 we discovered Scuba Dive for ourselves and did the Padi Open Water in June. My son Alejandro and I are currently in the Maldives and are simply enchanted. 3 dives so fare, with countless fish, turtles, sharks, moray eels and manta rays unbelievable!

But we also snorkeled and the trip to Biyadhoo Reef and Turtle Reef was wonderful. Fish of all colors! Even people who can't swim, have the opportunity to marvel at the underwater world with a swim vest.

Location and information about the Maldives

The Maldives are located in the Indian Ocean and are made up of 26 atolls. What exactly is an atoll, well it’s a ring-shaped collection of several coral islands. You can imagine the whole thing like a mountain range under water, the tops of which are the islands. The Maldives, consists of about 1,200 islands, 200 are inhabited and about 100 are used as hotel islands.

The islanders most likely originally came from Sri Lanka. Or have settled here through Arabian, Malayan or African seafarers and traders. It's not entirely certain.

The Maldives have about 545,000 inhabitants (as of 2021).

Belief and religion, as well as respect

What is certain is that Islam was introduced by Arab sailors and the republic is 100% Muslim. Therefore, please make sure that you are only allowed to swim in a bikini on the tourist beaches and in no case top less. Respect is the be-all and end-all in every country.

Climate change and tourism

The country in conflict, as early as 1999, when I first visited the Maldives, there was talk of climate change and that the islands would eventually be swallowed up by the sea. Tourism, although it brings the large income, puts the Maldives and its ecosystem to the test.

Yesterday afternoon, I was walking on one of the main islands and there was garbage everywhere on the beach, I was horrified and started to pick up some things. At the end of the beach I had to realize that the garbage dump is next to the prison. Clearly unprotected, the ravens get the garbage leftovers and the wind unfortunately does the rest.

But that's only part of it

But that's only part of it, really I see a lot of positive things too, people who pick up the garbage and put it away. Water bottles are refilled in our hotel instead of plastic bottles! In the diving school with which we do our dives, there is a water dispenser on the boat. You will get a bottle with your name, which you can then fill up or, like us, take your own bottle with you.

The soil on the islands is not very fertile and almost everything has to be imported and is therefore of course more expensive. But there are also small shops where you can buy fruit. I bought carrots, which just taste delicious. Every house uses old containers to have plants along the wall of the house with cabbage, papaya, and lettuce. The house provides shade and the rain drips right into the bins.

Best time to travel to the Maldives. That used to be easier to assess, because the climate here has changed completely. In the European summer time is the rainy season, the monsoon, but that does not mean that it rains all day. It looks like land under or as they say in my homeland, it pours cats and dogs and then the sun comes up again. We're here during the official rainy season and it's raining, but the sun keeps coming out. Honestly, it's a healthy mix, because the sun is beating down!

Flight connections

Male Airport is the international airport of the Maldives. The IATA code is

MLE -Male, this should make it easier for you to search for flights. There are other small airports that make the more distant atolls accessible by air.

Transport between the islands and the airport. It's best to ask at your hotel or book a transfer from to the airport if, like us, you don't book a package tour.

Where to sleep

There are luxurious resorts on small islands that offer all inclusive, but then you are almost always in the same place for the whole holiday. But there are also islands that have diving stations and larger islands like Maafushi that have offers ranging from guesthouses to 5-star hotels.

Here are a helpful link to auer  Booking.com Site

More soon here about the excursions we did.

We snorkeled to Biyadhoo Reef and Turtle Reef