We're not massively beach people.
We're also not crazy about relaxing.
We get a bit stir crazy.
We prefer to be doing, hiking, travelling, sight-seeing.
Then we arrived in the Maldives.
We're now beach people.
Now we enjoy relaxing.
We've had enough of treks, temples and travelling.
We love Maldivian life!
The Maldives is one of those places that always seems just out of reach, both geographically and metaphorically. It's for honeymooners, certainly not for travelling families on a budget.
But that just isn't the case. It can be done on a budget, surprisingly cheap.
It's allowed us to end our year of travelling by enjoying some of the most amazing islands in the world on a shoestring budget of around $100 per day for hotels, food, transport and all activities.
8 years ago, the Maldivian Government opened up the local islands to tourism. This is not the well-known Maldivian resort hotels but small hotels on local islands. This allowed us to really see the local culture at first hand whilst experiencing everything the Maldives has to offer.
It's a quite breathtaking place, beaches and oceans that we wouldn't have believed could be so beautiful if we hadn't seen for ourselves.
We visited Rasdhoo, Maafushi, Thinadhoo and Fulidhoo. Each island different, each with its own charm.
On so many occasions, Shoshi and I found ourselves lying on a beach or floating in the turquoise water, just looking at each other and saying "Can't believe we are actually in the Maldives".
It's like living a dream but luckily it has been our reality for the last 3 weeks.
We've thrown in some diving, fishing, plenty of snorkelling and boat trips to keep us busy.
We've swum with sharks, manta rays, sting rays, sea turtles, Giant Travelly and more tropical fish that we can remember. We've seen dolphins up close.
Unfortunately, we've also seen first hand the truly terrible effects of global warming with the vast majority of the coral reefs across the Maldives being partly or wholly dead.
We celebrated Eid al-Adha, the Muslim Festival of Sacrifice, which showed a completely different side of Islam - colour, parties, music, smiling, happy people. Perhaps it is the weight of the Middle East that we are used to, but in contrast, Islam in the Maldives has a different vibe altogether. Think Islam meets Jamaica!
The ultimate highlight for Shoshi was diving with a Manta Ray.
For the rest of us, it was the unbelievable snorkelling with Nurse Sharks.
Today is our last day in the Maldives. Tomorrow we fly to Mumbai then on the 21st, we fly back to Israel.
But we'll always have the Maldives, the cherry on top of the cream on top of the cake that has been our unbelievable year of travelling.
(NOTE - whilst travelling here, I've actually had many conversations with local hotel owners and I think there is a real business opportunity to bring Israeli, British and other tourists to this type of Maldivian holiday. I am considering setting up a business in this area when we get back but irrespective of any potential business, anyone who would like advice or help planning this type of Maldivian holiday, please just get in touch, I'll be happy to help).
Rasdhoo
Maafushi
Thinadhoo
Fulidhoo
We're also not crazy about relaxing.
We get a bit stir crazy.
We prefer to be doing, hiking, travelling, sight-seeing.
Then we arrived in the Maldives.
We're now beach people.
Now we enjoy relaxing.
We've had enough of treks, temples and travelling.
We love Maldivian life!
The Maldives is one of those places that always seems just out of reach, both geographically and metaphorically. It's for honeymooners, certainly not for travelling families on a budget.
But that just isn't the case. It can be done on a budget, surprisingly cheap.
It's allowed us to end our year of travelling by enjoying some of the most amazing islands in the world on a shoestring budget of around $100 per day for hotels, food, transport and all activities.
8 years ago, the Maldivian Government opened up the local islands to tourism. This is not the well-known Maldivian resort hotels but small hotels on local islands. This allowed us to really see the local culture at first hand whilst experiencing everything the Maldives has to offer.
It's a quite breathtaking place, beaches and oceans that we wouldn't have believed could be so beautiful if we hadn't seen for ourselves.
We visited Rasdhoo, Maafushi, Thinadhoo and Fulidhoo. Each island different, each with its own charm.
On so many occasions, Shoshi and I found ourselves lying on a beach or floating in the turquoise water, just looking at each other and saying "Can't believe we are actually in the Maldives".
We've thrown in some diving, fishing, plenty of snorkelling and boat trips to keep us busy.
We've swum with sharks, manta rays, sting rays, sea turtles, Giant Travelly and more tropical fish that we can remember. We've seen dolphins up close.
Unfortunately, we've also seen first hand the truly terrible effects of global warming with the vast majority of the coral reefs across the Maldives being partly or wholly dead.
We celebrated Eid al-Adha, the Muslim Festival of Sacrifice, which showed a completely different side of Islam - colour, parties, music, smiling, happy people. Perhaps it is the weight of the Middle East that we are used to, but in contrast, Islam in the Maldives has a different vibe altogether. Think Islam meets Jamaica!
The ultimate highlight for Shoshi was diving with a Manta Ray.
For the rest of us, it was the unbelievable snorkelling with Nurse Sharks.
Today is our last day in the Maldives. Tomorrow we fly to Mumbai then on the 21st, we fly back to Israel.
But we'll always have the Maldives, the cherry on top of the cream on top of the cake that has been our unbelievable year of travelling.
(NOTE - whilst travelling here, I've actually had many conversations with local hotel owners and I think there is a real business opportunity to bring Israeli, British and other tourists to this type of Maldivian holiday. I am considering setting up a business in this area when we get back but irrespective of any potential business, anyone who would like advice or help planning this type of Maldivian holiday, please just get in touch, I'll be happy to help).
Rasdhoo
Maafushi
Thinadhoo
Fulidhoo
