Maafushi, Maldives-

This place is the thing that dreams are made of. I am not sure why I was struggling to finish this blog, but it’s finally here.

When I was planning my trip for Spring Break, I noticed how close the Maldives were to Sri Lanka. I couldn’t resist checking to see how much the tickets were to the cluster of atolls. As it turns out, a round trip ticket from Sri Lanka to the Maldives will cost you about $120. I mean there is no way I could pass up that deal. When you think about traveling to some exotic places from the United States at times it seems out of reach. For me the Maldives was in the list of places like Fiji and Australia. I mean I would like to go, but it might cost me an arm, leg and organ!

After purchasing my ticket, I went to my favorite website, booking.com and searched for hotels. I knew that I wanted to stay on Maafushi. I read a blog a few months back that named this as an up and coming atoll that was reasonably priced. I didn’t necessarily need the over the water cabana but I was looking for ocean view rooms, clear, blue water and white sand. With my flight landing at night, I would need to get a hotel in Male and then catch a speed boat the next day to Maafushi. In Male, I stayed at H78. It was about 10 minutes from the airport. The next morning I woke up to beautiful blue skies and the ocean right across the street. I got dressed for a morning at the beach and had breakfast as it was inclusive.

I then walked over to the beach and sat out for a while before I needed to get dressed and head to the boat landing. By the way, it was extremely hot on the beach. Hot like none other. The hotel took me back to airport, where the boat landing is located. On the way, the driver said he was going to stop so I could get a good view of the water. Holy moly! I have never seen water this blue. I’ve been to Cartagena, Aruba, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Isla Mujeres, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Nothing compares to this water. Not only is a different blue, you can see straight through in certain place. Also, the distance that you can walk out into the water is pretty significant. When I got out of the van, I literally cried as I soaked up the goodness of what I was viewing. I was finally able to catch my speed boat after what seemed to take forever to gather passengers. It took about 45 minutes to arrive in Maafushi. A bellman from the hotel meet me at the boat landing with a trolley to take my luggage. It was about a 5 minute walk to reach Kaani Grand Seaview.

Picturesque view of water in front of airport in Male.

Honestly, this part of the trip was meant for rest and relaxation. I had been running all over Northern Sri Lanka for the last 5 days. The only thing I did in Maafushi was sit on the beach, read, eat and sleep. I was still recovering from the terrible cold that I picked up in Sri Lanka. Also, the only way you can access alcohol is to take a party boat out in the ocean and I just wasn’t up for that. While I was checking into the hotel, the attendant talked me into doing a day trip the following day to another atoll. However, I woke up the next morning and just couldn’t do it. So I spent the next 2 and a half days completely relaxing. Overall, this was great addition to my break. I felt completely rejuvenated and ready to return to work in a few days. My final morning in Maafushi, I took the time to explore the whole atoll. You can walk it in about 30 minutes. It is one of the largest measuring .79 miles in length and .16 in width. There are 3,000 inhabitants including foreigners. I even saw little kids getting ready for school. There is a lot of construction on the atoll and I can tell that someday it will probably be out of my reach financially. So, if you want an affordable trip to Maafushi, now is the time to visit.