A snapshot of life in the Maldives

A short piece of writing I was asked to do for a Travel company about my experience in the Maldives...

I was aware of everyone stopping and staring at me as we walked down the dimly lit sandy street. I sheepishly pulled at the bottom of my long shorts willing them to cover more of my legs, fearing that I was offending the locals or being disrespectful of their culture. “Why is everyone staring at me?” I asked Ammadey, my local guide, “Do they think that I am being disrespectful because I haven’t covered my hair or lower legs?” Ammadey laughed, apparently amused by my question, “No,” he said, “They’re just not used to seeing white ones here.”

It was then that I realised that what I had initially perceived as offence was actually just curiosity and fascination. It was in that moment that I felt gratitude bubbling up inside of me as I realised I was experiencing a truly local culture on this island, one that most tourists never got to see, the real Maldives. 

I could hear the sound of the waves lapping the shore as we walked towards the beach and I gasped in astonishment as I saw that the shore was glowing bright blue, as if studded with thousands of fireflies. “Ammadey what is that?!” I shrieked. Smiling he looked at me and replied, “Bioluminescent phytoplankton. It’s tiny sea creatures that glow when they’re stressed by the waves breaking on the beach.” It looked as though the stars had fallen down into the ocean. “Wow,” I replied, transfixed by the surreal blue glow, “It’s absolutely beautiful.”

We sat down in the joalis, a traditional Maldivian seat, at the back of the beach and I could hear the local children running around in the streets behind us. It was as if everything around had been painted; the star studded night sky untainted by pollution, the reflection of the moon on the ocean and the sparkling blue shore line. I had so many questions for Ammadey, about life in the Maldives, and he had many for me, about life outside the Maldives. We sat and shared stories for hours and I realised that although we were very different, we were the same.

I checked my watch as we boarded the dhoni boat back to the resort island, 10:45pm. A warm breeze cut through the night air. I looked over my shoulder, at the lights of the harbour getting smaller in distance and I knew that I would remember this night forever.

The following morning I stepped outside and felt the blazing sun warm my skin immediately. The palm trees swayed in the light breeze and every member of staff I walked past smiled and said hello, the Maldivian people are so friendly. As I reached the edge of the island I saw the untainted white sand beach stretching out in front of me and looking to the crystal clear blue ocean I knew that I had found my paradise; even my wildest visions couldn’t have brought me to a land as beautiful as this.

In the Dive Centre I was greeted with yet more friendly faces and introduced to Modex, my Maldivian dive guide for the morning. As we walked along the jetty to the dive boat I looked down, the clarity of the water beneath us was breath-taking. “We don’t need to go scuba diving!” I exclaimed, “We can see all the fish from here the water is so clear!” Modex laughed and replied; “That is true, but there is even more to see where we are going!”

When we arrived at the dive site, called “Anga Faru” Modex gave a briefing, informing me of the current there, the type of reef and some of the sea life we might see. After donning our equipment we jumped into the water and began descending. I was mesmerized straight away. It was as though we were swimming through an aquarium; we were surrounded by thousands of beautiful, vibrantly coloured fish. The reef was absolutely thriving with life; beautiful corals, shoals of glass fish, anemone fish, honeycomb moray eels, puffer fish and rays. all of which seemed completely un-bothered by us watching them in awe.

About half way through the dive Modex turned to me and signed to me to stop and then pointed into the distance where I could just make out the silhouette of a shark! Filled with excitement we cautiously swam towards it, staying very still, and watched it majestically swim around in front of us. There was something indescribable about that moment; as I hovered weightless in the water I surrendered entirely to the underwater world.

After the dive Modex informed me that the shark we had seen was a grey reef shark, which is rare to see in that Atoll, making the experience feel even more exceptional. On the boat ride back to the resort we were joined by dolphins which dived in and out of the water at the front of the boat as the sunlight danced over the waves. Looking out across the turquoise waters I thought to myself; ‘If heaven is a place on earth then this is it.’