Discuss this article in forum Email this article Print this article The Beach House in the Maldives joins the Waldorf Astoria Collection

The Beach House, located at the northern tip of the Maldives, is scheduled to join the Waldorf Astoria Collection of Hilton Hotels Corporation on November 1 2009. Owned by the Maldivian company, The Beach House is a luxurious and private resort which has won many accolades.

The Waldorf Astoria Collection is a selection of some extraordinary hotels, each of which has its own character, architecture and history. The Waldorf Astoria Collection contains many hotels and resorts such as the Trianon Palace Versailles, the Rome Cavalieri, the Qasr AI Sharq etc.

The Beach House is fringed by white beaches and comprises 83 Maldivian-style villas, a luxurious spa, three restaurants and four bars with each villa including a private pool and butler. This romantic resort can provide guests with fantastic Asian fusion meal in the famous Maldivian sunsets.

The Beach House will also join the wider Hilton Family of Hotels. To make guests easily access reservations information, it will become part of the Worldwide Reservations Network and the Global Distribution System.

Source: etravelblackboard.com

Mystical Maldives

Get prepared to be charmed and dazzled by the brilliance of the Maldives says Akhila Thyli Hemanth

Leaving for the Maldives was an adventure in itself.

We missed the bus that we had to take from Bangalore to Trivandrum. From Trivandrum, we had to catch the flight to the Maldives. To make it more difficult, no other bus was available, and at one point we were sure we were not going to make it to the flight. Visions of the turquoise sea meeting the azure blue sky kept us from cancelling the vacation and we rented a car and made a hair-raisingly speedy overnight journey to Trivandrum and rushed to our flight. It was a good thing that we had four days in the Maldives to recuperate from the nightmarish drive.

On landing, the heat of a sultry Maldivian summer washed over us. Landing at the Maldives is quite a unique experience that has the feel of a romantic Bollywood movie. The runway is on an island, with the beautiful coloured sea and the ubiquitous coconut trees framing the terminal.

After a quick run through customs and immigration we were on a dhoni (a small boat) eager to get to our destination—the island resort, Giravaru.

Depending on the distance from the terminal, dhonis, speed boats or sea planes transport you to one of the many resorts around. Not just from the airport to the resort, if you have to reach anywhere in the Maldives you have to take the sea route.

The Maldives, a remarkable geological creation in the middle of the Indian Ocean, is an island nation rich with natural and ancient coral life. Made up of atolls, this country is considered the smallest with a large Muslim population. With sunny weather throughout the year, the Maldives is proving to be a popular destination for snorkelers, divers, sun worshippers and a romantic getaway for honeymooners. A traveller is spoilt for choices as there are new resorts coming up every few months with themes ranging from back-to-nature, eco-friendly resorts to the most luxurious boutiques, complete with ‘houses’ on stilts in the water with glass floors so you can have your own private ‘natural’ aquarium. Typically, each island has only one resort, but not all the islands on the Maldives have resorts. We were told that there were 88 resorts there and about 1,200 islands!

Heading south on a fairly fast boat, we reached our resort in twenty-five minutes. We passed by Male, the capital city, and entered the South Male Atoll. The entrance to the atoll was surreal, with the water calm and placid—completely the opposite of the choppy waters we were skimming across a few moments ago.

Disembarking on the only jetty in the island, there we were, on the white beach that I had only seen in photographs and movie pictures.

Walking through a cool archway of colourful bougainvilleas in soothing pink, white and orange, we reached our room. The backdoor of the room opened onto the beach. We seemed to have walked into a picture postcard.

We washed up and headed towards the bar. We could not have asked for a better setting than the outer deck with an open sky. Settling into the easy chairs, we were taken aback by the intensity of the view. A clear night sky crowded with stars twinkling and chattering merrily in tune with the gentle splash of the ocean, and a distant horizon engulfed by a soothing darkness.

The morning dawned bright and early. After a quick breakfast, we browsed through the list of activities the resort offered to its guests. Diving, island hopping, snorkelling, banana boat rides and catamarans.

Giving in to our itch for some adventure, we signed up for snorkeling—something we had not done before. We made our way to the diving shack, where David, our instructor, was waiting for us.

David first explained what the snorkelling equipment was, how to clean them up and put them on. After putting on our wet suits, we headed towards the ocean for some practice before heading out to the house reef. It was fun bumbling and splashing about in the ocean. House reefs of most of the islands are just a few metres away from the beach.

After David felt we had sufficient practice, we made our way down to the house reef, gingerly stepping on the slippery rocks into bath temperature waters of the lagoon. We had to swim a small distance to reach reef-life. What we saw there was a whole new world of breathtaking beauty. To see the sheer diversity of the marine wildlife was an indescribable joy.

Snorkelling along the edge of the reef, (in a slight current) we saw most of the characters from ‘Finding Nemo’, including clown fish (Marlin and Nemo), powder blue tang (Dory) and Moorish idol (Gill), turtles, rays, a partially hidden moray eel (where we could see only its menacing head), corals, lobsters and shrimp (all of which we could identify quite easily). David filled us in on the other creatures we saw, such as sea cucumbers, parrotfish, angelfish, shoals of lovely oriental sweet lips, moon fusiliers and basslets. The lavish colours swathe you completely and you’re surrounded by coloured fish of every shape and size. There is something magical in seeing dense shoals like these in the wild. It is said that Maldives has probably the world’s best and diverse coral reefs.

Later, we went snorkelling as often as we could have, for the rest of our stay. The reef teeming with endearing brilliantly coloured fish, corals and other marine life ensured that we had an unforgettable and amazing experience of a lifetime.

One of the things I liked about this island was that there was no pressure to visit all the local ‘sightseeing’ spots, but there was plenty to do. Once you came to terms with the fact that there is nothing to force you to occupy your time, you stop feeling restless. The most demanding decisions we made were about which book to read and where should we sunbathe!

We also went on an island trip. It was a very small island and you could cover it in about twenty minutes. The beach was littered with seashells and crawling with crabs. We swam in its waters and spent a lazy day here, hobnobbing with turtles, sharks and rays.

When we headed back towards our resort we were ravenous and went to the resorts’ dining area. The package we had opted for included all three meals. Each of the guests were allotted a table, and were not allowed to switch tables, which we thought was rather strange. The food was nothing to write home about and more or less the same fare was being served everyday.

Apart from this small disappointment, our whole trip was immensely enjoyable. It was soon time for us to leave. We had gotten too used to the relaxed rhythm of a Maldivian resort and heading back home to a busy city life was not tempting at all.

As we took off in our flight, we turned back to look at the inviting cobalt blue waters, the corals, which could be seen even from such a distance, and the islands fringed with sandy beaches, all shimmering like drops of lapis lazuli, and we made a promise to ourselves that we would come back and visit paradise once more.

If you are looking for a unique break that will pamper you and offer you a holiday of a lifetime, then head towards the Maldives for a fabulous holiday. Do, however, remember to travel responsibly and help preserve this paradise.

Source:

Saturday, May 9, 2009 4:10 AM Be a member & get the benefits! Register or login Govt plans to sell inhabited islands to foreign countries

Indonesia is mulling some plans to “put up for sale” its inhabited small islands as shelters for environmental refugees thanks to the climate change which was likely to disappear some of Small Island States.

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi raised the idea over concern of sea level rise due to climate change which would end up under water low-lying countries.

“Pak Freddy still needs to consult the idea with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono before going into detailed plans,” the ministry’s director general for coastal and small islands Syamsul Maarif told reporters on Monday.

“But, it is smart plans if we see severe impacts of sea level rise.”

He said that a number of countries, including Maldives, had started purchasing new homeland in India as shelters for its citizens if the sea level disappear the island.

The United Nations has warned that the climate change could raise the sea level up to 59 centimeters by 2100 unless the world countries take actions to cut huge scale of greenhouse gas emissions.

Most parts of Maldives are currently just about 1.5 meters above the water with the highest land point is 2.4 meter above sea level.

He said that Indonesia currently has 17,480 small islands across the archipelago.

“We find so far only 20 islands which have lost due to environmental problems including sea level rises of climate change,” he said.

Source: thejakartapost.com

Bowermaster's Adventures -- Snorkeling through the Maldives

Swimming along the coral edge of what transplanted marine biologist Anke Hofmeister calls her "home reef" the line dividing the shallows and deep blue is exact. To our left in the brightly sunlit coral, hundreds of shiny reef fish dart and feed; in the dark blue, just to our right, which descends straight down a dramatic hundred foot wall, swim the Maldivian big guys - jackfish, tuna and red snapper, each over one hundred pounds. An occasional spotted eagle ray elegantly flaps its way past in the dark blue below the surface of a calm Indian Ocean.

During a mile-long swim paralleling the beach we spy an incredibly beautiful and vast variety of wrasses, clown, surgeon and parrot fish. A dusky moray eel peeks out of its coral hideaway. A solitary hawksbill turtle flippers past. And a square-headed porcupine fish attempts to hide itself deep inside a rock crevice. As Anke dives to tickle an anemone hugged tight to the coral, a nasty titan triggerfish nips at her; they can be aggressive little buggers and when they bite literally take a chunk of flesh. The shallow, sandy floor running to the beach is heavy with gray-beige coral, colorful clams and even a few handsome sea cucumbers (black with red dots).

The relative health of the coral is somewhat remarkable because recent history here hasn't been particularly kind to it. In 1998, thanks to shifting ocean patterns associated with El Niño, sea temperatures rose above 32 degrees C for more than two weeks badly "bleaching" the coral (the killing of the symbiotic algae that lives within the coral and gives it color). Between seventy and ninety percent of all the reefs surrounding the Maldives 26 atolls are estimated to have died as a result. Slowly they are trying to come back.

While that temperature rise was considered a fluke, today after our swim I ask Anke to guess at the water temps now. "Around 31 degrees C (88 degrees F)," she says, though she not guessing since she's worked and swum here nearly daily for the past four years. "For this time of year, that seems to be normal now. In two more months it will be colder, down to 27, 28 degrees."

In 1998 scientists were astonished that the water temperatures could rise so high, so fast. Now they are worried it may one day become the norm. With approximately 80 per cent of the 1,192 coral islets that make up the island nation just three feet or less above sea level, making it the world's lowest country, the temperature of the ocean is very important. If the temperatures stay high and the coral continues to suffer and die, there goes another barrier protecting these already fragile, at-risk islands.

While warming and rising seas and coral die-offs are everyday concerns throughout the Maldives, as Anke and I walk back down the beach another environmental worry is evident: Many of the beautiful white sand beaches are narrowing, on some islands quite dramatically. It's estimated that fifty percent of the inhabited islands and forty five percent of those with resorts only are suffering from some degree of coastal erosion.

Some of the beach loss is due to man. Continued development demands more sand for cement (though much of the sand used for building in the Maldives today comes from Sri Lanka or India). Increased wave action due to more boat traffic takes a toll. But a major blame is placed on the tsunami of 2004, which sucked massive amounts of sand off the beaches, and it never returned.

When you fly above the Maldives it's easy to see there is no one shape characterizing the outline of the exterior of the atolls or the hundreds of islands sheltered inside them. Strong tides and powerful currents shape each, there is no one pattern thus no single way to reduce or limit the erosion. On different islands different attempts have been made to save the beaches, including building of seawalls or jetties, dredging and pumping. In some cases it is working, in others not.

On one hand it's easy to think of these coral atolls and the islands they protect as tough and impervious, imagining that they've been here a long time and will be here for a longer time to come. But a short swim and a simple walk on a beautiful, hot, hot day quickly reminds just how fragile, how vulnerable they can be.

Source: gadling.com

Dhiraagu introduces AeroMobile service

Dhiraagu, the Maldives operator, has introduced the AeroMobile service for its subscribers. AeroMobile is a mobile roaming service on aircrafts enabling the subscribers to make calls or send SMS when roaming. Registration is not required for the AeroMobile service, and charges will be billed to the subscriber’s Dhiraagu mobile bill as roaming charges.

The service will also be available for MVR 46.90/minute for outgoing calls to the Maldives, MVR 83.00/minute for incoming calls from anywhere and MVR 10.54 for each SMS sent. While mobiles are still required to be switched off during take-off and landing, subscribers onboard AeroMobile equipped flights will be advised by the cabin crew when they may use their mobiles.

Source: wirelessfederation.com