The Maldives

The Maldives doesn't have the same 'wooooooooooow' factor living in Qatar as it's a pretty accessible and affordable weekend destination for people living on the Peninsula. Up until Covid that was.  Then we had a 'travel bubble' with the Maldives late last year during the Xmas period (up until February) but Ms. Lastminutedotcom didn't manage to get a booking before it was all sold out.

Fast forward to April when Qatar announced three 'quarantine free' destinations; Turkey, Georgia and the Maldives.  Georgia is definitely on my list of places to go.  However, I see it more as a girl's weekend away with some culture and a bit of wine tasting thrown in. Turkey is just, well, not all that exciting. I've been there a couple of times. Their figures are also pretty high I believe.  So we booked the Maldives for some chilling, but mostly snorkeling. 

I chose a tiny island with great reviews and an apparently awesome house reef.  The reviews turned out to be spot on.  It was a four star, and to be honest, exactly what I wanted and expected.  The food was good.  It wasn't five star lobster, king prawns, wagyu beef good, but it was decent, hot, varied and fresh. It was pretty much a 'barefoot island' and we didn't wear footwear for the six days we were there (unless you count flippers).  Both the bar and restaurant had sand floors.  Shoes were unnecessary. The place had a laid back vibe, there was nothing much to do other than sit at the bar, read, chat, play games (board games, plus pool, table tennis and table football) or swim/snorkel/dive and keep fit (I did a lot of walking around the island, which was seven minutes round the perimeter at a saunter, some yoga and a LOT of swimming).

I'm usually happy to come back home, but I didn't want to leave this paradise island.  Sandies Bathala  is one place I'd consider going back to. The water bungalows were something I've always wanted to do, but the beach bungalows were just as stunning, situated around the edges of the island, each one, right on the beach, a few steps from the ocean.

Although we did a couple of snorkeling trips, the house reef was actually the most impressive, where we saw many many sharks (which I love), rays, turtles, several very large, scary Titan Trigger Fish as well as most of the cast from Finding Nemo.  It was truly amazing.  Starfish, moray eels, Clown Trigger Fish, Nurse Sharks, Butterfly Fish, Parrot Fish, Napolean Fish and a shiver of black tip pups at the entrance to the water bungalows.  Magical to say the least.

The Maldives (Bathala) definitely had the wow factor for me and was every bit as spectacular as I'd hoped. Another huge selling point for me was that the resort are focused on protecting the environment. The only plastic we saw, was what washed up on the island.  Filtered water was served in glass bottles, no plastic in the rooms or bars (plastic bottles in the bar were not given to guests and put straight in recycling bins) and the new resort manager explained to me that they had started composting and growing some herbs and spices on the island, with more sustainable plans to follow.

It was so good to get away, even more so, to somewhere so beautiful and relaxing.