Day 67& 68 - March 11 & 12, 2025 - Indian Ocean & Maldives

We were scheduled to reach Male, the capital city of the Maldives around 8:00 AM

Sunrise as we near Male, Maldives

The Islands are located in the Indian Ocean about 500 miles south-west of mainland India.

Nearly 1200 islands are divided among 26 natural atolls.

Note that the lighter shaded areas are not islands but the atolls which may contain hundreds of individual islands.

When I asked the AI search engine Preplexity about the Maldives, I got the following answer:

The Maldives consists of 1,192 islands, which are divided into 26 natural atolls. However, recent land reclamation projects might have increased this number slightly.

As for the number of inhabited islands, there is some variation in the reports:

187 islands are officially recognized as inhabited, according to Wikipedia
188 islands are reported as inhabited by another source.
Some sources suggest that around 200 islands are inhabited.

It appears no one is quite certain about the number of islands inhabited.  This might be because they apparently don't count the islands that have been sold to private corporations for resort development as shown below.

Regarding resort islands, there are approximately 175 resorts in the Maldives as of 2024. These resorts are typically located on uninhabited islands, which are developed specifically for tourism. Additionally, there are about 105 high-end resort islands that are not classified as inhabited.

It is to one of these resort islands we are going today.  It is located about 15 minutes by speed boat from Male.

A little information about the country, which has a population of between 300,000 and 500,000 depending on the source.

The 2008 Constitution of Maldives designates Sunni Islam as the state religion. Only Sunni Muslims are allowed to hold citizenship in the country and citizens may practice Sunni Islam only. Non-Muslim citizens of other nations can practice their faith only in private and are barred from evangelizing or propagating their faith. All residents are required to teach their children the Muslim faith.

Since 2014, apostasy from Islam has been punishable by death. This includes blasphemy of Islam by a Muslim as well as denial or converting to another religion.

n Male, Maldives, tourists should be aware that importing alcohol, pork, pornography, and religious items for worship is prohibited, and outward displays of affection are not tolerated. Dress modestly, especially in Malé and non-resort islands, and be mindful of local customs and laws. 

Here's a more detailed breakdown of key laws and customs for tourists:
Prohibited Items:
Alcohol: While alcohol is permitted on resort islands, it's illegal to import or consume it in Malé and other local islands.
Pork: Similarly, pork products are prohibited from being imported or consumed outside of resort areas.
Pornography: Importing or possessing pornography is strictly illegal.
Religious Items: Importing religious items for worship, especially those that are not Islamic (including some Bibles), is also prohibited.
Drugs: It is illegal to use or carry illegal drugs, and penalties for drug offenses are severe
Dress Code & Behavior:
Modesty: Dress modestly in Malé and non-resort islands, covering shoulders and knees.
Outward Displays of Affection: Avoid public displays of affection, even holding hands.
Swimming: Dress modestly while swimming, even in resort areas. 

Personally, I find it ironic that they don't allow the above behaviors in "their country", but are more than happy to accept Dollars, Euros and Pounds for these behaviors on the "private islands" which they sold and collect a hefty sales tax of 16%, going to 17% this July.

This is a photo of the City/Island of Male.  It is considered to be one of the most densely populated cities on earth.

In order to reach our resort destination, we first had to take the ship's tender to the pier in Male.

As we exited the tender we were greeted by the massive video panel, unfortunately I don't know what it said, but the message was constantly changing.  Also, we were reminded that since it was Ramadan, it was forbidden to eat or drink anything in public, not even water.  The ship had received permission for us to drink water only while under the Viking tent at the pier.

After leaving our tender, we walked a short distant to board these speed boats.  By my GeoTracker app, I registered we reached a speed of 45 miles/hr.  On the trip back on a larger boat we reached 48mph.

This is the pier on Crossroads Island, our destination.

As you can see, it had been raining during the night and early morning.  

Since the rain prediction was for 100% chance of rain, and the excursion team on the ship could not guarantee that we would have beach chairs of umbrellas, I elected not to carry my Nikon camera, so all of these photos are from my phone camera

This is our resort, the SAII Maldive Lagoon, a part of Hilton.  The resort was quite nice, beautiful beaches, a large infinity pool and modern and clean facilities.

The ocean was surprisingly cool.

This yacht, The Wanderlust, was tendered about a half mile offshore directly in front of our beach.  This beautiful yacht was built in 2022 and is owned by a Cambodian tycoon who rents it out for use.  It can hold 12 guests in 8 cabins with a crew of 21.  If you are interested, it can be rented for only $960,000 per WEEK, plus expenses of course.  This if for the low season, during the high season the rate increases to $1.2 million per WEEK.

The resort has everything, even pickle ball.

The pool had a very comfortable temperature.

Since lunch was included, I felt I could spring for a beer for the two of us, nothing fancy, Kay wanted a Corona, and I had the simi-local Singha.  

These two beers with the Maldives mandatory service charge of 10% plus the tourist GST of 16% (which is applied after the service charge) cost a total of $25.52.  This is certainly not the most expensive beer I have ever purchased, but $12.50 for a Corona and you don't even get a glass is a bit extreme.

We did have a nice lunch, with a large variety to choose from and everything I tried was very good.  Unfortunately, I have no photos of the dining area or the buffet.

After lunch, I decided to take a walk-a-round for some more photos, before returing to the pier to catch our boat back to Male.

What struck me was how deserted the resorts were.  On this particular atoll island, there were 4 luxury resorts, yet the area seemed deserted.  Other than the approximately 400 Viking cruisers, I counted around a dozen people.   If I were one of the few who had paid big money to stay here, I would have been very upset by the invasion of the cruisers.

I thought I would walk over to the Hard Rock Cafe and Resort,

But NO, I was stopped when I started across the foot bridge...

Many of the buildings were like this, beautiful but empty.

I did come across this unusual flower.

After using Google Lens, I learned it is Devil's Cotton or Devil's fruit.  Sounds about right...

And I do have a Bird Of The Day.

A White-Breasted Waterhen

For my Pharmacy Friends, I took this for you.

On the boat ride back to the pier, I spotted this construction of another bridge to an adjacent island.  Most likely by a Chinese firm, almost all the construction in this part of the world is Chinese.

Finally, the sun is setting as we get ready to weigh anchor and start our three sea days to the Seychelles Islands.

In summary, the resort was nice, and the food was good, but the cost for everything is astronomical.  If you are not a water person, there really is not much to do.   Also, the strict Islamic laws are enough for me to not want to return.

We have traveled in many predominately Muslim countries and have made many Muslim friends, but this is by far the most intolerant country I have visited.  Indonesia is very accepting and tolerant of other religions despite being almost 90% Muslim.  

Kay often rates a place we visit as:  If I disappear "You can look for me here" or "Don't look for me here".  I am afraid The Maldives is in the latter category.