A continuation from the series of posts about our upcoming June vacation spot in the Maldives!
Deciding which private island to stay at was relatively easy compared to deciding which public island to stay at over the first six days of our ten day trip. Specifically, there were only so many resorts within the budget we were willing to put aside for the private island stay. We got lucky to get a package offered through a local travel agent with pricing that was significantly lower than the published rates on the resort’s web site. We were even a little worried that the offer was a scam. Those fears were allayed with a few checks directly with Olhuveli in January, which showed that it was all legit. So, private island stay worked out, we went about finding out which public island to stay at then.
Generally speaking, the main difference between the public and private islands are that the public islands where the Maldives residents actually live, and the private islands are where a large number of them work. As such, the public islands are, as a rule, less artificial, possibly less pristine in cleanliness, and more restrictive in the kind of activities party-goers are permitted – but finally also providing a more authentic experience for travelers who want to enjoy the kind of Maldives that isn’t only the idyllic picture-perfect type you’d get staying at a private resort.
Among the most developed, largest and well-known of the public islands is Maafushi (population 2,600), which itself is just a short hop from the capital and also arrival point in the Maldives. The stretch of the island where the private beach sits however is reportedly fairly congested with a number of small to medium sized hotel. On the other hand, that the island is also fairly developed with all the necessities one might need to holiday with a good level of comfort meant that Maafushi was on our first shortlist of islands. We even did tentative bookings for on two properties on the island. However, further checking for information revealed that the island’s stretch of private beach is currently undergoing renovation. We re-checked and confirmed that with the hotels and also current visitors to the island, the latter remarking that the renovation isn’t expected to complete before we make our trip. The thought of vacationing in a property with bulldozers in front of us was unappealing. So, Maafushi got dropped off the list.
Accommodation is somewhat more sparse on the other public islands. Of the remaining dozen or so islands, our considerations largely centered on the general quality of accommodations, whether there would be large enough homes or rooms for the four of us, and how far the island is from the capital. After the usual spreadsheet of comparisons and reading up of reviews, the list shortened to Dhiffushi, Rasdhoo, Gulhi, Himmafushi, and finally Huraa. We wrote to several resorts across these islands to explore options (not every one replied – I guess there still is a lot of queries back and forth during off-peak season. And we finally settled for Huraa island, and The Sunrise Huraa – a small guesthouse that’s located on the eastern side of the island. The island is about 35 minutes by speedboat from Malé, and is resided by about 600 inhabitants. The online reviews across various sites of The Sunrise Huraa were consistently positive, with many remarking on the great hospitality showed by its owner, and cleanliness of the property. The rates were attractive, and most importantly, they were able to accommodate the four of us in their rooms.
With the public island and place of accommodation finally decided, the last bit was to work out the transfer options, which we’ve also just completed. Basically, a private speedboat transfer from Malé International Airport to Huraa since we’d be arriving at night, a public speedboat transfer back to Malé on Day 6, a ferry transfer from Malé back to the ferry terminal at the airport, followed by Olhuveli’s pick-up, and a return back to the airport on Day 10.
Just one more post in the series before we depart, and it’ll center on my equipment considerations and preparations!
Recent comments