Finally, we’re back in paradise! The last time we visited the local islands in the Maldives was in 2018 and we loved it so much. It feels great to be back, although prices have definitely increased since our last visit when the same resort day trip which cost $30 is now $200 for example!! To get to the Maldives from Oman we had to catch a couple of planes, the first of which was to Dubai where we spent what felt like an hour in an airport bus driving around the terminals. I have no idea how big the airport was but it honestly felt like we were being driven to the Maldives via a car ferry.

We arrived in the Maldives just as the sun was rising and were able to get some nice views of the tropical islands through the plane window. I forgot that once you leave the baggage claim at the airport that there isn’t any air-conditioning, it’s like an open-sided airport so you instantly drip with sweat from the humidity. We arrived at 7am and had to wait until 11:30 for our speedboat to Huraa, our first local island. The airport was now a very unappealing place to wait so we hopped on a local ferry for $1 to take us to Malé, the capitol of the Maldives and the island next to the airport island of Hulhumalé. It’s an overdeveloped mess of skyscrapers encircled by the turquoise Indian Ocean and it’s one of the most densely populated places in the world.

It was still early in the morning so we thought we’d try and find an air conditioned cafe but either the cafes were empty and unappealing or the prices were too high. After a little rambling through the lanes we found some local joints where we got 3 coffees, a bottle of water, 2 paratha, a coconut pancake and 5 samosas for £5. Not bad for the Maldives ay. We then found some Maldivian style hammock-chairs in the shade by the sea so we spent the next few hours snoozing after a very sleepless night. The shade came in the form of bushes and trees and a little bird living in them took a shit which landed perfectly on my lap.

Our speed boat was full of locals and just two other tourists, a Russian mum and daughter. It was quite a windy day so the sea was choppy and lots of white-wash was spilling up as we bounded through the waves. Eventually the dark blue water turned a fabulous turquoise colour as we approached our island. Turns out the Russians were staying at the same place as us, so we were all collected by a golf cart and driven to our guesthouse. I got to the door first and seeing all the shoes on the floor it was clear they had a shoes off policy but as Craig and I were kicking our sandals off the Russians stormed past us in trainers. So fucking rude. So all the other guests, workers and us were barefoot and having to step on a dirty floor now thanks to these selfish c**ts not respecting the culture. They also chugged their welcome drink of mango juice to ensure they were shown to their room first, which hilariously backfired as they were given room number 1 aka right at the entrance opposite the area where everyone comes for breakfast. They also played music on the beach so I hated their guts. But on the plus side we were shown to our cute ensuite room and after slapping on some sun cream we headed straight for the bikini beach.

I’ve explained before about the local islands in the Maldives but seeing as my last post was back in 2018 I better do a refresh. The Maldives has resort islands and local islands. The resorts are where you find the fancy, overpriced accommodation like the over-water bungalows, they’re usually all inclusive and you can have alcoholic drinks galore. The local islands are very different, these islands only started to open up to tourism in 2009 and since then guesthouses have been popping up all over the archipelago. The local islands are where the Maldivians live so there are rules that need to be followed as the Maldives is a Muslim country so dressing modestly is the number one rule. You can’t walk around in a bikini, the only place you’re allowed to wear a bikini is at the designated bikini beach. There’s also no alcohol allowed on the local islands. So, if you can follow those rules then welcome to paradise on a budget…I mean it’s still out of our normal budget but for the Maldives paying £50 a night is pretty damn good.

The beach was about a 5-10 minute walk from our guesthouse, first we walked through the alleyways around the village where some houses are painted bright colours, the ground is made up of sand and locals have papaya trees growing out their modest gardens. Huraa had a few little convenience stores, restaurants and a medical centre too. We actually spoke to some lovely Norwegians who were visiting this island for the third time. They told us the first time they visited there was no bikini beach, the second time the island was all under construction as they took on the ambitious project of expanding the island by a third. I guess they took sand, crumbled up coral and rubble and literally built an extension to the island. Bonkers. The locals will have to wait 5-6 years before they can build on it which meant a vast area of the island was an open, grassy expanse which was rather nice. One thing we noticed in the Maldives compared to Oman was how many women there were out and about. Both countries main religion is Islam so it was interesting seeing how different they both were. The women in the Maldives also wear the black abayas like in Oman whereas the men mostly wear western clothes but some wear a shirt and longyi, a traditional sarong style skirt donned by all men and women in Myanmar for example. It was so nice to see families and friends of mixed sex meeting up in cafes or chatting under the palm trees.

The bikini beach was at the northern side of the island so it was perfect for photos to have the sun beaming across and enhancing the blue colours. The beach was absolutely stunning, in fact it was quite a unique beach because it started off shallow and twinkly and then it became really deep and aqua blue before going shallow again in an almost sandbank area. It was sooo dreamy. I guess the only downside was that they had an ugly ‘I heart Huraa’ swing just beyond the sandbank.

The island is sandwiched between two resort islands so while we have a view of these fancy over-water bungalows they have a view of a little scruffy on the edges local island. And…we’re all pissin’ in the same sea. The resort islands are so close you could actually swim to them, although I’d imagine the current would cause havoc as it seems really strong here, maybe it’s because we’re right on the edge of the atoll which is the big group of islands. Just to the east the waves are hitting the outer reef, creating great surf for those that are interested.

There were only 4 other people on the beach, just how I like it so we spent the rest of the day lounging on sun-beds and trying to catch up on sleep. We left the beach at about 5pm and wondered around the village checking out menus in restaurants. Veggie fried rice varied from $6 down to $3.60 so you can guess which establishment we ate at! We sat under a palm tree where another bird pooed on us, what are the chances ay? And when I looked up to see if there were more birds up there I spotted the tree was full of coconuts. Now I know being hit on the head by a coconut isn’t a common way to die but it’s still a possibility so we quickly changed tables. As the sun went down the fruit bats came out, their silhouettes gliding across the pink hued sky. Welcome back to paradise!

We have 16 days in the Maldives and are splitting our time between two different islands. The tours sounded better at the second island we’re staying on so Huraa is all about kicking back and relaxing at the beach. Just beyond the sandbank there’s a strong current that whips you west. It’s quite a fun place to stick on your snorkels and drift above the reef watching the fish. The coral is very bleached here though and there’s not much life in the sea around Huraa, I knew that though and the next island should have much better snorkelling. Luckily the beach is pretty damn special do we’re very happy to just go swimming. We’ve actually seen lots of baby sharks in the shallows and bigger reef sharks gliding past, their fins slicing through the water which is fun to see.

One evening we walked to the beach in the dark to try and see the bioluminescent plankton that’s supposedly lights up the shoreline in sparkling blues but it wasn’t around when we got there. We only did the walk once though as it was bloody horrible at night time because the fruit bats kept swooping right above our heads.

So we basically spent our days basking in the sun and admiring the beautiful view. The beach was quiet most days but there was the odd, loud Russian family that would arrive at the empty beach and decide sitting in front of us was a good option. I just don’t understand people. There were actually two bikini beaches back to back so after the first couple of days we began sitting on the left one which only had two umbrellas so we usually had it all to ourselves which was delightful. Now it’s time to make our way to island number two!