Jul 1st, 2011 at 2:45PM:
The lowest lying country in the world does not offer much above sea level, just 7 feet 7 inches at its highest point. This fine sliver of sun kissed atolls is so postcard perfect it borders on ridiculous. White sand beaches, Kool-aid blue seawater, and densely populated coral reefs are de rigueur in The Maldives. It is a different kind of world, a water-world with flying taxis and manta rays ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
maldives posts
Budget Maldives: How to find perfect beaches and unbelievable snorkeling on a relative shoestring
Jul 1st, 2011 at 2:45PM:
The lowest lying country in the world does not offer much above sea level, just 7 feet 7 inches at its highest point. This fine sliver of sun kissed atolls is so postcard perfect it borders on ridiculous. White sand beaches, Kool-aid blue seawater, and densely populated coral reefs are de rigueur in The Maldives. It is a different kind of world, a water-world with flying taxis and manta rays ...Maldives meltdown
Jun 26th, 2011 at 1:00PM: As political unrest swept through the Muslim nations of North Africa, even the remote island-nation of the Maldives was caught up in its own Arab Spring in the form of political protest and street clashes.
One major difference: Efforts in the Maldives were focused on pushing out a young, democratically elected president and replacing him with an aging despot.
President Mohammed Nasheed, 44, ...Photo of the day - Maldives arrival
Apr 15th, 2011 at 5:00PM:
When I was a kid, the Maldives were the stuff of dreams. A colleague of my father's gave me a hardback Maldives-themed calendar one year for Christmas, with glossy photos of atolls peeking out of perfect blue seas in between calendar pages. The sand was so white and the palm trees were so green. Could any tropical islands be more beautiful than these?
Years later the low-lying Maldives ...Ten great bands that I only discovered by traveling
Nov 12th, 2010 at 11:00AM: To travel is to trade.
From the 15th century Portuguese explorers to the overconfident 18-year old who crosses the ocean with a loaded iPod, travelers are always in the business of exchanging things: ideas, food, fashion, genes and diseases. Music is right up there, and with the ease of the MP3, we freely unload playlists to one another like apples in a market.
When I look over some of the ...
Maldives resort makes mockery of marriage vow renewals
Oct 28th, 2010 at 6:00PM: When an unidentified couple headed to the Vilu Reef resort in the Maldives, they thought they were participating in a traditional renewal of their wedding vows. And to be honest, watching the video above seems to confirm that. It wasn't until the video clip was uploaded to YouTube that the translation painted a different picture.
Instead of romantic reminders of their love and affection for ...Daily Pampering: Making waves in the Maldives
Sep 3rd, 2010 at 4:00PM: Why settle for the beach in your backyard when you can hit the waves on the other side of the world. We found some remote islands in the Maldives that will leave you so zen your family won't recognize you. You might need to cash in a bit on your savings account, but can you really put a price on your sanity?
Here are three great spots for soaking up the sun on the Maldives islands in the Indian ...Daily Pampering: Maldives resort turns restaurant into undersea honeymoon suite
Sep 1st, 2010 at 4:00PM: What was once a room for foodies is now a suite for lovers.
The Ithaa restaurant at Conrad Maldives Resort & Spa normally features a "reverse-aquarium" room that seats about a dozen guests for an underwater dining experience. However, in honor of the hotel's fifth anniversary, that room has been converted into an undersea honeymoon suite (10 other guests not included).
The glass-domed ...Women more likely to cheat on vacation than men, says new study
Jul 22nd, 2010 at 11:00AM: Blame it on the sun. According to new research from British "married dating site" IlicitEncounters, over a third of (already cheating) spouses can't keep it in their pants while on vacation solo or with friends. In fact, six percent of the sneaky devils strayed while on holiday with their spouse. The real news, however, is that married women vacationing with friends are more likely to break their ...Daily Pampering: Underwater Suite for Two
Apr 21st, 2010 at 4:00PM: What's one way to show a little spontaneity in an un-adventurous vacation? How about a meeting under the sea. Ithaa, the world's first all-glass undersea restaurant at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, is celebrating its fifth anniversary by turning its underwater restaurant into a suite built for two.
The Maldives resort is offering guests the chance to spend the night under-water by turning ...On the Front Line of Rising Sea Levels, A Conversation with President Mohammed Nasheed, the Maldives
Apr 21st, 2010 at 9:00AM: Forty-two-year-old President Mohammed Nasheed is the first democratically elected president in the island nation of the Maldives, home to 375,000 people in the Indian Ocean off the tip of Sri Lanka. A former human rights activist and journalist, he was jailed and tortured by his predecessor. Today he is one of the most outspoken politicians in the world on the impact of climate change and its ...Indian company offers "divorce tourism" package to quarreling couples
Sep 5th, 2009 at 12:00PM: For many happy couples, a trip is taken to commemorate joyful events, like a marriage or the impending birth of a child. Then there are other couples - the ones who certainly aren't happy but who aren't quite ready to rush off to Vegas for their divorce party. For them, there's "divorce tourism".
The Daily Mail reports that a company in India, called KV Tours and Travel, is offering packages to ...Bowermaster's Adventures -- Bluepeace
May 15th, 2009 at 9:00AM: Saffah Faroog sips a mango juice and continues explaining the history of the Maldives oldest environmental group, Bluepeace, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. He is its communications director, a volunteer like the rest of its staff, and has a great story to share - the organization has a great web presence and a long history of doing the right thing in the Maldives by keeping ...Bowermaster's Adventures -- Fishing in the Maldives
May 11th, 2009 at 9:00AM: Mohammed Jarrad and his four-man crew left the dock in their slow-chugging dhoni at five this morning. When I meet them unloading the day's catch just as they sun disappears it means they've been at it for fourteen hours, a typical day for a Maldivian fishermen. The haul? About 150 kilos (330 pounds). Not bad, he says, about average. "Though sometimes we have days when we catch 500 kilos ... but ...Bowermaster's Adventures -- Eydhafushi, Maldives
May 8th, 2009 at 9:00AM: Late on a Sunday afternoon, hardly a day of rest in this part of the world, the small island of Eydhafushi is quiet. The men, most of who go to sea each day to fish or work at one of six nearby tourist resorts, are absent. School is out for a week's holiday so kids of various ages scamper up and down the short, dusty streets. The women of the island of 3,000 are mostly in doorways or small ...Bowermaster's Adventures -- Snorkeling through the Maldives
May 4th, 2009 at 9:00AM: 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 ...Bowermaster's Adventures -- The Maldives and carbon effects
Apr 24th, 2009 at 9:00AM: The call to Friday prayers on Eydhafushi are spread island-wide by plastic loudspeakers affixed to poles and buildings scattered around the Maldivian sand-spit, home to three thousand. When it comes I'm floating a quarter mile offshore and it wakes me from a heat (90 degrees F) and calm-sea reverie; a reminder that here, near where the Arabian Sea melds into the Indian Ocean, we are in an ...Five More Places To See Before They Are Changed Forever
Feb 26th, 2009 at 8:00AM: Last week we posted a story from CNN.com that named five places to see before climate changed altered them forever. The destinations that made their list included the Great Barrier Reef, the city of New Orleans, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, the Alpine Glaciers in Switzerland, and the Amazon Rain Forest in Brazil. Here are five more amazing places that you should see before they are ...Talking travel with Patricia Schultz, author of "1000 Places to See" (part 2, plus book giveaway)
Jun 27th, 2008 at 9:00AM: Patricia Schultz is a well-traveled woman. She single-handedly launched the mini-industry of travel list books with her 2003 #1 New York Times bestseller, 1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List (Workman), which has sold more than 2.8 million copies and translated into 28 languages. Since then, she's written a sequel, 1,000 Places to see in the USA and Canada Before You Die, ...World's Sexiest Beaches 2007
Jul 20th, 2007 at 12:38PM: Each year, our friends over at Concierge.com put out a list of the world's sexiest beaches, featuring the best places to "flirt with millionaires, lick the salt off a margarita glass, siesta in a hammock, and gaze at blood-orange sunsets night after night." If these don't make you wish you were somewhere else, you've either got your toes in the sand right now, or you're dead to the world. Here is ...World's First Underwater Restaurant
Apr 11th, 2007 at 11:03AM:
Ever wanted to eat fish amongst the fish, or watch a stingray swim past during dinner? If this sounds like your thing, travel to the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa, where you can eat at Ithaa -- the world's first-ever undersea restaurant.
By the looks of it, you'll be dining in an inverse aquarium, 5 meters below the surface of the Indian Ocean, surrounded by the beautiful coral reef.
According ...
