Maldives....2008-2009

January 5th 2009 – Happy New year to all! Oh my god! What a week we just had in the Maldives bringing in the New Year with our friends Stevo and Debbie. This is as close to paradise as we have ever dreamed. All other trips, all other places, will be compared to this incredibly special spot.

The Maldives, an island chain in the Indian Ocean are at sea level. There are over 1,000 islands in the chain, 80 of which are inhabited. The island we stayed on was about 1/4 mile in diameter, easy to walk and snorkel around.

Picture this: Waking up in a nice size bungalow to the sounds of nature, open the door and walk out onto the deck. The skies are a perfect blue. Walk 20 feet to the pristine white sandy beach. Look out onto the turquoise waters. As the sun glistens, put on your snorkel mask, and fins and dip yourself into the 84 degree water. Begin swimming the 25 feet out to the house reef which surrounds the ½ mile island. Watch as the ocean life thrives. Hundreds, no thousands of different marine species can be seen as one swims around the island. We saw trumpet fish, grouper, tuna, moray eels, sting rays, manta rays, octopus, shrimps, lobster, star fish, squid, black tip, silver tip, and white tip sharps, porpoises, angel fish, clown fish, on and on and on.
Our days were spent like this: Wake up, go for breakfast buffet, get on the dive boat by 8:15 and head out to sea. Waters were treacherous at times but the dives were fantastic. Come back to the resort by 12:30. Have a bite to eat at the Sundowner Pub. Soak up the rays and head back into the ocean for an afternoon snorkel.

Once that has been completed, head out to the pool for happy hour and a quick swim in non salt water. Then, head to the bungalow for a quick shower and happy hour at the Sundowner where we would gaze upon the end of the day as the sun fell into the ocean turning the sky a magnificent pink. One day we woke up early enough to watch the sun rise from the ocean as well. All we had to do was walk to the other side of the island. Spectacular orange skies lit up the day as the sun made its debut. Nights had a sliver of a crescent moon and stars galore. We made out the constellations and hoped we were right.

We had a gas with our friends Steve and Debbie and feel fortunate to have shared this special time with them. What a way to bring in the new year!!!!. This place has touched our hearts in a way we will never forget. Like I said earlier, the beauty is astounding and all other trips shall be compared with this spectacular week. We hope to be lucky enough to come back here some day. Michelle is talking about our 10th anniversary. Who knows………..going back to So. Thailand ............(trying to get pix uploaded, having a hard time.....)