Distant and beautiful land - Maldives

The Maldives is an earthly paradise. Rest, weddings, happy, beautiful couples, honeymoons, clean water and beautiful air. All this is located on the edge of the Indian Ocean, near India and Sri Lanka. In the Maldives, land occupies about one percent of the space, and everything else is sparkling, turquoise water.

Many girls dream of a wedding in the Maldives: beautiful photos against the background of turquoise water and white sand, exotic cocktails, fruits and bright rays of the sun. But this pleasure is not cheap. The couple will have to pay between $700 and $3,600 for the ceremony. Documents are not required for a wedding in the Maldives and the marriage ties concluded here do not carry any legal force.

If you want not just a beautiful ceremony, but also unusual sensations, the Maldives offer marriage under water. For convinced divers or those who just want to stand out with originality, this decision will be to taste. In this case, the organizer of the ceremony is a diver instructor, and as witnesses rainbow fish scurrying between you. You can swim to the altar in national wedding costumes, European white dress, and tuxedo or simply in wetsuits. At the bottom, a special altar is set before which the couple exchanges silent, but no less talking vows of loyalty. The union is complete. And now the groom can take off the mask and kiss the bride.

For couples dreaming of enjoying each other’s company in an exotic corner of the Earth, the Maldives will leave in the memory of rave memories. What else does it take to get married? Only good weather, love and a pleasant memory.

The capital of the Republic is Male. It is one of the smallest capitals in the world. The area of the city is only six square kilometers, but this island was able to accommodate one third of the population of all the Maldives (90,000 people). The central square of the city is a spot. Here the kids have fun, running for pigeons, parents hastily communicate with each other. There are not so many foreigners as most people vacationing in the Maldives bypass this island. You can see poverty, dirt. The idea of a perfect paradise begins to crumble. People come here for the color of local life and, as a rule, they do not stay longer than a day.

You need to go to the Maldives to really relax your soul and body, and not to look for new sensations. All conditions are created in the country to make tourists comfortable. The unique concept of Maldivian resorts is that entire islands are allocated for hotels.

Thulhagiri

This tiny island is 13 kilometers from the airport. The boat is only 20 minutes away. Its size is 400 by 200 meters. The hotel compensates for its small area with a large number of bungalows on the water, which go into the sea, resembling the antennae of a beetle. But, there are such bungalows on many islands. But not many islands have colorful parrots. They fight, chirp, flit from branch to branch and it seems that this eternal life will never stop. A large parrot oasis lives its noisy and bustling life. There's a bunch of coconut houses on palm branches and a big feeder.

You can't tame a bird. They completely ignore vacationers. Even if you present special food in the palms, you will not be able to win the heart of a parrot. They are always full and prefer to dry food their rich goodies "dining room".

The main advantage of this island is that wherever you live - the beach will always be at home.

meeru

The island is located 45 kilometers from Hulule Airport. You can get by boat in an hour, and for wealthy tourists, a seaplane flight is possible.

The shape of the island is long, but narrow – 1500 by 600 meters. Good for those who are engaged in Scandinavian walking or running. You don’t have to go around the island several times to meet your daily allowance.

The underwater world near the island is not very rich. Therefore, if you are going to the Maldives for good snorkeling, it is better to choose another hotel. Of course, sometimes you can see a pair of sharks or flocks of colorful fish, as in “Finding Nemo”, but this is not enough.

Of the interesting on the island there is a skeleton of a whale, with which tourists love to take pictures, a beautiful bar on the water, where water splashes underfoot. In the evening, you can watch the sun gradually sink into the ocean.

Chaaya island Dhonveli

The hotel is located 16 kilometers from Maldivian airport. In the Maldives, this island is considered one of the best places to surf because it has steady waves directly by the hotel. Donveley gained great fame among athletes-fans of skating on boards.

On the island there is a wonderful restaurant where you can meet fabulous sunsets. During the tides under the wide balcony on which you sit, waves splash. There are crabs on the rocks. When the waiter starts to darken, he lights a candle for you. Everything is calm, simple and very beautiful.

Here is a great place for lovers of diving and snorkeling. Just a few meters from the shore there is a large reef. Put on a mask, put your head under water, and a whole new world opens up before you. Fish, they're everywhere. Brightly painted, with bizarre patterns. Some of them rush among the corals, someone swaying in the water column. Rare representatives of aquatic fauna, such as aggressive spinhorns, may try to bite or obsessively pursue the diver. You should be more careful with moray eels, which, as a rule, sit among the stones and only stick out their heads. However, some species often swim freely in the water. If you don't bother the fish, it won't hurt you. The only exception is the black-cheeked moray eel. She lives at the top of the reef slopes in places where fairy perch is found. It hunts perch, warding off other potential predators like Stavrids and careless divers.

Underfoot warm sand, eyes hurt from the scorching sun, which is reflected from white sand and turquoise water. Somewhere a lizard ran, the mother of the heron with her chicks slipped behind her back and quickly hid in the bushes. Let's stop. We sit in a wicker hammock, like in an advertisement for a familiar chocolate bar. The splash of waves, the noise of palm trees, rare jerky phrases of foreigners. Everything merges into one soothing sound. Rest. Calm down. Beautiful. This is all the Maldives with its indescribable atmosphere, color, sun and moist air. It is all here in the territorial waters of the Indian Ocean.

Author of text and photo: Anna Bochkareva