We stayed in Paradise Island Resort which is a 20-minute speedboat ride from Male International Airport.
The Maldives are known for their natural environment including the blue ocean, white beaches, and clean air. … Due to their extraordinary underwater scenery and clean water, the Maldives is ranked among the best recreational diving destinations of the world, with over 60 local dive sites across the islands. The Maldives is made up of around 1,190 individual islands peppered across the Indian Ocean, located to the south and west of India and Sri Lanka. But we aren’t talking about an archipelago like Hawaii here — some of the islands in the Maldives are so small that you’ll have to zoom in all the way on your Google map before you even notice they’re there. Others are barely more than a strip of sand jutting out of the water. That means that, aside from the most populous Island of Male. Many islands have no more than one resort or hotel on them.
Out of the hundreds of islands within the Maldives, there are 26 different atolls (or collections of islands). But only about 200 of those are actually inhabited by people. These include islands with year-round, permanent populations like Male Island, as well as farming towns and fishing villages. There are also islands where tourists are prohibited from visiting, despite being populated by locals. Aside from these, the uninhabited islands of the Maldives are used for farm or industry, or as “picnic” islands for resorts, which tourists can. While it’s believed that most of the islands in the Maldives were formed by volcanoes (and that most of the islands themselves are the very tops of what’s left of those volcanic islands that are further built up by coral), some islands are actually manmade.
The Maldives is home to some of the best marine life viewing, both above and below the water. South Ari Atoll is well-known for having a year-round population of whale sharks, making it one of the top spots to see them in the world. There’s also a big chance you’ll spot some active pods of dolphins around this area as well. In the North Male Atoll, there’s a high concentration of Manta rays; it’s sometimes possible to see them from the air as your seaplane glides past Manta Point.. This is also endangered sea turtles, rays, colorful fish, and reef sharks that are commonly sighted along most resort house reefs. Most of the resorts keeps timings for feeding marine animals and fish to attract tourists.
