Five nights in Maamutaa, Maldives.

It feels like forever in the planning, but I’m finally meeting my cousin and her family in the Maldives. I’m coming from Oman by way of Doha, and arranged to meet Collin, who’s flying from the States, there. Our shared layover stretches for a few hours and we have plans to head to the Souq Waqif to have a look and eat dinner. We’re both arriving in the evening and we don’t have that much time, but I’ve wanted to get a sense of Doha for a while after having flown through the city a few times; it’ll be Collin’s first time in an Arabic country.

It takes us a minute to find each other in the immigration line. I’ve somehow managed to make it there first; I’m a bad uncle and don’t hang back to wait for him. Instead I go through to use the restroom and take some emergency money out of the ATM. I also ask about taxis into the city so as soon as he’s through I have the lay of the land.

It’s great seeing him, doubly so since we’re both exploring a country new to us. We step out into the warm night and I hail a taxi to the center.

There’s a bit of traffic and the taxi drops us off on the opposite side of a huge plaza from the souk. We both think there’s a huge reflecting pool we must cross, but it’s a concrete square and we walk quickly across it.

It’s a lively Sunday, the streets are full. The souk itself is well-kept and clean. We wander the main streets and then lose ourselves in the alleys, seeing what we can stumble upon, passing areas devoted to various wares including birds.

Getting hungry, Collin checks Reddit for restaurant recommendations. We settle on Bandar Aden, a Yemeni restaurant on the edge of the souk. It’s crowded but we secure a table outside so that we can continue watching the parade of people pass by.

I order a fish for the main, Collin meat. We ask about the breads and the waiter recommends a Yemeni one we shouldn’t miss. When it comes, it’s huge, but delicious and as full as I am I tear off large pieces to accompany my delicious fish dish.

After dinner the souk feels a little less lively. Collin ducks into a candy store to buy some snacks for the Maldives; we stop by an ice cream cart for dessert. We sit for a while in the main square watching the crowds fade finishing our ice creams before heading back to the airport.

Our flight from Doha is scheduled to leave at 01:15 and we pass the time in an airport lounge before boarding. It’s six hours to Malé and although we are at first seated apart, there’s an empty seat next to Collin and a flight attendant brings me to it.

In Malé we’re welcomed by a Pullman representative (we’re staying at the Pullman Maldives Maamutaa) who leads us to an airport lounge and helps us find seats. The baggage storage is packed tightly with a tetris-like grid of rollerbags.

The rest of the family is arriving later; I check their progress on Flighty and then try to nap while we wait for their arrival.

The Pullman representative reunites us when my cousin arrives with her husband and daughter. He puts us in a private room and then returns to lead us back to the main terminal and onto our flight to Kooddoo.

It’s a little over an hour to Kooddoo where we’re met by another representative and taken to a lounge area along with other guests. The first group is lead to an extended golf cart to be taken to a boat that will take us to the island resort. When it’s our turn, we realize the dock is nearby; Collin and I turn to each other. We could have walked.

The boat takes about 15 minutes to reach the island. Staff are waiting on the dock to greet us, waving and singing a welcome song accompanied by drums. We’re loaded into a golf cart and taken to reception to check in, after which we’re given a tour of the island and introduced to the various restaurants and bars. Finally, we’re driven to our over-water village at the end of a raised boardwalk lined with villas on the southern end of the island.

The villa is beautiful. Two bedrooms flank a large living room that opens to a private deck and an infinity pool that looks out over the ocean. A covered seating area with couches sits to the right from which a lower landing offers access to the water. Deck chairs sit to the left next to a webbed hammock suspended over the water. The bathrooms and shower are larger than my apartment in New York City. Our bags have yet to arrive but I can’t wait. I strip down to my underwear and slip into the sea.

We’ve been given vouchers to be used for an activity or bicycle rentals. We’re told we can call the front desk for a buggy at any time, but decide to rent bikes, which prove to be necessary and the best way to get around; we’re surprised they’re not included with the villas. We save the vouchers for massages and other activities after doing the math.

After getting our bags and unpacking we call a buggy to take us back to the docks to get snorkeling gear and so that Collin can complete his registration for scuba classes. I had thought of joining him, but I’ll be needing to do some work at night and feel like it might be too much to be doing that and getting up early for classes. I also want to have time to relax.

For lunch we eat outdoors at Souq Oven. I opt for a pizza. We do a little snorkeling around the villa, dip into our pool, but don’t think to swim out to the house reef, just under 100 meters from our deck. It’s a missed opportunity, as we’ll subsequently discover how beautiful and thriving it is. Sea turtles swim nearby.

I have a cheap plastic underwater phone case I bought in Cairns, but my camera doesn’t seem to want to focus while encased in it and I give up taking photos of the sealife. I long for the camera case I had brought with me to the Galapagos and wish I had thought to ask my cousin to bring one with her.

We head to the Affair Bar to watch the sun set. There are free snacks at the bar and I order an Aperol spritz before climbing into a rope hammock suspended over the water. It’s a beautiful first day in the Maldives; it turns out that it’ll be the most beautiful of our stay as overcast skies and intermittent rain will color the rest of our stay. Not enough to spoil the vacation, but enough to cancel almost all the excursions we book, and enough to keep us from snorkeling to the reef as much as we’d like due to somewhat stormy seas.

I sleep outside, taking a thin blanket with me and setting up on one of the couches. A steady wind blows off the water, keeping the temperature down and helping to mitigate the humidity.

In the morning I’m rewarded with a beautiful predawn as the skies cycle through cotton candy colors over the turquoise sea.

We head to Sol Rising for breakfast, spotting a stingray in the shallows near the villas as we bike along the boardwalk.

We order breakfasts and smoothies and Nina and I agree that it’s the our favorite place for breakfast on the island. A pool extends from the dining area and I’ll take a dip each time we return to the spot to cool down from a bike ride or to enjoy the perks of being in the Indian Ocean.

In the afternoon we head to the beach on the northern tip of the island. We think to snorkel out to the reef, but after walking a good distance in the shallow water it seems the reef is far away from this spot and Collin and Nina return to the beach to soak up what rays they can.

The days start to run into each other. Collin departs in the morning for class, the rest of us eat breakfast and lunch at various spots, meeting up again with Collin in the afternoon. Nina and I snorkel with my cousin and her husband, finally making it to the reef, which is astounding. It’s the most beautiful and active reef I’ve seen. On one particularly sunny afternoon I find myself floating right above a sea turtle as it nestles in the coral before fully emerging and swimming past me. I wave to Nina to come see.

A shark swims amongst the coral not so far away.

I sleep outside save for one night when it’s too windy and rainy to do so. I attempt it, but the wooden walls rattle and the wind keeps blowing the blanket from around me. For dinners, we decide that the Phat Chameleon is our favorite, “even though it’s vegan” (a plus for me), save for some nights when it transforms into an Asian eatery.

The days remain various degrees of overcast, the rain comes and goes. On our last day, Collin, Nina, my cousin, and I take a final swim to the reef, which continues to amaze. On our way back we see sharks swimming nearby in the shallows along with rays.

On our final evening the weather clears and we manage to book a sunset cruise. A boat takes us out so that we can see the island from a distance and see the sun set over the ocean. Sparkling wine is poured and a large group of Indians revel.

When we get back the sun still burns on the horizon. The villas and boardwalk are lit up, now a common sight, but it’s the first time we’ve seen such dramatic light in the sky.

On our last morning I wake to a rainbow. We take our last swim in the ocean and the pool before packing up for the trip back. I’m headed to Seoul, Nina and Collin to Doha and then home, my cousin and her husband to Singapore.

We’re booked on separate boats and flights back to Malé, though Collin and Nina’s flight to Doha is relatively close to mine. The resort fears for delays, however, and books my transit with ample time to catch my flight to South Korea.

It rains heavily on my boat back to Kooddoo. They’ve put down the plastic windows to keep us from getting wet.

In Kooddoo I don’t have to wait long for the flight back to Malé. There, I pick up my bags and kill time in the lounge, eating snacks before it’s time to head to my flight.

While waiting in the terminal I check out the shops and buy a t-shirt with a sea turtle on it as a souvenir. Nina and Collin appear and we hang for a bit before my flight is called. Their parents are stuck outside, too early yet for them to check in. We embrace one last time and I wish them a good journey onwards, to meet again in August at our family reunion. Already I can’t wait. 🇲🇻