Day 83 of 138 of our world cruise from Fort Lauderdale to London on the Viking Sky.
We had a couple of sea days (without good internet connections for my ipad), in which one day our trivia team won again – thanks to new members Anne and Tim joining us for the session!
Today we had a beach break – literally a beach day with no cultural experience other than enjoying the tropical sun near the equator in the middle of the Indian Ocean on the world’s most pristine beaches. Oh, what a life.
Our chosen excursion was a day pass to the Taj Exoctica resort and Spa and our group of 24 Viking guests took to the resort like the a scene from the movie Caddy Shack with beach bags and beach towels in hand.
The resort is absolutely beautiful! I imagine someplace and time, everyone has seen the photo – little raised huts on pilings raised over the crystal clean blue lagoon waters sitting over the whitest sand you will ever see. We can now attest, the photos we saw matches reality. too.
We spent the day sitting beside the infinity pool, saw black tip sand sharks, sting ray in the lagoon, then I enjoyed a massage in the spa and we walked around the site to explore its offerings. The excursion included a lunch and it was absolutely fabulous with a table under the awning sitting on the beach. We walked the beach and swam in the pool and the ocean while we were there. It was awesome, simply awesome.
It was hot too – as we arrived, it was a bit rainy with sprinkles just before we arrived but as the day went on, the sun broke through the clouds and the temperatures rose to over 90.
Alas, all good things come to an end after 6 hours there, we boarded the speed boat taking us back to Male (a 15 minute, at 35-40 MPH ride each way – exhilarating!) since it is Ramadan and Male is a primarily muslim city, stores and restaurants were mostly closed during the day. We were told by Viking not to drink water and dress conservatively to respect the culture of islands fasting during the daylight hours. However, at the resorts, the guests are welcome to shop, drink and wear bikinis since the property is private.
After a thrilling ride on the water we promptly returned to our ship on the tender and sailed off to the next stop the Seychelles islands off the coast of Africa.
We would love to come back to Maldives someday and enjoy the entire resort for a few days. While it is certainly expensive to retreat to a Maldives resort, a few days is sometimes just what you need to do a reset. It will remain for a long time as a fantastic honeymoon destination for many newlyweds – totally a secluded place where you can relax without a care in the world.
