Maldives it is

Took the flight out after work on Wed to spend three full days in Maldives over this Vesak weekend. What is special about the hotels in Maldives is that every "island" is occupied by only one hotel because each island is so small, that I think they may actually be called Islets. Maldives have over thousand of these islets grouped into atolls and spread over 6 degrees of latitude, we are told it takes several hours to fly from one end of Maldives to the furthest islet. 90% of Maldives is under water.

The pictures of Maldives are always so stunning, which it owes very much to amazing clarity of its waters. The air and water are very clean and the abundance of fish around is incredible. You can stand on the shore where the tide is and without even getting your feet wet, see a great variety of fishes swimming near the edge of the waters. They are mostly near white in colour, perhaps due to its camouflage adapting to the environment. Out near the reefs, the same types of fish display much more vibrant colours.

Wish I had taken an underwater camera along. I did not or was unable to take as many picture as I thought I would. Unlike Bali, the areas around the hotel is not specially landscaped. I have seen more exciting and far more beautiful hotels in Langkawi and Bali (see my May 2006 blog), for the same/lower price. So if you don't like to get into the sea and just want to enjoy great hotel scenery, don't go Maldives. Malaysia and Indonesia offer much better value. If you are willing to spend some time enjoying what the sea has to offer, then this is definitely a place to be.

You can say the hotel is fairly rustic, as it allows a great range of plants to grow to maturity. I have only ever seen morning glories as creepers but in Maldives, they are grown to a shrub. There is also lots of hibiscus everywhere and in all sorts of colours. I don't remember ever seen that much hibiscus in Malaysia where hibiscus is a national flower.