Maldives Newsletter – February 2020

Love is in the air

Although love does not understand dates, Valentine month is the ideal excuse to make a special getaway and creating unforgettable memories with the person you love the most. And for that, there is no shortage of places in the world to unleash passion. Surprise your loved one with a dinner, the best sunset or an ideal setting.

Sun or cold, city or countryside, close or far, you can choose an option that best suits your tastes and start making plans for Valentine’s Day.

This year there is an added reason for taking that Valentine holiday because it is a long weekend. So we have picked up an extremely beautiful, romance inspiring, a little piece of paradise on Earth for your Valentine getaway: Maldives. Far enough so you can leave the routine of the daily world behind, and close enough that you can hop on a flight in a bit, spend the best three days of your life with your loved one, and be back in time. Maldives offers Visa-on-arrival for Indians, so you really don’t need to do any advance planning. Just pack your swimwear, sunscreen and off you two go!

Soul Trip : Spending time on a getaway to get closer

What is an ideal romantic getaway?

To be honest, any place can be an ideal romantic getaway depending on what the couple enjoys doing together. While most people think of a secluded beach or snow-covered mountaintop as their perfect romantic getaway, a place that offers a couple a moment in time to just be with each other, doing things they love the most is also high on romantic parameters. For example, if both enjoy art, a city of museums will give them endless joy or if both are trekkers then a trek up the Himalayas will really bond them together. So it’s all up to the individual's choices. Undoubtedly, an island lined with white sand, in the middle of turquoise blue waters or lying snuggled up in a quilt while watching snow gently fall on the treetops outside can evoke feelings of love and warmth in any heart.

A perfect romantic getaway does not depend on the destination, but the people travelling together. Make a special effort to sit back, relax and savour your time with each other. Slow down your daily life, choose to have long leisurely meals, make it a point to catch sunsets together. Try not to log on to your social media accounts or check your phone every 2 minutes. Allow yourself to take a step back and slip into the rhythm of the holiday and the company of your partner. That is the recipe for your soul feeling the love and your heart pulsating with joy and excitement.

Discover Your World

Maldives 

To get a sample itinerary for Maldives, click here

The Maldives was for the most part unknown to tourists until the early 1970s. It's in the south-west part of India and is considered part of Southern Asia. Atoll - You’ll hear this word a lot in Maldives. Maldives is an island nation made up of 1,192 coral islands (out of which only around 200 are inhabited) grouped in a double chain of 26 atolls (ring-shaped coral reefs) spread over 90,000 square kilometres in the Indian Ocean. Geographically, that makes it one of the most spread-out countries in the world, but it is the smallest Asian nation by land area. The locals, who are Muslims, call the Maldives “Dhivehi Raajje”. Malé is the capital, which is the most populated city in the country. The atolls consist of beautiful live coral reefs and sandbars, and the farther they are from the main group of islands, the more beautiful are the views. The way the Maldives has developed its tourism is that each island hosts only one or two private resorts, so privacy and exclusivity is guaranteed. The farther the island, the more luxurious, more beautiful and more expensive the resort.

The more far-flung resorts require expensive speedboat or seaplane transfers from Male. On the upside, the further away you are from Malé, the more peaceful the islands and the better the diving. The seaplane transfers out of Malé are part of the Maldives adventure, as it allows you to see the breathtaking archipelago from above. The seaplane transfers only operate in the daytime. The Maldives is a tropical country, with temperatures ranging from 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit) to 33 degrees Celsius throughout the year. Although the humidity is relatively high, the constant cool sea breeze keeps the heat at bay. Two seasons dominate Maldives’ weather: the dry season (November to April) and the rainy season which brings strong winds and storms (May to October). If you’re in it for the blue skies and turquoise waters, plan appropriately. The quality of diving trips may be adversely affected if it has just been raining, as this stirs up the sand in the water and makes it murky.

Pack as you do for any beach destination, but there’s a catch. In the Maldivian climate, breezy pieces (cheesecloth tops, loose trousers, lightweight linen shirts) are the way to go. After all, you’ll mostly be spending your day in swimwear! Bikinis are allowed at private resorts, but not on the local islands and Malé; local Muslim customs dictate that everyone needs to be dressed modestly.

Diving, Snorkelling, Surfing is what you will undoubtedly be doing when you are in the Maldives. Snorkelers and Divers are always in search of the best islands on the Maldives with great house reef, so that they can spend as much time as they want snorkelling around the island, exploring abundant marine life. Here are the best snorkelling islands on the Maldives:

• Amilla Fushi, Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
• Bandos Island, Bandos, North Male Atoll
• Baros Island, Baros, North Male Atoll
• Fihalholi, Fihalholi Island Resort, South Male Atoll
• Biyadhoo, Biyadhoo Island Resort, South Male Atoll
• Mandhoo, Mirihi Island Resort, South Ari Atoll
• Vilamendhoo, Vilamendhoo Island Resort, South Ari Atoll

Sunsets are spectacular as are early morning strolls. In fact, early morning snorkelling trips will reveal different sea life to you from a later one. A new world will reveal itself to you in the Maldives. Welcome to Paradise!

Travel Smart

Making a Travel Journal

Our digital cameras and mobile phones have given us the freedom of clicking endless selfies and thousands of pictures, but that emotionally gratifying activity of turning pages of a photo album has been lost. There is something tangible about printed pictures that makes the memory come alive all over again. And when it is your Valentine holiday, a few notes with your carefully selected pictures, some travel souvenirs all put together in a travel journal can keep the romance alive for many years to come.

It is really fun to display holiday memories, and scrapbooking or making travel journal is the perfect way to do it whilst showing a lot more personal touches than a standard photo album. Here’s a simple set of guidelines to pull all your travel photos and memories together.

• Choose the best photos that you would like to paste in the journal and have them printed.
• Make a variety of print outs such as black & white, matt, glossy. You can even cut a few into different shapes.
• Collect other things that you would like to put in this journal. Maybe your tickets, any special restaurant bill where you had a very romantic dinner, seashells, leaves, any other stuff you picked during your holiday – it could even be the menu or incense sticks from the spa you both went to. Be imaginative.
• Choose the album – it could be a binder file or a standard album.
• Place your pictures - sequential by day or as a flow of a story that you would like to convey. 
• Make it as simple or as dressy as you would like. A visit to a crafts store will help you choose hearts, laces, glitter, patterned papers, stickers and many other cute things.
• Do a deep dive into your experience and let it flow through your creativity. You will see that you are living your holiday once again.
• Create the album together as a couple to double your joy.
• Share your stories with your friends and family or let it be just between the two of you. 

Events and updates (News you can use/ Information desk)

Events, festivals around the world and key announcements

February is the month of carnivals everywhere in the world to celebrate the long, hard winter's transition into spring. Here's a list of all the carnivals and other festivals in February:

• Feb 19 – Mar 01: Santa Cruz de Tenrife Carnival, Tenerife
• Feb 21 – Feb 29: Rio Carnival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Feb 25: Mardi Gras Carnival, New Orleans, USA
• Feb 08 – Feb 25: Venice Carnival, Venice, Italy
• Feb 07 - Feb 08: Sky Lantern Festival, Pingxi, Taiwan
• Feb 02: Festa de lemanja, Rio Vermelho, Salvador, Brazil
• Feb 26 – Mar 14: Dubai Food Festival
• Feb 23 – Feb 25: Battle of Oranges, Ivrea, Italy
• Feb 07 – Feb 09: Chiang Mai Flower Festival, Chaing Mai, Thailand
• Feb 04 – Feb 11: Sapporo Snow Festival, Sapporo, Japan

‘Vacations’ is powered by OneShoe Trust for Responsible & Mindful Travels – a travel events and marketing social enterprise that promotes travelling as a means to enjoy our world and also protect it.

‘Vacations’ is powered by OneShoe Trust for Responsible & Mindful Travels – a travel events and marketing social enterprise that promotes travelling as a means to raise awareness about climate change and preserving local ecology.

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