Our over water suite was initially a little disappointing after the opulence of the Hideaway Palace. Our bathroom didn’t compare to the outdoor masterpieces of the Palace. Our ocean view bathtub, sauna and steam room helped us overcome this.
The next morning we arrived at the waterfront restaurant for breakfast. To my amazement the water was filled with jack fish…. and about 20-30 black tip reef sharks around 1-2 ft mark. It was amazing! Having just come from Kapalai and Sipidan we had expected to be disappointed by the marine life, this made my day… and every other breakfast. The sharks made Kahlia a little nervous initially (although small there were a lot of them… an Army of sharks really). We soon learnt that the bread rolls at breakfast (and all uneaten scraps) were to be thrown to the fish and sharks. If you threw with the sun behind you the fish would be there before the food landed and with a great flourish a feeding frenzy would begin.
Later in the week I got in with the sharks at breakfast and our butler brought different types of food for me to watch be devoured from underwater. To my disappointment the sharks were very scared of me. They also were not really interested in the bread or cooked meats. Then Easa brought out raw chicken and the sharks went absolutely nuts… I can’t wait to do the Mike Ball diving trip in Cairns where they dump meat into the sea with real size sharks feeding. Good times J
The hotel visitor information suggests that you don’t swim at night. Despite the warning being buried in their literature it’s probably unnecessary. If you walk to the water’s edge at night the lights from the restaurants and resort reflect of the seemingly fluorescent fins of the many sharks hunting in the shallow waters. Even to me it was an eerie sight and one which was not conducive to swimming.
After numerous days of nothing we ventured out to the water sports office and picked up a surf bike. This contraption is a sailboard bottom with an exercise bike mounted on top which drives a propeller, very fun. We cruised around the lagoon swimming in the crystal water; it was a truly amazing scene. We eventually stumbled upon an eagle ray and chased him around the lagoon jumping in to catch a glimpse when we got close enough.
We had a single dive at “The Aquarium” to say that we have had a dive in the Maldives. We were also hoping to see our first Manta Rays as the season had started and the plankton was in bloom. We were disappointed… both at the lack of Manta Rays and at the bad visibility caused by the Plankton. In general we are just spoiled by Sipidan.
The week was very relaxing and enjoyable. Either the wedding was taking its toll or relaxing is a hard business because we left still quite tired. The island is amazingly beautiful, the food is very average, the accommodation is wonderful. The price tag makes you cry but this is a once in a lifetime thing.
On the price tag, when we checked out I had forgot to transfer money to my credit card in time to pay. When I received the bill I almost croaked as I realised we couldn’t pay it!! I embarrassedly asked for internet access to transfer money to my debit credit card. After holding up the boat for 15 minutes (the internet is really slow) I finally paid. To my relief the amount they charged was not the total bill (I had already paid half as deposit). It turns out we could have easily paid them without all the hassle and hold up… very embarrassing.
