Neither Chris or I ever imagined that our backpacking trip would take us to the Maldives. But with cheap flights from Colombo, it's certainly a country to end our trip in style.
Personally, whenever I think of the Maldives, I think of a honeymoon destination and envision the idyllic water bungalows. However, I actually learnt a lot about the country when we researched into how to travel the Maldives on the 'cheap'. We already knew that the water bungalows and private resort islands were way beyond our budget. But, after reading a few blogs and emailing several dive companies, our cheap option became apparent. Since 2009 the Maldivian government have allowed local residents to open up their homes to tourists. Therefore, over the past few years guesthouses have been popping up throughout the locally inhabited islands across the Maldives. Fascinatingly, the Maldives is comprised of 1,200 islands, of which about 200 are inhabited.
After much deliberation as to which atoll we would stay in, (a choice from 26 natural atolls) and a final push with bartering via email, we were offered a very reasonable deal on the island of Mathiveri.
If you have money to spend then travelling the Maldives would be a breeze.....breezy from travelling in style at the back of a speed boat or by the door of a seaplane! But as backpackers, neither of these options were viable.
One thing we have learnt from our travels is, that more often than not, there is a cheaper way of doing things than first meets the eye. After pestering several contacts via email, we eventually found out about the local ferry. It was not easy to understand, but between us we worked out how and when we could travel from Malé to Mathiveri....

The flight from Colombo was only 1.5 hours, landing on the airport island Hulhumale. From here we had to take a short ferry ride over to Malé. We needed to be on Malé to catch the local ferry the following morning. However, having tried desperately to find accommodation online, we refused to pay the extortionate prices for such rundown options. We decided to risk searching for a room on arrival, since the island was only 2.2 square miles in size. It was quite late, which in the course of time, worked to our advantage. The manager of a small hotel, 'One & All', reluctantly accepted our offer of $50 for one of his rooms. To us this price was insane for the room we were staying in, but we knew it wasn't a bad deal considering the previous research we had done.
By now we were both keen to get straight to sleep as we couldn't wait to see the beautiful blue skies, crystal-clear water, and dazzling white sandy beaches the following morning.

So apparently it also rains in the Maldives! Not exactly what we had envisioned as we made the 2km walk to the ferry terminal in the rain! There was not one patch of blue in the sky, just miserable grey clouds. However a glimpse of the incredibly clean and gorgeous aqua blue water kept our spirits high. Plus, we were in the Maldives!!!
Unfortunately, the bad weather led to a choppy ferry crossing. I was prepared for the sea sickness so plonked myself as close to the middle of the boat as possible and tried to distract my mind. Chris was quick to befriend a group of local lads and spent the entire 6 hour journey chatting away. It was a tedious day but the sight of some water bungalows and small picturesque islands triggered the realisation of where we were.
Thankfully as the ferry arrived to Mathiveri the rain had taken a break. We were welcomed by Sameer, one of two brothers co-owning Mathiveri Inn. He walked us to the guesthouse, showed us a quick introductory video and briefly explained a little about the island. Being a strictly Muslim country, it is respectful and asked that we do not walk around the island showing too much skin. For women especially it is important to cover shoulders, chest, and knees. This came as no surprise to us as we had done our research. Of course the Muslim religion also prohibits alcohol, but for tourists splashing out on the private islands, they are exempt from this law. However, we had read about a bar boat floating around Mathiveri, which we hoped would suffice. Sadly we later found out that the masts poking out of the sea near the harbour belonged to the bar boat! Due to careless staff, overnight the bar boat and all its contents, had sunk!
After dropping our bags in the room we grabbed the cameras and went to explore the island. Sarver, a Bangladeshi employee, kindly took us on a tour to show us the bikini beach and private island. The bikini beach is a fantastic idea, allowing tourists to enjoy their visit as usual, without disrespecting or offending the locals. It was well hidden by bushes and trees, and was a decent size.
During our exploration we were beckoned by a group of kids playing on an old wooden boat. A mix of boys and girls, ages 8-9. They spoke excellent English and couldn't wait to have their pictures taken with us. Absolutely delightful kids and we immediately felt very welcomed to the island. With the island being so small, only 800 metres by 500 metres, it didn't take us long to explore.
Our package at Mathiveri Inn included breakfast and dinner every day, as well as four dives each. Before dinner that evening we visited 'Casa Mia', a much more upmarket hotel on the island, and who we would be diving with. Disappointingly we did not receive great vibes from our visit, as the lady we met was not particularly forthcoming with information. Nevertheless we were both looking forward to diving in the Maldives.
We were impressed to find out that dinner was a four course meal! It started with a coleslaw salad, followed by tuna soup, then a main of chicken pasta for Chris and tuna fried rice for me, and finished with some fruit. Although the food wasn't out of this world, it was good and we had nothing to complain about. The chef were especially accommodating if there was something on the menu we didn't like, and very flexible about changing it. With nowhere to venture to after dinner, we used our time wisely to catch up with the blog.

We were surprised and disheartened to wake up to another grey cloudy sky and heavy rainfall. But the enthusiastic wave from chef Shahin as we entered the dining room soon uplifted our mood. The traditional Maldivian breakfast consists of a shredded coconut, fish, and chili dish, served with chapati. We were also served a small omelette along with a chicken and beef sausage (obviously no pork!). After the filling breakfast we spent most of the day avoiding the rain and rushing to the bikini beach in the sunny patches. The bikini beach was less than 100m away.
We found a small eatery on the island and the owner was enthusiastic to receive our custom. Pouring refreshing Coke into wine glasses and serving a spread of local cuisine, we were well looked after. He served us two options of curry, a huge bowl of rice, and crispy popadoms. We felt incredibly welcomed and he was eager for us to return the following day!
Later that afternoon the sky had cleared a little and we could actually see some blue sky! Whilst we could, we put our masks and snorkels on and swam from the bikini beach over to the private island. It was a tiring swim as we were continuously battling against the current. But we eventually made it onto the little piece of paradise! There appeared to be a lot of coral surrounding the island, but due to the bad weather, the visibility was awful. Fortunately, we had over a week on the island so would have plenty of time to swim back.
Friday night at Mathiveri Inn is Maldivian night. So, for dinner we were served a spread of local dishes, and learning our love for spice, the chef diced up scotch bonnets for an added kick!

We were beginning to think that the idyllic pictures seen on advertisements for the Maldives is all a lie! We awoke to another rainy day and as soon as we saw the sun we headed straight to the bikini beach. Soon enough we were massively caught out by a seemingly never ending downpour. We were both soaked from head to toe and had to wade through the flooded pathways to get back to our room. Every item of clothing, as well as our towels, had to be wrung out and hung up to dry. Needless to say, this was not how we imagined our first few days in the Maldives would be. But knowing we had plenty of time, we didn't let it get us down, and just utilised the time to blog.
A short break in the rain allowed us to walk over to the local eatery, where the owner had prepared his special fried rice with popadoms. Then finally, around 3pm, the sky was clear and the sun was beaming! We were back on the bikini beach and soaking up the rays. There were a few short showers throughout the remainder of the day but easily avoided.
Chef cooked up a tasty tuna fried rice/noodles for dinner, as well as the salad and soup for starters. For dessert he had cooked a wonderful vanilla cake.

Relieved to wake up and it not be raining, we were off on our first morning diving. We were both extremely eager to see what the waters of the Maldives had to offer.
Our experience with Casa Mia had not started well and unfortunately it continued this way. They seemed to have no concept of customer service. It also didn't help that the cost of diving with them was considerably more than anywhere else we had dived, so we had high expectations. Anyway, Casa Mia aside, we were pleased with our dive guide, Graham from Cornwall, and thrilled that it was just the two of us with him.
The first dive site was nearly an hour away, the conditions were good, mostly flat and calm waters, with patchy blue sky. The downside to 'Hafsa Thila' dive site was that the entry had to be swift due to strong currents. This was not ideal for our first dive in six months. However, Gareth did not pressure us at all and our descent did not feel rushed. Hafsa Thila was sharktastic!! After a leisurely look around a coral reef, we hovered on the outer edge and turned our eyes to the 'deep blue'. It was there that we could admire an array of white tip reef sharks and the occasional passing by of grey reef sharks. Some of the grey reef sharks were 2-3m long! I completely amazed myself as I did not at one point feel scared. I was too absorbed in their elegance and beauty.
The second dive, at 'Bodu Falhu' was another awesome dive. We were lucky enough to be visited by an eagle ray, loads more white tips and several curious moray eels. Gareth spotted a few colourful nudie branches lingering on the coral, a shy peacock mantis shrimp, and Chris even spied a reef octopus hidden away in a small cove.
Both dives had been incredible and Gareth complimented us both on our diving, which is always a confidence booster.
After another filling lunch at our favourite local restaurant we decided to return to the private island. We battled against the strong current again but were rewarded with some lovely coral and plenty of reef fish. We snorkelled around but due to it being low tide it was a little tricky. The tiredness from diving was also starting to take effect, so we utilised the current to take us back to the bikini beach.
With the bar boat at the bottom of the ocean, we pondered over how else to 'treat' ourselves. Rummaging through one of the local shops we came across the freezer, which to our surprise, contained ice creams. More so, it even had Magnums! Even more so, there were some new flavours that we had not had the pleasure of tasting. The expense was worth it and we both savoured the mint Magnum we had treated ourselves to!
Having experienced a much clearer day we decided to watch the sun go down before returning to the guesthouse for dinner. Chef had prepared a really tasty and meaty grilled fish, served with rice and vegetables. It is fair to say we never went hungry.

We were overjoyed to see a clear blue sky when we awoke and hence spent the morning relaxing on the bikini beach. In the afternoon we took the cameras and went for another mooch around the island. With the sun being out, the colours were sensational. We had never seen water the colour we experienced in the Maldives. The dramatic shades of blue were striking. The contrast with the white sand, green palm trees, and blue ocean was phenomenal. As you can imagine, we wanted to take plenty of pictures, but also we were keen to meet more of the locals. We stumbled across some ladies weaving dried palm leaves for roofing, and a few young children playing. One toddler in particular was grateful for Chris to kick the football around with him for a little while.
We found the closest part of Mathiveri to the private island, meaning the shortest distance to swim over in our clothes. Before we had only swam to the private island from the bikini beach, so it was acceptable for us to wear our swimmers. However, since we were leaving from a local beach we had to be dressed. I had stupidly worn my baggiest temple trousers which straight away weighed me down. Luckily Chris was responsible for the camera in the dry bag and I just had the GoPro and water bottle to take care of. Still, we made it over safely and hung our clothes out to dry.
After walking the perimeter of the private island, roughly 1km, ensuring to take plenty of snaps, we swam the same route back. This time I tied my trousers around my neck, which acted as a buoyancy aid, and redressed in the water near the main island. Much easier!
Chris and I swayed away from the set menu for dinner and tucked into a pizza and fish curry. Chris' pizza was unexpectedly very good. The fish curry was delicious, my most favourite dish yet.
The weather appeared to be looking perfect for the remainder of the week, and with another morning of diving, plus other activities lined up, we really were on cloud nine.