Once in a blue lagoon

	The aquaphobic would do well to stay at home !

THE 21st-century template for absolute tropical resort luxury must include a private pool or an overwater villa. Better still if the holiday gods wave their wands and you get both. Which is the case at The Beach House at Manafaru in the Maldives, a newish spread that is triumphantly of, and about, water.

Stay in one of its 39 thatched-roof overwater villas, which spread from the little isle along two long and lean double boardwalks, and the mesmerising soundtrack is of gentle waves splashing the pylons. The water in the plunge pool on each villa's timber deck shimmers and shines, the semi-open shower feels like the softest waterfall, the bathtub comes with ultra-mod switches and buttons that create ripples and pulses. The aquaphobic would do well to stay at home.

Satellites of atolls surround Male, the water-lapped capital of this attenuated Indian Ocean chain. Atoll is a Maldivian word meaning a group of islands within a reef-enclosed lagoon. The 26 atolls here comprise more than 1100 coral islands, protected by these natural breakwaters, and spread from the southwestern tip of India to the equator. On a map, the Maldives appears little more than a series of random specks, as if someone has flung a load of sandy clods; the nation is 99 per cent water and some of its coral cays are so tiny you can walk around them in minutes.

The Maldives seems turned on its head. At ground level, all is pancake-flat and tranquil, but below those coral-rimmed lagoons lie high-rise metropolises of coral and immense congregations of marine life.

The first resorts here opened in the early 1970s - saltwater showers and sand-floor huts - and now about 85 of its islands are occupied by properties of varying standards. Even the most modest has charm and comfort, that particular alchemy of stinging sun and bright light and an idyllic barefoot-in-paradise feel.

For a big-bucks holiday of the honeymoon or anniversary ilk, one is spoiled for choice. Huvafen Fushi, Six Senses (Soneva Fushi and Gili), Banyan Tree, Four Seasons, Como (Cocoa Island), One and Only: all the blue-ribbon brands are represented and with good reason. The intense colour of the water, that sense of utter escape and the abundance of marine activities all add up to a holiday that approximates to the drawing up a deckchair inside an idyllic picture postcard.

The Beach House at Manafaru is on Haa Alifu atoll, 320km from Male, in the northernmost reaches of the Maldives. It's privately run - the owner, Maldivian businessman Ahmed Siyam Mohamed, won the land in a lottery when the government decided to sell the remote atoll of 42 islands - and it is a bit of a slog to get there.

Read more

New Executive Chef On Rangali Island

	Recognised for his culinary expertise

David Laval Joins Leading Gourmet Resort

The Conrad Maldives Rangali Island has appointed David Laval as the new Executive Chef, with responsibility for the diverse menus across the resort’s seven restaurants and three bars.

David has a wealth of experience, which he has gathered around the globe. This includes at the Imperial Hotel in Japan and the Fairmont Southampton Resort in Bermuda Island; both members of the ‘Leading Hotels of the World’ group.

He was recognised for his culinary expertise in the Chaîne des Rôtissseurs “Black Box” competition, as well as at “Food Asia” in Singapore, where he won gold for his chocolate show-piece. Since 2001 he has been a member of L'Academie Culinaire de France and the Association ‘Les Disciples d’Auguste Escoffier’. He is also a member of the prestigious Association Culinaire Francaise in London, known as the ‘Society of Master Chefs’.

David’s long standing passion for cooking saw him move to Australia from Reunion Island at the age of 16 to complete a five year apprenticeship through Sheraton, Ana Hotel and the Conrad Jupiters Casino on the Gold Coast. He has since dedicated his career to expanding his culinary knowledge, travelling around the world to increase his understanding of fine cuisine and the cultures that lie behind every dish. This has made David the perfect candidate to oversee the Conrad Maldives wide-ranging menus, which stretch from Euro-Asian fine-dining at Vilu, to organic and bio-dynamic gourmet meals in the Mandhoo Spa Restaurant.

Read more

October 9th - October 23rd

Source

This amazing dive site is found inside the atoll to the west of Lankanfushi and can be dived via a number of different plans. Normally you will descend down a line that is fixed to a hole in the reef at around 12 metres.

Once on the reef, you may be able to make out that the site consists of three coral mounts starting at around 10 metres and sloping down to 25 metres. The stars of the show are the family of Napoleon fish that live here. They are very curious creatures and seem to enjoy the presence of divers for who they make a great photographic subject, particularly one of them which is an absolute colossus! The entire area is literally bedecked with soft corals and sponges and the substrate peppered with windows, overhangs and caverns all worthy of inspection since they play host to squirrelfish, soldierfish and gaping morays. One such cavern is home to a group of some twenty oriental sweetlips. The wall also sees anthias in enormous swarms, as well as hundreds of bannerfish fluttering off the edge of the reef.

As a second or alternative dive here you may wish to vary your entry and exit points by approaching it as a drift rather than concentrating on the Thila alone. This will allow you to inspect the sandy channel that climbs up to 5 metres, where you can complete your safety stop among the fields of anemones, soft corals and tunicates, bright and vibrant in the sun's nourishing rays.

Okobe Thila Reef Basics: Pinnacle or drift dive
Depth: 10- 35m
Visibility: 15 - 30m
Currents: Can be strong
Surface Conditions: Normally calm, but can be choppy
Water Temperature: 27 - 30°C
Experience Level: Intermediate - advanced
Number of dive sites : 1
Diving Season : All year round. Liveaboards less likely to visit May to July
Distance : 5km to the

Source