96 Hours in Maldives - Day 3 - 18 April 2025 - Maafushi

I asked for breakfast at 8 am in the room and it was promptly served. It was a repetition of the previous day's menu, toast with butter and jam, omelet, chicken sausage, orange juice and coffee. Murthy, the hotel staff, was on his day off. Another boy helped me take the bags down to the reception. Before leaving the hotel, I ascertained that I had paid all the dues.

Maafushi is less than 26 km from Male, and it takes 30 minutes to reach there by speedboat. The options to get to Maafushi are public ferry, speedboat and seaplane, ranking them by speed and fare. Being a Friday, there was no public ferry service to Maafushi from Male.

I reached Jetty No 6 in Male, which is less than 500 meters from the hotel well ahead of the appointed speedboat departure time of 9.45 am. The streets were virtually empty as it was a holiday. Along the many jetties of Male, speedboats of different sizes were berthed. Every few minutes they left with loads of passengers and luggage to islands, resorts and public beaches.

My speedboat by Escape to Maafushi didn't have any other passengers till the very last minute. All of a sudden, the entire speedboat filled up and we left 10 minutes late. As we pulled out of the jetty and turned into the Ocean the speedboat, with three powerful Yamaha outboard motors, soon left the Male skyline behind.

We sped past the many islands with water villas and some others where reclamation works were still on. The country is still building infrastructure for more tourists in the future. The drive through the vast expanse of clean water was indeed fascinating.

In about 20 minutes, the speedboat berthed at Gulhi island. All the passengers disembarked, leaving me alone in the boat. In another 5 minutes the speedboat entered the calm, protected arrival jetty of Maafushi island.

The staff of Rosemary Boutique hotel were present there to take me to the hotel. The bag was carried in a battery-operated three-wheeler to the hotel, while I walked the short distance to it. Check-in did take some time as the considerate Isaac, the Mallu, at the reception offered to get me a first-floor room rather than one on the third floor as the hotel didn't have an elevator.

After putting the bags in the room, I excitedly ventured out to explore the island in the blazing sun. Maafushi island is just 1.3 km in length and 0.25 km in width. The island's population is about 4500, with one third of them being foreigners. The island was severely affected by the tsunami in 2004. Being a public island, and inexpensive as compared to most other island resorts in Maldives, Maafushi is the preferred destination for budget travelers like me. Maafushi also has the distinction of being the island with the maximum number of guesthouses in Maldives, not surprisingly. Tourism is the only economic activity in the island, which started in 2012.

A hundred meters from the hotel I came to the bikini beach, which was packed. It was understandable considering that all the other beaches on the island were 'no bikini' beaches. The hotels and restaurants fronting the beach were doing brisk business.

All the beach chairs were taken; the sandy shore had sunbathing bodies almost filled to capacity that reminded me of cans of sardines! There are numerous stalls and shops offering water sports activities and various adventure and tour packages. The busiest seemed to be the Oceanwave Watersports outlet.

Braving the merciless sun and the humidity I walked along the jetty face and came to a group of 8 cockatoos chained on four perches. They were on a screeching match with their sounds piercing the otherwise silent and calm atmosphere of the island.

Very close it the screaming cockatoos was the Folding Hands, an attraction in Maafushi. I could not fathom why the structure was considered a place of contemplation and serenity. By that time, I could no longer bear the heat, and I almost ran back to the hotel room.

After a few hours of rest in the hotel and estimating that the sea breeze would negate the intensity of the heat, I left the hotel to explore the rest for the island. It was indeed pleasant in the evening, and I walked around the island unhurried. It is easy to navigate the island. The southern end of the island is a tourist area: bikini beach, coconut trees walkway, skate park, guest houses and hotels, gift shops, and restaurants are located there. I took them all at leisure. Restaurants and hotels were getting ready for late evening business, setting up buffet counters and entertainment facilities.

I walked along the eastern face of the island to the northern part of the island, where the Maldives prison is located. Along the one kilometer walk I came across a school, the administrative office, a playground, and the central mosque.

What fascinated me was the Maafushi Resource Recovery Centre, a center where all waste and garbage is collected. As I was walking past the facility I came across three-wheelers bringing waste for recycling. Not very far from it is also a noisy electric power plant that is constantly in action. Fortunately, it is not close to residential or guesthouse accommodation. It is estimated that there are about 70 guest houses and hotels on Maafushi.

There were plenty of Europeans and Asians tourists on the island, unlike what I saw in Male. I checked out the airport transfer for the morrow after next at the iCom office and zeroed in on the 12-noon speedboat from Maafushi. I spent the rest of the evening in the bikini beach, fully clothed, ostensibly enjoying the sunset. The bikinied beauties brought home to me the harsh reality of a withered body that refused to obey the commands of the mind. It was indeed sunset time for me.

Later in the hotel, I finalized a snorkeling tour in the forenoon and an adventure tour in the afternoon for the next day. The hotel was quite busy, and I spotted many Mallus among the guests. I had a chicken biriyani dinner in hotel; it was quite spicy and not to my taste. To cool the fire on the palate, I had a biscotti gelato from a restaurant by the side of the bikini beach. The restaurants were brimming with guests and live music bands were on, too.