2009 UPDATE: OOPS!  CHANGE THAT TO 'MALDIVE ISLANDS'!

In February 2009 I received an email that changed my perspective from Tahiti to the Maldive islands south of India.

From: Blake
Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2009 10:29 AM
To: dance@ssqq.com
Subject: Fantasy Island

G'Day Rick, my names Blake and I'm from Australia, I have been surfing some of your interesting write ups even the stuff up with the sultans palace. lol. Anyway like what you do but I thought I would inform you that some of your fantasy Island photos are of a place called the Maldives.

The Maldives are a bunch of Islands so small they don't appear on the world map, (guessing invisible from space).  They are located below India and Sri Lanka slightly to the South West.

Many of the hotels and accommodation is built in the water mainly because there isn't enough room left on the island!

Sadly this area of the ocean is also the Tsunami area

My partner and I are travelling there later this year and its not as expensive as you would have thought, although I haven't any figures for you.   We live on a modest budget and find it affordable.  Perhaps it is cheaper in flights due to location of Perth, Australia?  Dunno

The photos are exactly the same as the ones you posted with one roof and a walkway that slightly confused you. I think who ever is sending you these "photo packages" is mixing things up a bit.

Laddahs!

 

This lovely place in the Maldives is known as "Full Moon Island"

Rick Archer's Note: 

Following Blake's suggestion, I brought up "Google Images" for the Maldive Islands.  Sure enough, I saw several of the same pictures I had used for my "Tahiti" writeup including the picture on the right. 

"Many of the hotels and accommodation is built in the water mainly because there isn't enough room left on the island!"

As you will see from the pictures, Blake's comment made a lot of sense.

Maldive Islands

The Maldive Islands are an island nation consisting of a group of atolls stretching south of India in the Indian Ocean. The twenty-six atolls of Maldives encompass a territory featuring 1,192 islets, of which two hundred and fifty islands are inhabited.

The Maldives is the smallest Asian country in terms of both population and area; it is the smallest predominantly Muslim nation in the world. With two meters from sea level, it is also the country with the lowest "highest point" in the world.

The Maldives holds the record for being the lowest country in the world, with a maximum natural ground level of only 7½ feet.  The average height is only 5 feet above sea level, though in areas where construction exists this has been increased. 

Rising Sea Waters

On April 22, 2008, then Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom pleaded for a cut in global greenhouse gas emissions, warning that rising sea levels could submerge the island nation of Maldives.

Over the last century, sea levels have risen about 8 inches. Further rises of the ocean could threaten the existence of Maldives. However, around 1970 the sea level there dropped significantly, so the future is uncertain.  In November of 2008, President Mohamed Nasheed announced plans to look into purchasing new land in India, Sri Lanka, and Australia, due to his concerns about global warming and the possibility of much of the islands being inundated with water from rising sea levels.  

Current estimates place sea level rise at 25 inches by the year 2100. The purchase of land will be made from a fund generated by tourism. The President has explained his intentions, saying "We do not want to leave the Maldives, but we also do not want to be climate refugees living in tents for decades".

The 2004 Tsunami

A tsunami in the Indian Ocean caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake caused serious damage to the socioeconomic infrastructure which left many people homeless, and irreversible damage to the environment. After the disaster, cartographers are planning to redraw the maps of the islands due to alterations caused by the tsunami.

Ecology

The reef is composed of coral debris and living coral. This acts as a natural barrier against the sea, forming lagoons. Other islands, set at a distance and parallel to the reef, have their own protective fringe of reef. An opening in the surrounding coral barrier allows access to the calmer lagoon waters.

The barrier reefs of the islands protect them from the storms and high waves of the Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean has a great effect on the climate of the country by acting as a heat buffer, absorbing, storing, and slowly releasing the tropical heat. The heat is further mitigated by cool sea breezes.

A layer of humus forms the top layer of soil on the islands. Below the humus layer are two feet of sandstone, followed by sand and then fresh water. Due to excessive salt in the soil near the beach, vegetation is limited there to a few plants such as shrubs, flowering plants, and small hedges. In the interior of the island, more vegetation such as mangrove and banyan grow. Coconut palms, the national tree, are able to grow almost everywhere on the islands and are integral to the lifestyle of the natives.

The limited vegetation is supplemented by the abundance of coral reefs and marine life.

Tourism

Due to the beauty of the islands, tourism has now grown to 20% of the Maldive economy.

The picture above was identified as some of the Maldive Atolls. Now go see an earlier picture for comparison. I think it is the exact same picture.

The Maldives and the Tsunami

This area is often promoted as the last paradise on Earth, but the Maldives and its precious tourism industry were devastated by the December 2004 tsunami. Inaccessibility of some islands hampered repair schedules

The island nation's economy relies more heavily on tourism than any other tsunami-affected country.

Nowhere else is more aware of the threat posed by rising seas than the Maldives.

About 99% of its territory is sea - and on the 1,200 low-lying coral islands that straddle the equator, nowhere is more than one-and-a-half metres above sea level.

The country campaigns against the effects of climate change to protect its very survival, but the tsunami made it face its worst fears.

A total of 49 inhabited islands were flooded and one-quarter of the 87 resort islands were put out of operation and are now undergoing repairs.

The tsunami cost 82 lives, with another 20 locals still missing.

The death toll may sound small when compared with other affected countries - but this is a nation of only 300,000 people.

Many here rely on tourism. It provides two-thirds of employment and the largest proportion of GDP.

It may seem at odds staying at a luxury resort while local communities struggle to get back on their feet, but with bookings down 50%, the Maldivians want tourists back.

"The tourist dollars do help in the recovery and rehabilitation of people and this is our lifeline, so if it's disrupted it aggravates the situation," says Hassan Sobir, the Maldives High Commissioner in Britain.

"Fortunately, because of the geography - maybe sheer luck - many islands have been spared in terms of damage."

Scientists say the archipelago was spared the full force because the huge coral reefs that encircle the islands absorbed much of the impact - as did breakwaters built around the capital, Male, after previous flooding.

The set-up in the Maldives is an unusual one.

A one-resort-per-island policy separates guests from locals and from other tourists, giving a sense of isolation that is one of the Maldives' main selling points.

Central to this strategy is that each island is self-sufficient, generating power, waste management and water supply.

It means the usual risk of water contamination and disease that often follow disasters has largely been avoided.

It also means repairs will be localized.

However, rebuilding these remote islands, accessible only by seaplane or boat, will take months and cost an estimated $1.5bn.

Despite the crisis, the government still plans to develop 11 new island resorts over the next two years.

Hoteliers like Francois Huet, the general manager of the Banyan Tree Hotel, welcome the move.

"It's an opportunity to develop different kinds of competition to stimulate the market," he says.

The Maldives does not have a long history as a tourist destination - just three decades - during which it has moved to the top of the luxury holiday lists, is a favourite for honeymooners and a premier dive location.

When the first hotel, Kurumba, opened in 1972 it was very basic.

Its founder is often credited with kick-starting the tourism industry.

Back then there were only 1,000 tourists a year. Last year, there were more than 500,000.

Mohamed Umar Maniku built Kurumba and is now chairman of the resort development company, Universal Enterprises.

"When we started there were already three big destinations in Asia - Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Seychelles.

"We never had anything and so we thought if they can be successful, why not us?"

Developing tourism has also helped raise environmental concerns.

Some hotels like the Banyan Tree and Angsana have green funds where they match guest donations of one dollar a night for conservation projects.

Those contributions have now been doubled and are going towards tsunami recovery.

Staff are also donating part of their salary.

And on the island of Fen Fushi, children learn about protecting marine life while their parents all work at the nearby resort Sun Island.

Bringing tourism and nature together is not only their future, but also that of the Maldives.

MORE PHOTOS OF LUXURY CABANAS IN THE MALDIVES