Joanna James
The Maldivian archipelago consists of over 1,000 islands clustered into 26 coral atolls, surrounded by the warm Indian Ocean, within which a variety of marine life thrive. You can swim, dive, snorkel and enjoy being lazy on a powder soft white sand beach, but what else must you know? Do read on!
The powder soft, sun-bleached white sand beaches of the Maldives are in fact a rather rare phenomenon. The islands have a coralline origin, hence the beaches are made up of extremely fine white sand. Coralline beaches are very rare, they make up only 5% of beaches around the world, as just about all other beaches are formed by quartz. Hence, as you lie on a white sand beach, surrounded by a resort such as Adaaran Select Hudhuranfushi, do keep in mind that you are enjoying the sun on one of the world's rarest beaches.
Parrotfish are found in abundance around the archipelago, and as you enjoy the sheer bliss and solitude of a white sand beach, on maybe the best resort in Maldives, keep in mind that parrotfish contributed immensely to the beach. That's right folks, parrotfish poop is fine sand, made-up of undigested corals they eat. This poop a.k.a, fine sand makes up a large portion of Maldivian beaches. Fun fact; a single parrot fish, manages to produce around a ton of sand annually!
Maldivian food is delicious, well balanced, tropical flavours to treat the foodie in you, but, this is food strictly reserved for humans and fish should not be fed. Leave the marine life to fend for themselves and find their own grub, after all the warm waters of the Indian Ocean are thriving with all sorts of plankton and other nutritious tit-bits fish love to eat. It's what's good for them and part of the ecosystem, hence, keep those bakery items back on the beach to enjoy, once you are done snorkelling or scuba diving.
In the Maldives, not all sailors use GPS or modern equipment to navigate their way across the ocean. You will come across captains of traditional dhoni's capable of charting their way across the sea with the help of the stars, coral labyrinths and the bow of their dhoni, amazing but true. Even better, on clear nights, these skilled sailors are able to steer their vessels to avoid coral reefs, by simply observing how the surface of the lagoon moves. Yup, the Maldives is an island nation closely linked to the ocean.
Having a cluster of over 1000 islands, means the archipelago offers variety in terms of island size. Some of the world's smallest islands, not measuring more than a few square metres, are located there; lovely sand dots where one can chill and enjoy a picnic. The largest island too is not very large and barely makes up 6kms.
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