Beach Babylon – Heaven on Earth

Imagine yourself on the most stunning tropical island resort. Close your eyes and take it all in. Feel the warm sun and soft sand beneath your feet. Hear the gentle waves lapping at the shore. Breathe in the fresh, salty air. You're in paradise. You are surrounded by white sandy beaches and aquamarine seas. You can't truly imagine them until you see them in person. You are surrounded by pure luxury, thousands of miles from the hustle and bustle of any major city.

As you wake up to warm sunlight filtering through the bamboo shutters, you wonder, “Is this real? Am I really here?" It is so quiet, only the lapping of the ocean waves on the shore.

It is still early, but there is no rush. You are excited not to miss a single hour of the day if you can help it. A coffee in bed as you peer out the window at the vast blue oasis in front of you. Your partner stirs. You make them coffee as well and indulge in some canoodling before getting up.

First on the agenda is breakfast. You hop on your bikes and ride to the restaurant. The path winds through palm trees and sandy trails. As you arrive, a man comes and takes your bike. You head to the restaurant and are greeted by smiling faces. Genuine smiles that only Maldivian people can produce. They are genuinely interested in how you slept and what is on for the day.

Breakfast is a feast of whatever you can think of. Hot or cold, healthy or not, it is there for you to choose. You keep your eyes peeled, looking to see which celebrities might be on the island. The rich and famous are always present. Some are heavily disguised, protecting their privacy. Others cannot help but promenade around with that big invisible badge on their chest: “I am famous."

I am having a light, healthy breakfast. I am diving in just over an hour and don’t want to sink. (Now there is an oxymoron as I will be below the water anyway.) My wife has a more sumptuous breakfast.

Breakfast over, it is off to the dive center. The adrenaline is pumping. I am hoping we are going back to Manta Point and then on to an equally fantastic second site; it is a two-tank dive. Manta Point is a huge rock formation that creates a circling eddy. Manta rays drift in the current, circling the rocks. Smaller remora fish clean them as they swim.  It is one of the most idyllic spots in the world.

My wife doesn’t dive. For her, it's an open-air gym session, looking out over the ocean as the warm breeze bathes her. Then a few hours by the pool until I return for lunch. The infinity pool is flanked by sunbeds with canopies. Almost every hour, they provide cool drinks and icy fruit sticks. Pure opulence, basking in the warm Maldivian sun.

A leisurely lunch with a glass of wine, while I bore her with the details of my diving trip. We make plans for dinner, tossing up which of the four restaurants we are going to go to. That decided, we head off to the beach for the afternoon.

The resort sits in its own atoll. There is no shortage of pure white sand and crystal blue waters. Unlike my wife, I have never been one to just lie around. No problem! She loves the warm sun and the cool ocean. I grab my snorkelling gear and camera, then head to the house reef.

Sitting a couple of meters below the surface, it is a photographer's paradise. I sway with the waves, looking for the perfect shot of clownfish or bright Fusiliers. I could stay here for hours, immersed in nature.

Every day is a new day. Today we promised we would hire a jet ski. With our own personal guide, we headed out a couple of kilometres to Turtle Reef. We snorkel back and forth across the reef in total isolation. No land in sight. No one around except for our guide who follows behind us, towing our jet skis. This is what lifetime memories are made of.

As the day draws to a close, the night begins. Shower, then get dressed. We enjoy cocktails as we watch the sun set on another beautiful day in the Maldives.

We dine at Tapasaki.  Japanese fusion food from a private chef. We sit in the raised pavilion, above the water. Fish dart beneath us in the ocean, glowing in the lantern light.  Then it is off to the Rah bar to dance the night away to the live band.

When we get back to our air-conditioned villa, the cool air hits us after the warmth of the tropical evening. A drink before bed to recollect the events of the day and make sure they are firmly embedded in our memories. In bed, I feel some remorse because the day is over. It quickly passes as I realise tomorrow will be just as good, if not better. It will only be last night that I will allow myself to feel especially melancholy.

This is a place to be happy and love life. It is heaven on earth.

[A/n: My wife and I went back to the Maldives over eight times. Five of these were to the same place, Reethi Rah, often with another resort tacked onto the trip. The title partly comes from “Beach Babylon” by Imogen Edwards-Jones. It gives a peek into the secret life behind the five-star island resort.

I fell in love with the Maldives the first time we went there. It gave me a love of diving. I can say it was where we were together. It was one of the few places we truly enjoyed life, pretending to be rich and famous 24-hours a day.  We would spend the rest of the year saving up for the next trip.]

Submitted for the Twenty Four Hours challenge:

Till next time,

Calvin