Today we had an all-day dive trip to Kudafalhu, aka Manta point. Or... Liz/Oasis Manta code name... Majestic Sea Flap Flaps, haha. It is around a 1.5 hour boat ride to the dive spot, and then we do 2 dives there with an hour and a half surface interval in-between. What sucked about today? We only saw Mantas from the surface and never did see any diving. Kyle and I were completely bummed. We saw plenty of other things though (like the biggest nurse shark I've ever seen), and Kyle got really good with reserving air and his breathing under water so that was good. We got to know Wade, one of the dive instructors, on the boat and he was a really cool guy. From South Africa, so go figure we liked him! ;)
Maldives: 3/12/19
Today was the BEST day in the Maldives!!!!!!!
We had a resort boat take Kyle & I to an uninhabited, deserted island and drop us off for the day! :) It was super cool! We left at 9AM, and it was around a 30 min boat ride to the island. We had a couple coolers with food, drinks, wine, etc. They dropped us off and promised to be back later. Get the perimeter tour of our island via this link (do it!):
ISLE DE KRAY
It was a little strange that there was a nice pair of flip flops next to the make-shift chairs and swing that someone had made on the island (apparently local Maldivians like to use the island as a getaway spot as well). I kept imagining us fighting off a Maldivian cannibal. Haha. Thankfully, no one ever showed up. We had also read there was a resident chicken on this island that would come out for food when people came. I was pretty stoked for this said chicken as I had big plans to capture it and recreate a total Moana moment with the chicken in the boat with us. This chicken was not there... hopefully he was not someone else's dinner! So anyways... we had a blast and our day flew by! We had a picnic and drank wine on the beach, we swam with a ton of baby sharks that were all around the island, we made our mark in the sand, and we made our mark on a tree. It was a perfect day!
The boat did show up to get us eventually. I could have stayed the night on our island, but they wouldn't let us... plus, we had a night dive booked which we had to get back for. But check out the pictures below, and then read about our night dive!
So our night dive... that was so awesome as well! Night diving is always interesting to me. It is pitch black, so the only thing you see is what your light is shining on. Night time brings out very different creatures than day time, so always good to get a night dive in! We dove with blue dive lights and they gave us yellow filters for our dive goggles. OMG! I have never seen anything like it in my diving life. The coral looked like something you imagine seeing while on acid. Everything was ALIVE and GLOWING NEON... all the colors!!! I wish I could have captured it on the gopro, but I do not have a yellow filter which is the filter color necessary to see proper night colors. Bummer! It was amazing though. Even color-blind Kyle saw all the colors and was in awe. Red Snapper are on the hunt at night, and there were HUGE snapper using our dive lights to go after prey. They had warned us not to shine the light too long on fish we see unless we want them to be dinner for the snapper, so we were careful to try and not create a terrible destiny for the other fish around us. When the dive was over we had to walk back to the dive center (which was the complete opposite side of the island) with all of gear and tanks on. That part sucked, haha. The most amazing day though!!!!!!
ISLE DE KRAY
The boat did show up to get us eventually. I could have stayed the night on our island, but they wouldn't let us... plus, we had a night dive booked which we had to get back for. But check out the pictures below, and then read about our night dive!
So our night dive... that was so awesome as well! Night diving is always interesting to me. It is pitch black, so the only thing you see is what your light is shining on. Night time brings out very different creatures than day time, so always good to get a night dive in! We dove with blue dive lights and they gave us yellow filters for our dive goggles. OMG! I have never seen anything like it in my diving life. The coral looked like something you imagine seeing while on acid. Everything was ALIVE and GLOWING NEON... all the colors!!! I wish I could have captured it on the gopro, but I do not have a yellow filter which is the filter color necessary to see proper night colors. Bummer! It was amazing though. Even color-blind Kyle saw all the colors and was in awe. Red Snapper are on the hunt at night, and there were HUGE snapper using our dive lights to go after prey. They had warned us not to shine the light too long on fish we see unless we want them to be dinner for the snapper, so we were careful to try and not create a terrible destiny for the other fish around us. When the dive was over we had to walk back to the dive center (which was the complete opposite side of the island) with all of gear and tanks on. That part sucked, haha. The most amazing day though!!!!!!
Maldives: 3/11/19
Today we had 2 house reef dives planned. First dive was at 10 and 2nd was at 1.
One of the cool things about our island and it's reefs? There are also 2 shipwrecks to explore (right at 100 feet). We went to them on both dives. Marine life highlights from today's dives included 2 marble eagle rays (link to video of them below), reef sharks & tons of fish! The current was a bit stronger on the second dive, so getting back to shore was a bit more of a struggle.
We also had night fishing on the agenda. We got to watch the sunset from the boat as we made our way to the fishing spot. The sunrises and sunsets in the Maldives are pretty fantastic! So the fishing... they do not use poles. They use plastic rings that just have the line wrapped around them. So when you catch fish you are manually pulling the fishing line out. Most of what we caught were red snapper, but there was a small baby shark caught, and one Barracuda as well. Guess who had the biggest catch of the day?! MEEEE!!!! A big Red Snapper! Much bigger and the line would be cutting into my hands as I pulled this guy out!! :P
One of the cool things about our island and it's reefs? There are also 2 shipwrecks to explore (right at 100 feet). We went to them on both dives. Marine life highlights from today's dives included 2 marble eagle rays (link to video of them below), reef sharks & tons of fish! The current was a bit stronger on the second dive, so getting back to shore was a bit more of a struggle.
We also had night fishing on the agenda. We got to watch the sunset from the boat as we made our way to the fishing spot. The sunrises and sunsets in the Maldives are pretty fantastic! So the fishing... they do not use poles. They use plastic rings that just have the line wrapped around them. So when you catch fish you are manually pulling the fishing line out. Most of what we caught were red snapper, but there was a small baby shark caught, and one Barracuda as well. Guess who had the biggest catch of the day?! MEEEE!!!! A big Red Snapper! Much bigger and the line would be cutting into my hands as I pulled this guy out!! :P
Maldives: 3/10/19
Sunday in the Maldives! Today we had island hopping on the agenda. :)
We started with the inhabited Maldivian island of Feeali. We learned about what they do, and toured the island. The boats below are tuna fishing boats. They leave at 10PM and come back at 10AM with TONS of large tuna. That appears to be the largest source of income on the island, although they must be paid very little. It is extremely hot and humid year-round and these houses do not have A/C. Think Houston summer year-round with no A/C. Plus, the religion is mainly Islam so the women are fully covered. I am not sure how they do it.
Original walls on the island were made of coral. It is now illegal to take coral from the ocean so these are old walls. The tree is an extremely old banyan tree... it was very pretty and the coolest spot on the island, haha!
A ton of HUGE fruit bats live in this tree (right). We were SO hot and ready to get back on the boat at this point. We had lunch, and then stopped between islands on the way back for snorkeling. All of the snorkeling and scuba in the Maldives is amazing.
When we got back to the resort we did a little more snorkeling on the house reef. We were definitely blessed to be able to just hop into the water and have such a nice reef right there! Most islands aren't that way!
After that, we showered and then headed to the sunset bar to get a table and watch sunset. Kyle enjoyed a cigar. :) I don't know about you, but I could DEFINITELY get used to this view regularly....
We started with the inhabited Maldivian island of Feeali. We learned about what they do, and toured the island. The boats below are tuna fishing boats. They leave at 10PM and come back at 10AM with TONS of large tuna. That appears to be the largest source of income on the island, although they must be paid very little. It is extremely hot and humid year-round and these houses do not have A/C. Think Houston summer year-round with no A/C. Plus, the religion is mainly Islam so the women are fully covered. I am not sure how they do it.
Pre-School building is above. Weekdays in the Maldives are Sunday-Thursday. Friday and Saturday are weekends, so the kids were actually in school when we were visiting. There is a newer (and nicer) school that was built and gifted from Japanese government on the island as well. It has all of the grades at that location. The primary language taught is English, but they can pretty much learn any other language as well.
The island hospital (below). There is one doctor and 3 nurses working here. They are closed on Friday and Saturday, so you cannot get sick on those days. Or else you will have to find a [very expensive] way to Male or somewhere else with available care.
Original walls on the island were made of coral. It is now illegal to take coral from the ocean so these are old walls. The tree is an extremely old banyan tree... it was very pretty and the coolest spot on the island, haha!
A ton of HUGE fruit bats live in this tree (right). We were SO hot and ready to get back on the boat at this point. We had lunch, and then stopped between islands on the way back for snorkeling. All of the snorkeling and scuba in the Maldives is amazing. 
Maldives: 3/9/19
Today we had our check dive in the morning on the house reef. They just verified our weights and performed all the dive checks. Divers with over 40 dives logged are able to dive as you please (as long as you have a buddy) on the house reef. It costs money each time (A LOT of money), so we chose to make 6 total dives when we were here. 2 on the boat and 4 on the house reef. The fish and the reefs here are fantastic. They have some beautiful coral and the trigger fish are some of the prettiest varieties I've ever seen! Highlight of this dive was the turtle we saw!
After the first dive, I was still pretty exhausted so, instead of another dive, we chose to hit up the pool for the afternoon. The pool is at the Sunset Bar and has a swim up bar, and is an infinity pool overlooking the beautiful ocean. There we saw PJ (short for Peter John in your very best French accent) and Kate, another couple who had arrived the same time as us yesterday. We had a ton of fun talking to them and getting to know them! PJ and Kyle actually do the exact same thing (work wise), just different industries. Funny!
We ended up having way too much to drink and passed out early, haha!
After the first dive, I was still pretty exhausted so, instead of another dive, we chose to hit up the pool for the afternoon. The pool is at the Sunset Bar and has a swim up bar, and is an infinity pool overlooking the beautiful ocean. There we saw PJ (short for Peter John in your very best French accent) and Kate, another couple who had arrived the same time as us yesterday. We had a ton of fun talking to them and getting to know them! PJ and Kyle actually do the exact same thing (work wise), just different industries. Funny!
Travel to Maldives: 3/8/19
Today we traveled from Delhi to Filitheyo Resort in the Maldives. First, a flight to Male with a stop in southern India. When we got to Male we had to wait a few hours for another plane to arrive which had passengers who would be on the same sea plane to Filitheyo as us. The sea plane was very neat. I did a time lapse video which you can watch here:Sea Plane: Male to Filitheyo
It also includes the boat portion of the trip. Of course on the plane my side had a long stretch with nothing but ocean below where as on Kyle's side of the sea plane there are islands most all of the ride. I'll do another one on the way back to Male from that side to compare. As you can see though, the Maldives are BEAUTIFUL. There are roughly ~1200 islands in the Indian Ocean that make up the Maldives. Most are uninhabited. Male is the main island (and capital), which is pictured to the left. There are islands everywhere, and the water is turquoise and clear. And the perfect water temperature, too. We chose Filitheyo mainly because of the deal presented to us, but also it has one of the best house reefs of all the islands which is perfect for us divers!
Filitheyo International airport... a small platform in the ocean, LOL.
By the time we got checked into our rooms and such, we were exhausted after being picked up at 2AM to leave Delhi. We opted to take a "cat nap" before dinner and didn't wake up until 11PM then went back to sleep. Opps!
Delhi: 3/7/19
Getting a bit sad as today was our last day in India. Tomorrow morning we head to the Maldives. I think it is important to note how much India exceeded our expectations. We had a couple of misconceptions coming in, and our hopes were completely blown away. The people are so nice here (and no, they do not smell, hehe). Everyone we came in contact with made an impact on us. There is A LOT of poverty; the level is very difficult to experience and see. It is also hard seeing all the stray dogs everywhere. But Kyle and I both have so many wonderful takeaways from this country.
Our driving extraordinaire, Tarun... he deserves a ton of credit. We absolutely could not have navigated India without him. We hope we provided him some good laughs along the way, too.
So today we had all day in Delhi. Delhi is the capital and 2nd largest city in India. There are between 16 and 20 million people living in Delhi (there are people everywhere). We started with Old Delhi and moved to New Delhi. Old Delhi was built by Shah Jahan (go figure!). First place we went to was a mosque built by him, Jama Masjid. Kyle and I both had to cover up more to go in. The Muslim mosque can fit ~25,000 worshipers at one time in it's courtyard.
Next we hired a rickshaw driver to take us through the Chandani Chowk Market. The traffic in this area is insane. Funny thing is that most shops don't open until 10AM and we were there at 9AM, so most shops weren't even open. Our guide said we had to go there early because if not, we would spend far too long there as it would take forever to get in and out making it hard to see everything we wanted to see in Delhi. We ended up buying some teas and spices in the market, although you could find just about ANYTHING there. One thing I noticed is that the people actually live in these shops. Everyone that was opening up early were also packing up their bed areas. I asked later if this was considered "slums" and they said no. Maybe that gives you some indication into the poverty levels. Below is a link to a video I uploaded from a time-lapse of the rickshaw ride, as well as pictures from the market.
Old Delhi Chowk Market Rickshaw Ride
Next up- India Gate. It is a memorial in New Delhi to 70,000 soldiers of the British Indian Army who died in World War I. ~13,300 of the servicemen’s names are inscribed on the gate. It is taller than the arc-de-triomphe in Paris.
After that we went to Humayun's Tomb. It is the location of the tomb of 2nd Mughal Emperor, Humayun. Humayun was the grandfather of Shah Jahan. The tomb was commissioned by Humayun's wife, Empress Bega Begum. Both of his wives as well as his 3 daughters tombs are there as well. In fact, apparently there are 120 bodies in and around the complex... some are known family members, and others have no information. It is another UNESCO World Heritage site and was actually built before the Taj Mahal. If you look closely, you will see many similarities between the two structures.
Last stop before lunch was the Lotus Temple. It is a Bahá'í house of worship. For those unaware of the Bahá'í faith, it basically takes pieces from many religions and teaches unity of God, religion and humanity and equality of all people. It is a very cool temple where all religions are invited. It was built in 1986, and looks similar to the Sydney opera house. It has 8 pools surrounding it because the lotus flower grows in water. No pictures allowed inside the temple or information center.
Next we had lunch at an amazing place that we cannot remember the name of. It had an excellent ambiance (giant TVs with cricket playing, great music), yummy drinks and delicious food!!! They even have a gold statue of Michael Jackson! We were full and happy when we left!
Our last major stop for the day was to Qutub Minar. It is yet another UNESCO World Heritage site. The highlight was a 5 sections tall minaret. ~240 feet tall with a spiral staircase of 379 steps. The tallest brick structure in the world.
Our driving extraordinaire, Tarun... he deserves a ton of credit. We absolutely could not have navigated India without him. We hope we provided him some good laughs along the way, too.
So today we had all day in Delhi. Delhi is the capital and 2nd largest city in India. There are between 16 and 20 million people living in Delhi (there are people everywhere). We started with Old Delhi and moved to New Delhi. Old Delhi was built by Shah Jahan (go figure!). First place we went to was a mosque built by him, Jama Masjid. Kyle and I both had to cover up more to go in. The Muslim mosque can fit ~25,000 worshipers at one time in it's courtyard.
Next we hired a rickshaw driver to take us through the Chandani Chowk Market. The traffic in this area is insane. Funny thing is that most shops don't open until 10AM and we were there at 9AM, so most shops weren't even open. Our guide said we had to go there early because if not, we would spend far too long there as it would take forever to get in and out making it hard to see everything we wanted to see in Delhi. We ended up buying some teas and spices in the market, although you could find just about ANYTHING there. One thing I noticed is that the people actually live in these shops. Everyone that was opening up early were also packing up their bed areas. I asked later if this was considered "slums" and they said no. Maybe that gives you some indication into the poverty levels. Below is a link to a video I uploaded from a time-lapse of the rickshaw ride, as well as pictures from the market.
Old Delhi Chowk Market Rickshaw Ride
Next up- India Gate. It is a memorial in New Delhi to 70,000 soldiers of the British Indian Army who died in World War I. ~13,300 of the servicemen’s names are inscribed on the gate. It is taller than the arc-de-triomphe in Paris.
Next we had lunch at an amazing place that we cannot remember the name of. It had an excellent ambiance (giant TVs with cricket playing, great music), yummy drinks and delicious food!!! They even have a gold statue of Michael Jackson! We were full and happy when we left!
Our last major stop for the day was to Qutub Minar. It is yet another UNESCO World Heritage site. The highlight was a 5 sections tall minaret. ~240 feet tall with a spiral staircase of 379 steps. The tallest brick structure in the world.
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