Today we visited the Maldives, a new country for us.

Malé is the capital and most populous city of the Maldives. It has a population of 211,908 in 2022 in a coterminous geographical area of 8.30 square kilometers (3.20 sq mi)  that makes Malé one of the most densely populated cities in the world.  Walking around its narrow streets emphasized that point to me.  The buildings are generally in good shape, solid looking and about 5 to 8 stories tall but the streets are so narrow you feel enclosed by the buildings.  The streets were in good shape and clean, but there were so many motorcycles parked along the sidewalks so densely that I had to walk to the end of the block before I could cross the street.  

I mainly saw shops which seem to carry everything one could need- nice furniture, electronics, etc.  It appeared relatively affluent.   Further research later indicated that the average monthly net salary in the Maldives is approximately MVR 14,700–15,000 (roughly USD 950–970).   In the capital city of Male', lower-income households earn around MVR 7,000 monthly, while wealthier households can exceed MVR 50,000 (top 20%).  Average gross salaries are generally higher, around MVR 19,200. Bottomline, I was surprised that the income numbers weren’t a bit higher given what was on offer in the stores and the quality of the buildings and streets.

The city is geographically located in the southern edge of North Malé Atoll (Kaafu Atoll).  The city consists of a central island, an airport island, and five other islands.  

The whole island group, the Maldives, is named after its capital. The word "Maldives" means "the islands (dives) of Malé".   

The Maldives in total consists of 1,192 coral islands grouped in a double chain of 26 atolls, that stretch along a length of 871 kilometres (541 miles) north to south, 130 kilometres (81 miles) east to west, spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometres (35,000 sq mi), of which only 298 km2 (115 sq mi) is dry land, making this one of the world's most dispersed countries.  Given the limited amount of dry land it is the smallest country in Asia.

With a population of 515,132 in the 2022 census, it is the second least populous country in Asia and the ninth-smallest country by area, but also one of the most densely populated countries.

The Maldives has an average ground-level elevation of around 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) above sea level, and a highest natural point of only 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in), making it the world's lowest-lying country. 

The Maldives, in summary, has many unique/ standout attributes.

Other points of note, 

·      Islam has played a central role in the city's history since 1153 CE, when the Maldives converted from Buddhism to Islam under the influence of North African traders and missionaries.  No alcohol is allowed in Male however it is available at the island resorts.

·      Tourism is the largest industry in the Maldives, accounting for 28% of GDP and more than 60% of the Maldives' foreign exchange receipts.

·      In 1972 the country had 2 resorts. Now they estimate there are 150+ resort islands in the country.  

·      The official and national language is Dhivehi, an Indo-Aryan language closely related to the Sinhala language of Sri Lanka. 

·      The country has 97% literacy rate.

Our agenda began with a boat trip from our boat to shore to catch another boat.  The snorkeling boat took us out about 30 minutes to snorkel in front of the Sheraton resort, and then we moved 15 minutes to snorkel in front of the Kurumba Maldives, the oldest resort in the Maldives (it opened in 1972, and our guide said it then charged about 15 USD per night, now he said it is 10,000 USD per night).  As we headed out to the first stop one of the staff fell off the back of the boat and almost got left behind.  We turned around to pick him up and the rest of the staff gave him a good laughing razz for his misadventure. 

The water was a beautiful clear crystal blue.  The reefs are near the surface so were mostly bleached white.  There were many small, aquarium size fish we saw.   A few people caught a glimpse of a turtle, but we missed that.  At the second dive location the fish were a little bigger but there was less sunlight given the deeper water so it was more difficult to see.   It was a very pleasant experience, though we preferred our snorkeling in Bora Bora last year.

Back on shore David headed to the ship while I took a short walk around and checked out the neighborhood, which were mainly ground floor shops with apartments above.  In the middle of a summer rain shower I also stopped for exterior photos of The Grand Friday Mosque.  It was opened in 1985 and holds 5,000 worshippers.  

While very nice, we take Maldives as a place to rest in one of the resorts, as once you arrive at one of the islands you are pretty much a captive audience.  We question the need to travel across the world to find a paradise when there might be one closer to home.

That night, after sailing away, we stepped out on the terrace where we found the sky full of stars.  We miss this in our light polluted big cities.  It was magical.