The Maldives

We four friends after our trip to Uzbekistan, decided to go to Maldive Islands. We all are senior citizen and so we did not go there with idea of Diving. It was just a visit for pleasure - Maldive is famous for it’s fancy hotels.

Our hotel had a very big swimming pool and four different restaurants , esp. for Italian and Chinese food.

I did not enter water but the other three ladies did try swimming and got into water close to our building. It was very rough so we all decided to use swimming pool. They offered a boat journey around other Islands , but after covid nobody was allowed to get down at any of the islands.

I an writing about this trip because  as soon as my Grand daughter heard about my visit she was so excited that on her next visit to Mumbai, going to Maldive was a must because  she came all prepared with taking diving lessons and Certified. So we three of us, me my daughter and younger Grand daughter went Maldive to an another lovely Island recommended for diving facilities. The very next year both Grand daughter came with certificate for diving. This would be my third visit. They went for very last visit as I was not wanting to travel that far again and just sit there.

Maldive has a large group of Islands. Each island is tip of an Atoll. An atoll is a ring-shaped coral island or chain of small islands surrounding a lagoon.

Imagine the process over a very long time:

1. A volcanic island rises from the ocean floor.

2. Coral reefs begin growing around the island in the warm tropical sea.

3. Over thousands or millions of years, the volcanic island slowly sinks.

4. The coral continues growing upward toward sunlight.

5. Eventually, the original volcano disappears beneath the sea, leaving a ring of coral islands surrounding a central lagoon. The result is an atoll.

The Maldives is made up of about 26 major natural atolls and over a thousand islands, most of which are tiny pieces of land sitting on top of coral reefs. The islands that visitors stay on are often just the exposed tips of these coral structures.

Maldives is one of the world's best examples of an atoll nation. When you fly over the Maldives, you can often see the circular or oval shapes of the atolls from the air—bright turquoise lagoons enclosed by rings of reefs and small islands.

One fascinating thing about the Maldives is that it is made up of coral atolls—rings of islands surrounding lagoons. From the air, they look almost unreal. As you observed, many reefs descend quite steeply into deep ocean water, which is one reason the Maldives became famous among divers. While I admired the beauty of the turquoise lagoons and coral islands, my granddaughters explored a different Maldives beneath the water. Equipped with diving certificates, they experienced a world of fish and coral that remained hidden from me. Watching their excitement gave me as much pleasure as seeing the islands themselves.

My first visit was not about diving. But all three visits for them were at the same resort.

Modern recreational diving became possible in 1943 when Jacques-Yves Cousteau and engineer Émile Gagnan developed the Aqua-Lung, allowing divers to carry their own air supply underwater. Their invention opened a new world for explorers, scientists, and ordinary travellers. Many decades later, my granddaughters enjoyed the same underwater world in the Maldives, equipped with modern versions of the equipment pioneered by these two Frenchmen.”

The person most closely associated with modern diving is Jacques-Yves Cousteau. During the 1940s, he worked with Émile Gagnan to develop the Aqua-Lung, the first practical self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA).

Before their invention, divers were usually connected to the surface by hoses that supplied air. Cousteau and Gagnan created a regulator that allowed a diver to carry compressed air in tanks and breathe naturally underwater. This invention, introduced in 1943, transformed underwater exploration. Cousteau did more than invent equipment. He spent much of his life exploring the oceans, making films, writing books, and showing people the beauty of the underwater world. Many Maldivian islands are very flat. Unlike volcanic islands such as Santorini, they have no mountains because the original volcanoes are far below the surface of the ocean.

For a nature lover like me, there is something remarkable about the Maldives. The islands are not mountains rising from the sea; they are living structures built by countless tiny coral animals over immense spans of time. In a sense, the country itself is a creation of coral reefs.

I visited the Maldives three times. Unlike many of my other journeys, these visits were not about history, temples, or mountains. The attraction of the Maldives lay in its natural beauty.

The islands seemed to float on the sea, surrounded by clear blue water. The colours of the ocean changed with the light, ranging from pale turquoise near the shore to deep blue farther away. The beaches were peaceful, and the rhythm of life appeared much slower than in large cities.

What I remember most is the beauty of the sea. The Maldives offered a different kind of landscape from the forests, mountains, and historic sites that I had enjoyed in many other countries. Here, the sea itself was the main attraction.

Having visited the Maldives more than once, I was able to appreciate its unique charm. The memories of those islands remain pleasant and peaceful, reminding me of the beauty that he history of diving and Jacques-Yves Cousteau, nature can create with little more than water, sky, and sand.

Comparing with Lakshadweep

Lakshadweep is also made up largely of coral atolls, lagoons, and reefs. Like the Maldives, the islands are low-lying and surrounded by turquoise water.

In fact, geologists consider Lakshadweep and the Maldives to be part of the same broad chain of coral formations in the Indian Ocean. Both owe their existence to coral reefs growing on submerged volcanic structures over very long periods.

Bangaram, which i visited, is one of the most beautiful examples. It is a tiny coral island encircled by a lagoon, very much in the atoll tradition.

There are, however, some differences that travelers often notice:

• The Maldives has a much larger number of islands spread over a greater distance.

• Many Maldivian resorts occupy entire islands and are designed specifically for international tourism.

• Lakshadweep tends to feel quieter, less developed, and more closely connected to local island life.

• Bangaram is often praised for its natural beauty and relatively unspoiled atmosphere.

Bangaram and the Maldives

I visited the Maldives three times and was greatly impressed by its lagoons and clear blue waters. Yet, if I compare those visits with my experience at Bangaram in Lakshadweep, I find that Bangaram left a deeper impression on me. At the time I visited, there was very little luxury. The attraction was the island's natural beauty. We would go out in a small, simple boat and then jump into the sea, swimming among brightly coloured fish. The experience felt close to nature and untouched by excessive development.

I remember hearing that Bangaram was also a favourite retreat of Rajiv Gandhi and his family because of its privacy and beauty. That did not matter much to me at the time. What remained in my memory was the island itself—the clear water, the coral reefs, the fish, and the feeling of being surrounded by nature.

The Maldives is world-famous, but my personal preference remains Bangaram. Its beauty seemed more natural and unspoiled, and the memories of that small island have stayed with me for many years.

The boat journeys in the Maldives were often peaceful and uneventful. We spent long periods surrounded by sea, with little to see except the water and the distant islands.

One small incident remains in my memory. My younger granddaughter caught an ordinary fish while we were out on a boat. It was not a rare catch, nor was it a dramatic fishing expedition, but it added a touch of excitement to an otherwise quiet journey. Sometimes it is these small family moments that stay in one's memory longer than the famous attractions.