The Maldives was my dream. Looking at the amazing landscapes in the photographs, I dreamed and dreamed and finally decided that nothing is impossible if you really want to. It took me a long time to choose a hotel. I wanted a small green island with a good house reef and detached bungalows. Madugali Island is just like that, its dimensions are 400x200 meters.
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The Maldives was my dream. Looking at the amazing landscapes in the photographs, I dreamed and dreamed and finally decided that nothing is impossible if you really want to. It took me a long time to choose a hotel. I wanted a small green island with a good house reef and detached bungalows. Madugali Island is just like that, its dimensions are 400x200 meters. Everything is just immersed in greenery! We traveled together with my daughter, 5 years old, for a week, from January 26 to February 2.2013.
1) Tour operator Pegasus. We saw the representative of Pegasus only once - when we flew to Male. And in Male we were in for a pleasant surprise. The fact is that when we ordered a tour (on-line), it was indicated in the description of the tour package that the transfer was by boat. To be honest, because of this moment, we almost abandoned this option. They called Pegasus, clarified whether it was possible to change it with a surcharge for a seaplane, they said that it was impossible.
And so, upon arrival in Male, we were very happy to learn that the transfer would still be by seaplane. And the second point related to Pegasus. When we flew back from Male to Moscow, we were completely unexpectedly and free of charge replaced our economy class with a business class. Thanks Pegasus!
2) Now directly about the island. To be honest, I fell in love with this island. This is exactly the ideal that I dreamed of! Small in size, very green, sea with sand - well, just magical! ! ! I really regretted that I took only a week, I have to go for at least 10 days, and even better for 2 weeks, although this may not be enough! There are no water villas, all houses are detached. We lived in house number 4. Opposite it, a passage was cut to the outer wall of the reef. I didn’t swim there, I looked at corals and fish nearby, photographed them with an underwater camera. .
Shortly before departure, I wrote a letter to the hotel with our dates of arrival / departure and a request to give a house from 10 to 30 rooms (I read in one of the reviews that there is the best location). As a result, our house seemed to me the best: a great beach, close to a restaurant / bar / reception (everything is in one place). Then they went around the island, looked at the numbers: somewhere up to 28 houses - the beach is excellent everywhere! And then (from the 30th to the 54th) - not very much. . Between the house and the beach there is like a small cliff, sometimes you can’t climb ...Yes, and entering the sea is sometimes impossible there because of large stones. By location - about 26-27 houses are at the maximum distance from the restaurant, the first and 52-54th are the closest. Along all the houses there is a circular path around the island. There is sand on all the paths around the island, we never put on shoes for the whole week, we only walked barefoot! From living creatures there are many small birds that run like chickens.
My daughter was happy to feed them with a bun right from her hands. There are lizards, crows, rabbits. But the most interesting, exciting for both me and my daughter is, of course, the fish! I had never snorkeled before. And here, right next to the shore, there are corals along with a variety of fish - well, such a beauty, for the first time I almost suffocated with delight! For hours you can swim, view, take pictures and not get bored! At first, my daughter was a little afraid to dive, then she liked to look at the fish. However, she never managed to swim with a snorkel. She also really liked to feed the fish with buns. At breakfast, we took a few pieces and gave a little bit. So many fish came to feed! Even fish Napoleon got into the habit, it is big, orange, I have it in my photo album. She has a real jaw with teeth. Once she even bit me when I tried to hand feed her.
The rooms are good and big.
The minibar has water, cola, fanta, beer, wine, nuts, but it is paid, and very expensive. For example, a bottle of cola 0.3 - $ 6, a can of beer 0.3 - $ 7. There is tea, coffee, sugar - for free. Cleaned 2 times a day, and cleaned only in our absence. Beach towels are changed every day in the morning, they are placed on a bench near the entrance to the house. I left tips once a day - 1-2 dollars. The staff is very friendly, always smiling and saying hello. The restaurant fixes a table and a waiter. We took only breakfast and dinner, because the money was too expensive for us (150 thousand rubles). They got along fine without lunch. Helped out breakfast buns. I am not picky about food. For me, everything was delicious and varied. And my daughter found something to eat. On my birthday, which fell during the rest period, they festively decorated the table for me, brought a cake at the end of dinner. And when we returned to the room, a very beautifully decorated bed was waiting for us there.
It was very nice!
As for holidays with children. Before the trip, many people told me that a child of that age would be bored there, that she needed something like Turkey with its slides and animation. I took a risk and went. My daughter was absolutely not bored! On the beach they fed the fish, collected shells, swam, dived, looked at corrals and fish in glasses, sunbathed. She really liked walking through the jungle, just walking and looking at this beauty! Moreover, there are a lot of living creatures: either a bird will run, or a lizard. So who doubts whether to go there with children or not, don't even think about it! The child will be interested in it!
We didn’t go on excursions and it seems to me that no one went, because at the reception every day they posted sheets with the names of excursions, where it was necessary to enter the names and number of the house in order to recruit the required number of people for the excursion, no one entered. Of all the entertainment - at 19.
00 on the pier is feeding sharks and rays, and at 21.00 - some event (disco, crab racing), but we did not go, went to bed early.
In general, we really liked everything! We dream of visiting this paradise island again someday!
1) Tour operator Pegasus. We saw the representative of Pegasus only once - when we flew to Male. And in Male we were in for a pleasant surprise. The fact is that when we ordered a tour (on-line), it was indicated in the description of the tour package that the transfer was by boat. To be honest, because of this moment, we almost abandoned this option. They called Pegasus, clarified whether it was possible to change it with a surcharge for a seaplane, they said that it was impossible.
And so, upon arrival in Male, we were very happy to learn that the transfer would still be by seaplane. And the second point related to Pegasus. When we flew back from Male to Moscow, we were completely unexpectedly and free of charge replaced our economy class with a business class. Thanks Pegasus!
2) Now directly about the island. To be honest, I fell in love with this island. This is exactly the ideal that I dreamed of! Small in size, very green, sea with sand - well, just magical! ! ! I really regretted that I took only a week, I have to go for at least 10 days, and even better for 2 weeks, although this may not be enough! There are no water villas, all houses are detached. We lived in house number 4. Opposite it, a passage was cut to the outer wall of the reef. I didn’t swim there, I looked at corals and fish nearby, photographed them with an underwater camera. .
Shortly before departure, I wrote a letter to the hotel with our dates of arrival / departure and a request to give a house from 10 to 30 rooms (I read in one of the reviews that there is the best location). As a result, our house seemed to me the best: a great beach, close to a restaurant / bar / reception (everything is in one place). Then they went around the island, looked at the numbers: somewhere up to 28 houses - the beach is excellent everywhere! And then (from the 30th to the 54th) - not very much. . Between the house and the beach there is like a small cliff, sometimes you can’t climb ...Yes, and entering the sea is sometimes impossible there because of large stones. By location - about 26-27 houses are at the maximum distance from the restaurant, the first and 52-54th are the closest. Along all the houses there is a circular path around the island. There is sand on all the paths around the island, we never put on shoes for the whole week, we only walked barefoot! From living creatures there are many small birds that run like chickens.
My daughter was happy to feed them with a bun right from her hands. There are lizards, crows, rabbits. But the most interesting, exciting for both me and my daughter is, of course, the fish! I had never snorkeled before. And here, right next to the shore, there are corals along with a variety of fish - well, such a beauty, for the first time I almost suffocated with delight! For hours you can swim, view, take pictures and not get bored! At first, my daughter was a little afraid to dive, then she liked to look at the fish. However, she never managed to swim with a snorkel. She also really liked to feed the fish with buns. At breakfast, we took a few pieces and gave a little bit. So many fish came to feed! Even fish Napoleon got into the habit, it is big, orange, I have it in my photo album. She has a real jaw with teeth. Once she even bit me when I tried to hand feed her.
The rooms are good and big.
The minibar has water, cola, fanta, beer, wine, nuts, but it is paid, and very expensive. For example, a bottle of cola 0.3 - $ 6, a can of beer 0.3 - $ 7. There is tea, coffee, sugar - for free. Cleaned 2 times a day, and cleaned only in our absence. Beach towels are changed every day in the morning, they are placed on a bench near the entrance to the house. I left tips once a day - 1-2 dollars. The staff is very friendly, always smiling and saying hello. The restaurant fixes a table and a waiter. We took only breakfast and dinner, because the money was too expensive for us (150 thousand rubles). They got along fine without lunch. Helped out breakfast buns. I am not picky about food. For me, everything was delicious and varied. And my daughter found something to eat. On my birthday, which fell during the rest period, they festively decorated the table for me, brought a cake at the end of dinner. And when we returned to the room, a very beautifully decorated bed was waiting for us there.
It was very nice!
As for holidays with children. Before the trip, many people told me that a child of that age would be bored there, that she needed something like Turkey with its slides and animation. I took a risk and went. My daughter was absolutely not bored! On the beach they fed the fish, collected shells, swam, dived, looked at corrals and fish in glasses, sunbathed. She really liked walking through the jungle, just walking and looking at this beauty! Moreover, there are a lot of living creatures: either a bird will run, or a lizard. So who doubts whether to go there with children or not, don't even think about it! The child will be interested in it!
We didn’t go on excursions and it seems to me that no one went, because at the reception every day they posted sheets with the names of excursions, where it was necessary to enter the names and number of the house in order to recruit the required number of people for the excursion, no one entered. Of all the entertainment - at 19.
00 on the pier is feeding sharks and rays, and at 21.00 - some event (disco, crab racing), but we did not go, went to bed early.
In general, we really liked everything! We dream of visiting this paradise island again someday!
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Madugali Island 4* January 2010, departure from Kyiv. About the tour operator and a bit about the transfer. It seems that ALL tour operators trading in the Maldives have set a rule for themselves: to divorce a tourist, well, at least $ 500 per person. Last year I was going to have a rest with the help of the Zagorje company.
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Madugali Island 4*
January 2010, departure from Kyiv.
About the tour operator and a bit about the transfer.
It seems that ALL tour operators trading in the Maldives have set a rule for themselves: to divorce a tourist, well, at least $ 500 per person. Last year I was going to have a rest with the help of the Zagorje company. Buying a tour vividly reminded an old Jewish joke about selling glasses (- These glasses cost ten rubles. - Good. - But this is for each glass. - Well, okay. - Yes, I forgot to tell you the price of their frames ... ) Supermanager for the Maldivian direction D Volnov, deigning to listen to my humble request to provide the opportunity to purchase a tour to the island of Velamenda, a few days later, after 2 reminders by phone, charged such a price that the price of Teztur, though with an inconvenient flight through Moscow, turned out to be much lower. But I would especially like to note the divorce with the transfer. The transfer table was found on the website of the same Teztur.
Zagorye charged a transfer: a seaplane is more expensive and said that it was one way. In short, the cost of the transfer turned out to be almost equal to the cost of the flight Kyiv - Male. Well, in the end, for a number of reasons (including this impudent divorce) my vacation in the Maldives in 2009 did not take place.
Armed with the experience of last year's searches, having gone through and-no, I decided to contact the Kyiv branch of "Maldiviana". Three young ladies (the young lady director has never seen, probably, well, a very busy person) work tirelessly in this company. True, as a rule, they do not come to work before the beginning of the eleventh. Young lady Yana took care of me, young lady Sveta, as I understand it, is mainly engaged in flights. This time my choice was on the island of Madugali - smaller and more comfortable than Velamendu. There are no special complaints about the work of the branch.
Yana, having thrown a couple of tens of dollars on the price lists from the website of the Moscow Maldivian, slowly started booking the tour. Tickets booked, hotel confirmed, tour paid. Hooray. Let's fly. But a small cloud (although by nature I am not a greedy person) was the question: why a transfer to Madugali (60km) costs $480, and a transfer to Sun Island (120km) $125. Let me explain the idea: a transfer by seaplane (in Maldivian by air taxi, I would say on an air bus) goes like this: 15 people (five rows of seats 1 + 2) and their luggage are stuffed into a plane of the "Corn" type on water skis and their luggage, then they are transported to route around the islands, the first stop we had was Madugali, the flight was 25 minutes, then the plane flew to 2 more islands. As far as I saw a plane with two passengers never took off, everyone was loaded to capacity.
Bottom line: if time permits, knowledge of the language and the skills to work online BOOK THE FLIGHT AND HOTEL YOURSELF: firstly, it will be cheaper, and secondly, there will be fewer clouds. The Maldives is a VISA FREE COUNTRY.
About flights and airports.
Kyiv - Dubai - Boeing UIA (as in the old Zhiguli)
Dubai - Colombo - Male - Airbus Sri Lankan Airlines (like a Mercedes)
Docking in Dubai is 4 and a half hours. Service is great. According to the arrows - transit - to any registration window, when there are three people in line - sir, please go to the next window. The airport itself (it was the first time) impressed with its size. We arrived at gate 102, and having nothing to do, I made it to gate 320. Well, as for me, excessive gilding and pomposity are everywhere, but the Arabs cannot do without it. The limited number of smoking places strained me: going into the smoking room, in which twenty smoking Chinese have been sitting compactly for an hour, I want to immediately quit smoking forever.
There was only one cafe with smoking visitors in the entire airport, somewhere at the 240th gate. True, they don’t make coffee in it, I had to drink cognac.
Colombo airport is more familiar. In my opinion, a little more than Borispol. A vigilant Sri Lankan customs officer forced me to take off my belt and sneakers (either a man-hater or flirting with a big white sahib, I did not understand).
Male airport. I didn’t really see it: on a separate island, small, one runway (the plane comes in for landing from the ocean, it’s beautiful). A stern Maldivian customs officer lazily commanded the loading of suitcases onto an X-ray tape. But, as soon as she heard Russian speech, she soared like a bird to the TV screen, before that the place at the screen was empty, her colleague at that time was wooling some Sri Lankans with a box of something seemingly alcoholic.
Tucked away in the suitcases, one per suitcase, the flat iron flasks of cognac aroused no suspicion in her, perhaps because of their non-industrial volume.
About the meeting, transfer and islands "not-buns".
At the exit from the airport, several racks of tour operators and a girl, Yulia, a representative of the Maldivians, were found with a sign. She escorted us to the seaplane check-in counter. There we weighed ALL luggage, including hand luggage (per person can be no more than 25 kg. ) and received boarding tickets for the seaplane. Then, after a quick briefing and parting words to us - call if anything, the staff on the island does not understand Russian, Yulia put us in a bus that was going to the air taxi pier and left. We didn't see her again.
Air taxis operate from three companies, respectively, aircraft and buses are painted in the same color. Ours was red. 10 minutes drive along the sea.
Upon exiting the bus into the open waiting room, at the information desk, we found out that our departure was in an hour or so (there are boards everywhere with flight numbers, time and berth number A / B / C). Time passed quickly: normal coffee from a local bar, a couple of dozen photos, and here we are.
We were the last to be let into the seaplane, which is quite reasonable - after all, we were the first to go out. Takeoff. The plane buzzes tolerably, but a couple of Italian madams used ear plugs. Until we gained altitude in the cabin, it was significantly hot (who remembers how to sit in an old railway car on a summer day), add very high humidity, then turn on the air conditioner - you feel better.
A few years ago, some enthusiastic lady launched a review on i-no with "...a wonderful view from the airplane window, these islands-buns ... ". Well, the islands do not look like plushies, for the life of me. The view is of course amazing: the ocean, a green island with a golden rim of sand. It doesn't look like plushies!
Island and staff.
Madugali Island has the shape of an ellipse stretched from east to west. Dimensions about 300 by 100 meters. The Madugali Island Airport is a 5 x 8 meter raft hooked onto a reef in the middle between two islands, about a kilometer from each. Nearby hangs the same raft - for the neighboring island. After splashing down, a boat with four aborigines with gloomy mugs moored at the airport (not otherwise cannibals ...we thought). They got us safely to shore. About the meeting personally with the manager with armfuls of flowers - a lie. One of the natives took us to the reception; on the way, in bad English, he told a learned lesson about the daily routine on the island. Hot towels and cold juice, however, with some delay, took place. There is a no-smoking sign at the reception. This place and the restaurant are two points on the island where smoking is not recommended, but if you want, you can.
The joyful porter told us that “for such dear guests” they prepared No. 3. Armed with knowledge from the Internet, we expressed a desire to get Nos. 30 to 40. By the way, the map of the island was removed from the wall behind the reception desk. As a compromise, we were offered a "very good room" No. 23. The room is good, spacious, everything works, the bed is 2 x 2.5 meters, the toilet is not in the garden. BUT WIND. We went to the Maldives to feel the heat, and not to Hurghada with a cold wind, without windbreak fences. After sitting on the terrace in the evening, smoking a cigarette and listening to the ocean, you freeze a little. From the wind (and a direct view of the ocean), the terrace is closed by a strip of palm trees and bushes about five meters, but from the passages made in it to the beach, it is pretty blowing. The island is designed for different wind times. Numbers from 1 to 31 are terraced to the west - there is no wind in summer, and numbers from 32 to 56 - to the east, there is no wind in winter. Numbers 1 to 15 do not have a sandy beach, stones and a reef are immediately behind the palm trees.
At number 3, a passage was cut through the coral, 50 meters and 2-3 meters wide. In other places, it is very difficult to get to the wall at low tide without getting skinned. From number 20 there is a sandy beach, but at number 30 the sun sets behind the palm trees at three o'clock, add the wind. There is practically no wind from No. 32, the beach is 5-10 meters wide. All this, of course, applies only to the winter season (read the school course about monsoons and trade winds). Yes, near number 42, a pipe with a diameter of 30 centimeters is led into the water, beyond the reef. I think there is a specific smell. Draw your own conclusions. And people swim with children too.
As a result, after several conversations at the reception and assurances that “after the tumors” you will definitely move to the sunny and calm side, we got room 32, which we were completely satisfied with (although the room was shabbier than the previous one and the Italians who lived there before us bred cockroaches in the tables, but that doesn't scare us. ) By the way, the Japanese-like girl-leader, with whom I had a chance to talk about the resettlement, Russian, at least understands, and maybe she knows it perfectly, but obviously, for the purpose of secrecy, she decided not to advertise it (perhaps mishandled). Separately, I want to talk about Ali's "housekipper", as it was presented. The janitor in No. 23 was a humble Bangladeshi who was happy to have a dollar left for him and occasionally, with the words "coco ser", brought a coconut. But in No. 32, the Maldivian Ali began by saying that for the Maldives, 1 dollar is not money.
When asked how much you earn per month, he modestly did not answer. The next day, the beach towels that this bloodsucker brought to our room were at least made of rags (it seemed that Ali had them specially stocked for obstinate foreigners). On a call to the reception, the towels were replaced immediately. Ali did not try to make friends anymore, although he cleaned up regularly. His insidious plan was revealed on the day of departure. This beetle rode up to the pier at five in the morning and brought an additional bill for the minibar so that he would be paid on the spot. There were still about forty minutes before departure, and I was not too lazy to walk as much as 50 meters to the reception in order to bring the villain to clean water. It turns out that this capitalist has been working on the island in the field of cleaning for 15 years (which is why he has on-duty preparations for divorcing tourists), and naive Italians are usually accommodated in rooms from 32 to 40. Well, he hasn’t run into the Slavs yet. Be carefull!
True, I did not observe outright theft on the island, but the administration warns: do not leave very valuable things in prominent places, do not tempt workers who will not earn money for this even in 10 years.
Entertainment
Flat-screen TVs were hung in all rooms (there is no Russian channel), it was clearly better without these talking boxes. Animation disco - every evening in the bar near the main restaurant somewhere until 23 there were some actions and quizzes in Italian, it was noisy. Every evening, after sunset, sharks and rays are fed on the pier - entertaining, but I didn’t get into the water myself. Fishing at sunset (sunrise) - was not (in my opinion, catching fish on a coil of wire is a profanity). Meeting with dolphins - we didn’t go for a reason - whether you meet them or not - is unknown and they are not allowed to swim with them. Offsite snorkeling - and why - moray eels, turtles, sharks and royal mantas met around Madugali (not all in one day, of course).
Uninhabited island - for a day $ 300 (in the reviews they wrote 100), we went for half a day. The island seems to be uninhabited, but there are plenty of fresh footprints on the sand and the boat with the natives who brought us, hanging 50 meters from the shore, did not add romance. And in general - I liked it. Diving: there is an instructor Misha - Russian-speaking, but - without a certificate, the course is very expensive (stock up on experience and a certificate at home).
In general, the vacation flew by unnoticed. Even though I felt like going home, I didn't want to leave. There is no such feeling either in Turkey or in Egypt. But if I want to go to Mkdugali again - frankly I don’t know. Sounded goodbye - we will be glad to see you back! - neither they nor me oblige to anything .. .
January 2010, departure from Kyiv.
About the tour operator and a bit about the transfer.
It seems that ALL tour operators trading in the Maldives have set a rule for themselves: to divorce a tourist, well, at least $ 500 per person. Last year I was going to have a rest with the help of the Zagorje company. Buying a tour vividly reminded an old Jewish joke about selling glasses (- These glasses cost ten rubles. - Good. - But this is for each glass. - Well, okay. - Yes, I forgot to tell you the price of their frames ... ) Supermanager for the Maldivian direction D Volnov, deigning to listen to my humble request to provide the opportunity to purchase a tour to the island of Velamenda, a few days later, after 2 reminders by phone, charged such a price that the price of Teztur, though with an inconvenient flight through Moscow, turned out to be much lower. But I would especially like to note the divorce with the transfer. The transfer table was found on the website of the same Teztur.
Zagorye charged a transfer: a seaplane is more expensive and said that it was one way. In short, the cost of the transfer turned out to be almost equal to the cost of the flight Kyiv - Male. Well, in the end, for a number of reasons (including this impudent divorce) my vacation in the Maldives in 2009 did not take place.
Armed with the experience of last year's searches, having gone through and-no, I decided to contact the Kyiv branch of "Maldiviana". Three young ladies (the young lady director has never seen, probably, well, a very busy person) work tirelessly in this company. True, as a rule, they do not come to work before the beginning of the eleventh. Young lady Yana took care of me, young lady Sveta, as I understand it, is mainly engaged in flights. This time my choice was on the island of Madugali - smaller and more comfortable than Velamendu. There are no special complaints about the work of the branch.
Yana, having thrown a couple of tens of dollars on the price lists from the website of the Moscow Maldivian, slowly started booking the tour. Tickets booked, hotel confirmed, tour paid. Hooray. Let's fly. But a small cloud (although by nature I am not a greedy person) was the question: why a transfer to Madugali (60km) costs $480, and a transfer to Sun Island (120km) $125. Let me explain the idea: a transfer by seaplane (in Maldivian by air taxi, I would say on an air bus) goes like this: 15 people (five rows of seats 1 + 2) and their luggage are stuffed into a plane of the "Corn" type on water skis and their luggage, then they are transported to route around the islands, the first stop we had was Madugali, the flight was 25 minutes, then the plane flew to 2 more islands. As far as I saw a plane with two passengers never took off, everyone was loaded to capacity.
Bottom line: if time permits, knowledge of the language and the skills to work online BOOK THE FLIGHT AND HOTEL YOURSELF: firstly, it will be cheaper, and secondly, there will be fewer clouds. The Maldives is a VISA FREE COUNTRY.
About flights and airports.
Kyiv - Dubai - Boeing UIA (as in the old Zhiguli)
Dubai - Colombo - Male - Airbus Sri Lankan Airlines (like a Mercedes)
Docking in Dubai is 4 and a half hours. Service is great. According to the arrows - transit - to any registration window, when there are three people in line - sir, please go to the next window. The airport itself (it was the first time) impressed with its size. We arrived at gate 102, and having nothing to do, I made it to gate 320. Well, as for me, excessive gilding and pomposity are everywhere, but the Arabs cannot do without it. The limited number of smoking places strained me: going into the smoking room, in which twenty smoking Chinese have been sitting compactly for an hour, I want to immediately quit smoking forever.
There was only one cafe with smoking visitors in the entire airport, somewhere at the 240th gate. True, they don’t make coffee in it, I had to drink cognac.
Colombo airport is more familiar. In my opinion, a little more than Borispol. A vigilant Sri Lankan customs officer forced me to take off my belt and sneakers (either a man-hater or flirting with a big white sahib, I did not understand).
Male airport. I didn’t really see it: on a separate island, small, one runway (the plane comes in for landing from the ocean, it’s beautiful). A stern Maldivian customs officer lazily commanded the loading of suitcases onto an X-ray tape. But, as soon as she heard Russian speech, she soared like a bird to the TV screen, before that the place at the screen was empty, her colleague at that time was wooling some Sri Lankans with a box of something seemingly alcoholic.
Tucked away in the suitcases, one per suitcase, the flat iron flasks of cognac aroused no suspicion in her, perhaps because of their non-industrial volume.
About the meeting, transfer and islands "not-buns".
At the exit from the airport, several racks of tour operators and a girl, Yulia, a representative of the Maldivians, were found with a sign. She escorted us to the seaplane check-in counter. There we weighed ALL luggage, including hand luggage (per person can be no more than 25 kg. ) and received boarding tickets for the seaplane. Then, after a quick briefing and parting words to us - call if anything, the staff on the island does not understand Russian, Yulia put us in a bus that was going to the air taxi pier and left. We didn't see her again.
Air taxis operate from three companies, respectively, aircraft and buses are painted in the same color. Ours was red. 10 minutes drive along the sea.
Upon exiting the bus into the open waiting room, at the information desk, we found out that our departure was in an hour or so (there are boards everywhere with flight numbers, time and berth number A / B / C). Time passed quickly: normal coffee from a local bar, a couple of dozen photos, and here we are.
We were the last to be let into the seaplane, which is quite reasonable - after all, we were the first to go out. Takeoff. The plane buzzes tolerably, but a couple of Italian madams used ear plugs. Until we gained altitude in the cabin, it was significantly hot (who remembers how to sit in an old railway car on a summer day), add very high humidity, then turn on the air conditioner - you feel better.
A few years ago, some enthusiastic lady launched a review on i-no with "...a wonderful view from the airplane window, these islands-buns ... ". Well, the islands do not look like plushies, for the life of me. The view is of course amazing: the ocean, a green island with a golden rim of sand. It doesn't look like plushies!
Island and staff.
Madugali Island has the shape of an ellipse stretched from east to west. Dimensions about 300 by 100 meters. The Madugali Island Airport is a 5 x 8 meter raft hooked onto a reef in the middle between two islands, about a kilometer from each. Nearby hangs the same raft - for the neighboring island. After splashing down, a boat with four aborigines with gloomy mugs moored at the airport (not otherwise cannibals ...we thought). They got us safely to shore. About the meeting personally with the manager with armfuls of flowers - a lie. One of the natives took us to the reception; on the way, in bad English, he told a learned lesson about the daily routine on the island. Hot towels and cold juice, however, with some delay, took place. There is a no-smoking sign at the reception. This place and the restaurant are two points on the island where smoking is not recommended, but if you want, you can.
The joyful porter told us that “for such dear guests” they prepared No. 3. Armed with knowledge from the Internet, we expressed a desire to get Nos. 30 to 40. By the way, the map of the island was removed from the wall behind the reception desk. As a compromise, we were offered a "very good room" No. 23. The room is good, spacious, everything works, the bed is 2 x 2.5 meters, the toilet is not in the garden. BUT WIND. We went to the Maldives to feel the heat, and not to Hurghada with a cold wind, without windbreak fences. After sitting on the terrace in the evening, smoking a cigarette and listening to the ocean, you freeze a little. From the wind (and a direct view of the ocean), the terrace is closed by a strip of palm trees and bushes about five meters, but from the passages made in it to the beach, it is pretty blowing. The island is designed for different wind times. Numbers from 1 to 31 are terraced to the west - there is no wind in summer, and numbers from 32 to 56 - to the east, there is no wind in winter. Numbers 1 to 15 do not have a sandy beach, stones and a reef are immediately behind the palm trees.
At number 3, a passage was cut through the coral, 50 meters and 2-3 meters wide. In other places, it is very difficult to get to the wall at low tide without getting skinned. From number 20 there is a sandy beach, but at number 30 the sun sets behind the palm trees at three o'clock, add the wind. There is practically no wind from No. 32, the beach is 5-10 meters wide. All this, of course, applies only to the winter season (read the school course about monsoons and trade winds). Yes, near number 42, a pipe with a diameter of 30 centimeters is led into the water, beyond the reef. I think there is a specific smell. Draw your own conclusions. And people swim with children too.
As a result, after several conversations at the reception and assurances that “after the tumors” you will definitely move to the sunny and calm side, we got room 32, which we were completely satisfied with (although the room was shabbier than the previous one and the Italians who lived there before us bred cockroaches in the tables, but that doesn't scare us. ) By the way, the Japanese-like girl-leader, with whom I had a chance to talk about the resettlement, Russian, at least understands, and maybe she knows it perfectly, but obviously, for the purpose of secrecy, she decided not to advertise it (perhaps mishandled). Separately, I want to talk about Ali's "housekipper", as it was presented. The janitor in No. 23 was a humble Bangladeshi who was happy to have a dollar left for him and occasionally, with the words "coco ser", brought a coconut. But in No. 32, the Maldivian Ali began by saying that for the Maldives, 1 dollar is not money.
When asked how much you earn per month, he modestly did not answer. The next day, the beach towels that this bloodsucker brought to our room were at least made of rags (it seemed that Ali had them specially stocked for obstinate foreigners). On a call to the reception, the towels were replaced immediately. Ali did not try to make friends anymore, although he cleaned up regularly. His insidious plan was revealed on the day of departure. This beetle rode up to the pier at five in the morning and brought an additional bill for the minibar so that he would be paid on the spot. There were still about forty minutes before departure, and I was not too lazy to walk as much as 50 meters to the reception in order to bring the villain to clean water. It turns out that this capitalist has been working on the island in the field of cleaning for 15 years (which is why he has on-duty preparations for divorcing tourists), and naive Italians are usually accommodated in rooms from 32 to 40. Well, he hasn’t run into the Slavs yet. Be carefull!
True, I did not observe outright theft on the island, but the administration warns: do not leave very valuable things in prominent places, do not tempt workers who will not earn money for this even in 10 years.
Entertainment
Flat-screen TVs were hung in all rooms (there is no Russian channel), it was clearly better without these talking boxes. Animation disco - every evening in the bar near the main restaurant somewhere until 23 there were some actions and quizzes in Italian, it was noisy. Every evening, after sunset, sharks and rays are fed on the pier - entertaining, but I didn’t get into the water myself. Fishing at sunset (sunrise) - was not (in my opinion, catching fish on a coil of wire is a profanity). Meeting with dolphins - we didn’t go for a reason - whether you meet them or not - is unknown and they are not allowed to swim with them. Offsite snorkeling - and why - moray eels, turtles, sharks and royal mantas met around Madugali (not all in one day, of course).
Uninhabited island - for a day $ 300 (in the reviews they wrote 100), we went for half a day. The island seems to be uninhabited, but there are plenty of fresh footprints on the sand and the boat with the natives who brought us, hanging 50 meters from the shore, did not add romance. And in general - I liked it. Diving: there is an instructor Misha - Russian-speaking, but - without a certificate, the course is very expensive (stock up on experience and a certificate at home).
In general, the vacation flew by unnoticed. Even though I felt like going home, I didn't want to leave. There is no such feeling either in Turkey or in Egypt. But if I want to go to Mkdugali again - frankly I don’t know. Sounded goodbye - we will be glad to see you back! - neither they nor me oblige to anything .. .
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Madugali Island 4* January 2010, departure from Kyiv. About the tour operator and a bit about the transfer. It seems that ALL tour operators trading in the Maldives have set a rule for themselves: to divorce a tourist, well, at least $ 500 per person. Last year I was going to have a rest with the help of the Zagorje company.
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Madugali Island 4*
January 2010, departure from Kyiv.
About the tour operator and a bit about the transfer.
It seems that ALL tour operators trading in the Maldives have set a rule for themselves: to divorce a tourist, well, at least $ 500 per person. Last year I was going to have a rest with the help of the Zagorje company. Buying a tour vividly reminded an old Jewish joke about selling glasses (- These glasses cost ten rubles. - Good. - But this is for each glass. - Well, okay. - Yes, I forgot to tell you the price of their frames ... ) Supermanager for the Maldivian direction D Volnov, deigning to listen to my humble request to provide the opportunity to purchase a tour to the island of Velamenda, a few days later, after 2 reminders by phone, charged such a price that the price of Teztur, though with an inconvenient flight through Moscow, turned out to be much lower. But I would especially like to note the divorce with the transfer. The transfer table was found on the website of the same Teztur.
Zagorye charged a transfer: a seaplane is more expensive and said that it was one way. In short, the cost of the transfer turned out to be almost equal to the cost of the flight Kyiv - Male. Well, in the end, for a number of reasons (including this impudent divorce) my vacation in the Maldives in 2009 did not take place.
Armed with the experience of last year's searches, having gone through and-no, I decided to contact the Kyiv branch of "Maldiviana". Three young ladies (the young lady director has never seen, probably, well, a very busy person) work tirelessly in this company. True, as a rule, they do not come to work before the beginning of the eleventh. Young lady Yana took care of me, young lady Sveta, as I understand it, is mainly engaged in flights. This time my choice was on the island of Madugali - smaller and more comfortable than Velamendu. There are no special complaints about the work of the branch.
Yana, having thrown a couple of tens of dollars on the price lists from the website of the Moscow Maldivian, slowly started booking the tour. Tickets booked, hotel confirmed, tour paid. Hooray. Let's fly. But a small cloud (although by nature I am not a greedy person) was the question: why a transfer to Madugali (60km) costs $480, and a transfer to Sun Island (120km) $125. Let me explain the idea: a transfer by seaplane (in Maldivian by air taxi, I would say on an air bus) goes like this: 15 people (five rows of seats 1 + 2) and their luggage are stuffed into a plane of the "Corn" type on water skis and their luggage, then they are transported to route around the islands, the first stop we had was Madugali, the flight was 25 minutes, then the plane flew to 2 more islands. As far as I saw a plane with two passengers never took off, everyone was loaded to capacity.
Bottom line: if time permits, knowledge of the language and the skills to work online BOOK THE FLIGHT AND HOTEL YOURSELF: firstly, it will be cheaper, and secondly, there will be fewer clouds. The Maldives is a VISA FREE COUNTRY.
About flights and airports.
Kyiv - Dubai - Boeing UIA (as in the old Zhiguli)
Dubai - Colombo - Male - Airbus Sri Lankan Airlines (like a Mercedes)
Docking in Dubai is 4 and a half hours. Service is great. According to the arrows - transit - to any registration window, when there are three people in line - sir, please go to the next window. The airport itself (it was the first time) impressed with its size. We arrived at gate 102, and having nothing to do, I made it to gate 320. Well, as for me, excessive gilding and pomposity are everywhere, but the Arabs cannot do without it. The limited number of smoking places strained me: going into the smoking room, in which twenty smoking Chinese have been sitting compactly for an hour, I want to immediately quit smoking forever.
There was only one cafe with smoking visitors in the entire airport, somewhere at the 240th gate. True, they don’t make coffee in it, I had to drink cognac.
Colombo airport is more familiar. In my opinion, a little more than Borispol. A vigilant Sri Lankan customs officer forced me to take off my belt and sneakers (either a man-hater or flirting with a big white sahib, I did not understand).
Male airport. I didn’t really see it: on a separate island, small, one runway (the plane comes in for landing from the ocean, it’s beautiful). A stern Maldivian customs officer lazily commanded the loading of suitcases onto an X-ray tape. But, as soon as she heard Russian speech, she soared like a bird to the TV screen, before that the place at the screen was empty, her colleague at that time was wooling some Sri Lankans with a box of something seemingly alcoholic.
Tucked away in the suitcases, one per suitcase, the flat iron flasks of cognac aroused no suspicion in her, perhaps because of their non-industrial volume.
About the meeting, transfer and islands "not-buns".
At the exit from the airport, several racks of tour operators and a girl, Yulia, a representative of the Maldivians, were found with a sign. She escorted us to the seaplane check-in counter. There we weighed ALL luggage, including hand luggage (per person can be no more than 25 kg. ) and received boarding tickets for the seaplane. Then, after a quick briefing and parting words to us - call if anything, the staff on the island does not understand Russian, Yulia put us in a bus that was going to the air taxi pier and left. We didn't see her again.
Air taxis operate from three companies, respectively, aircraft and buses are painted in the same color. Ours was red. 10 minutes drive along the sea.
Upon exiting the bus into the open waiting room, at the information desk, we found out that our departure was in an hour or so (there are boards everywhere with flight numbers, time and berth number A / B / C). Time passed quickly: normal coffee from a local bar, a couple of dozen photos, and here we are.
We were the last to be let into the seaplane, which is quite reasonable - after all, we were the first to go out. Takeoff. The plane buzzes tolerably, but a couple of Italian madams used ear plugs. Until we gained altitude in the cabin, it was significantly hot (who remembers how to sit in an old railway car on a summer day), add very high humidity, then turn on the air conditioner - you feel better.
A few years ago, some enthusiastic lady launched a review on i-no with "...a wonderful view from the airplane window, these islands-buns ... ". Well, the islands do not look like plushies, for the life of me. The view is of course amazing: the ocean, a green island with a golden rim of sand. It doesn't look like plushies!
Island and staff.
Madugali Island has the shape of an ellipse stretched from east to west. Dimensions about 300 by 100 meters. The Madugali Island Airport is a 5 x 8 meter raft hooked onto a reef in the middle between two islands, about a kilometer from each. Nearby hangs the same raft - for the neighboring island. After splashing down, a boat with four aborigines with gloomy mugs moored at the airport (not otherwise cannibals ...we thought). They got us safely to shore. About the meeting personally with the manager with armfuls of flowers - a lie. One of the natives took us to the reception; on the way, in bad English, he told a learned lesson about the daily routine on the island. Hot towels and cold juice, however, with some delay, took place. There is a no-smoking sign at the reception. This place and the restaurant are two points on the island where smoking is not recommended, but if you want, you can.
The joyful porter told us that “for such dear guests” they prepared No. 3. Armed with knowledge from the Internet, we expressed a desire to get Nos. 30 to 40. By the way, the map of the island was removed from the wall behind the reception desk. As a compromise, we were offered a "very good room" No. 23. The room is good, spacious, everything works, the bed is 2 x 2.5 meters, the toilet is not in the garden. BUT WIND. We went to the Maldives to feel the heat, and not to Hurghada with a cold wind, without windbreak fences. After sitting on the terrace in the evening, smoking a cigarette and listening to the ocean, you freeze a little. From the wind (and a direct view of the ocean), the terrace is closed by a strip of palm trees and bushes about five meters, but from the passages made in it to the beach, it is pretty blowing. The island is designed for different wind times. Numbers from 1 to 31 are terraced to the west - there is no wind in summer, and numbers from 32 to 56 - to the east, there is no wind in winter. Numbers 1 to 15 do not have a sandy beach, stones and a reef are immediately behind the palm trees.
At number 3, a passage was cut through the coral, 50 meters and 2-3 meters wide. In other places, it is very difficult to get to the wall at low tide without getting skinned. From number 20 there is a sandy beach, but at number 30 the sun sets behind the palm trees at three o'clock, add the wind. There is practically no wind from No. 32, the beach is 5-10 meters wide. All this, of course, applies only to the winter season (read the school course about monsoons and trade winds). Yes, near number 42, a pipe with a diameter of 30 centimeters is led into the water, beyond the reef. I think there is a specific smell. Draw your own conclusions. And people swim with children too.
As a result, after several conversations at the reception and assurances that “after the tumors” you will definitely move to the sunny and calm side, we got room 32, which we were completely satisfied with (although the room was shabbier than the previous one and the Italians who lived there before us bred cockroaches in the tables, but that doesn't scare us. ) By the way, the Japanese-like girl-leader, with whom I had a chance to talk about the resettlement, Russian, at least understands, and maybe she knows it perfectly, but obviously, for the purpose of secrecy, she decided not to advertise it (perhaps mishandled). Separately, I want to talk about Ali's "housekipper", as it was presented. The janitor in No. 23 was a humble Bangladeshi who was happy to have a dollar left for him and occasionally, with the words "coco ser", brought a coconut. But in No. 32, the Maldivian Ali began by saying that for the Maldives, 1 dollar is not money.
When asked how much you earn per month, he modestly did not answer. The next day, the beach towels that this bloodsucker brought to our room were at least made of rags (it seemed that Ali had them specially stocked for obstinate foreigners). On a call to the reception, the towels were replaced immediately. Ali did not try to make friends anymore, although he cleaned up regularly. His insidious plan was revealed on the day of departure. This beetle rode up to the pier at five in the morning and brought an additional bill for the minibar so that he would be paid on the spot. There were still about forty minutes before departure, and I was not too lazy to walk as much as 50 meters to the reception in order to bring the villain to clean water. It turns out that this capitalist has been working on the island in the field of cleaning for 15 years (which is why he has on-duty preparations for divorcing tourists), and naive Italians are usually accommodated in rooms from 32 to 40. Well, he hasn’t run into the Slavs yet. Be carefull!
True, I did not observe outright theft on the island, but the administration warns: do not leave very valuable things in prominent places, do not tempt workers who will not earn money for this even in 10 years.
Entertainment
Flat-screen TVs were hung in all rooms (there is no Russian channel), it was clearly better without these talking boxes. Animation disco - every evening in the bar near the main restaurant somewhere until 23 there were some actions and quizzes in Italian, it was noisy. Every evening, after sunset, sharks and rays are fed on the pier - entertaining, but I didn’t get into the water myself. Fishing at sunset (sunrise) - was not (in my opinion, catching fish on a coil of wire is a profanity). Meeting with dolphins - we didn’t go for a reason - whether you meet them or not - is unknown and they are not allowed to swim with them. Offsite snorkeling - and why - moray eels, turtles, sharks and royal mantas met around Madugali (not all in one day, of course).
Uninhabited island - for a day $ 300 (in the reviews they wrote 100), we went for half a day. The island seems to be uninhabited, but there are plenty of fresh footprints on the sand and the boat with the natives who brought us, hanging 50 meters from the shore, did not add romance. And in general - I liked it. Diving: there is an instructor Misha - Russian-speaking, but - without a certificate, the course is very expensive (stock up on experience and a certificate at home).
In general, the vacation flew by unnoticed. Even though I felt like going home, I didn't want to leave. There is no such feeling either in Turkey or in Egypt. But if I want to go to Mkdugali again - frankly I don’t know. Sounded goodbye - we will be glad to see you back! - neither they nor me oblige to anything .. .
January 2010, departure from Kyiv.
About the tour operator and a bit about the transfer.
It seems that ALL tour operators trading in the Maldives have set a rule for themselves: to divorce a tourist, well, at least $ 500 per person. Last year I was going to have a rest with the help of the Zagorje company. Buying a tour vividly reminded an old Jewish joke about selling glasses (- These glasses cost ten rubles. - Good. - But this is for each glass. - Well, okay. - Yes, I forgot to tell you the price of their frames ... ) Supermanager for the Maldivian direction D Volnov, deigning to listen to my humble request to provide the opportunity to purchase a tour to the island of Velamenda, a few days later, after 2 reminders by phone, charged such a price that the price of Teztur, though with an inconvenient flight through Moscow, turned out to be much lower. But I would especially like to note the divorce with the transfer. The transfer table was found on the website of the same Teztur.
Zagorye charged a transfer: a seaplane is more expensive and said that it was one way. In short, the cost of the transfer turned out to be almost equal to the cost of the flight Kyiv - Male. Well, in the end, for a number of reasons (including this impudent divorce) my vacation in the Maldives in 2009 did not take place.
Armed with the experience of last year's searches, having gone through and-no, I decided to contact the Kyiv branch of "Maldiviana". Three young ladies (the young lady director has never seen, probably, well, a very busy person) work tirelessly in this company. True, as a rule, they do not come to work before the beginning of the eleventh. Young lady Yana took care of me, young lady Sveta, as I understand it, is mainly engaged in flights. This time my choice was on the island of Madugali - smaller and more comfortable than Velamendu. There are no special complaints about the work of the branch.
Yana, having thrown a couple of tens of dollars on the price lists from the website of the Moscow Maldivian, slowly started booking the tour. Tickets booked, hotel confirmed, tour paid. Hooray. Let's fly. But a small cloud (although by nature I am not a greedy person) was the question: why a transfer to Madugali (60km) costs $480, and a transfer to Sun Island (120km) $125. Let me explain the idea: a transfer by seaplane (in Maldivian by air taxi, I would say on an air bus) goes like this: 15 people (five rows of seats 1 + 2) and their luggage are stuffed into a plane of the "Corn" type on water skis and their luggage, then they are transported to route around the islands, the first stop we had was Madugali, the flight was 25 minutes, then the plane flew to 2 more islands. As far as I saw a plane with two passengers never took off, everyone was loaded to capacity.
Bottom line: if time permits, knowledge of the language and the skills to work online BOOK THE FLIGHT AND HOTEL YOURSELF: firstly, it will be cheaper, and secondly, there will be fewer clouds. The Maldives is a VISA FREE COUNTRY.
About flights and airports.
Kyiv - Dubai - Boeing UIA (as in the old Zhiguli)
Dubai - Colombo - Male - Airbus Sri Lankan Airlines (like a Mercedes)
Docking in Dubai is 4 and a half hours. Service is great. According to the arrows - transit - to any registration window, when there are three people in line - sir, please go to the next window. The airport itself (it was the first time) impressed with its size. We arrived at gate 102, and having nothing to do, I made it to gate 320. Well, as for me, excessive gilding and pomposity are everywhere, but the Arabs cannot do without it. The limited number of smoking places strained me: going into the smoking room, in which twenty smoking Chinese have been sitting compactly for an hour, I want to immediately quit smoking forever.
There was only one cafe with smoking visitors in the entire airport, somewhere at the 240th gate. True, they don’t make coffee in it, I had to drink cognac.
Colombo airport is more familiar. In my opinion, a little more than Borispol. A vigilant Sri Lankan customs officer forced me to take off my belt and sneakers (either a man-hater or flirting with a big white sahib, I did not understand).
Male airport. I didn’t really see it: on a separate island, small, one runway (the plane comes in for landing from the ocean, it’s beautiful). A stern Maldivian customs officer lazily commanded the loading of suitcases onto an X-ray tape. But, as soon as she heard Russian speech, she soared like a bird to the TV screen, before that the place at the screen was empty, her colleague at that time was wooling some Sri Lankans with a box of something seemingly alcoholic.
Tucked away in the suitcases, one per suitcase, the flat iron flasks of cognac aroused no suspicion in her, perhaps because of their non-industrial volume.
About the meeting, transfer and islands "not-buns".
At the exit from the airport, several racks of tour operators and a girl, Yulia, a representative of the Maldivians, were found with a sign. She escorted us to the seaplane check-in counter. There we weighed ALL luggage, including hand luggage (per person can be no more than 25 kg. ) and received boarding tickets for the seaplane. Then, after a quick briefing and parting words to us - call if anything, the staff on the island does not understand Russian, Yulia put us in a bus that was going to the air taxi pier and left. We didn't see her again.
Air taxis operate from three companies, respectively, aircraft and buses are painted in the same color. Ours was red. 10 minutes drive along the sea.
Upon exiting the bus into the open waiting room, at the information desk, we found out that our departure was in an hour or so (there are boards everywhere with flight numbers, time and berth number A / B / C). Time passed quickly: normal coffee from a local bar, a couple of dozen photos, and here we are.
We were the last to be let into the seaplane, which is quite reasonable - after all, we were the first to go out. Takeoff. The plane buzzes tolerably, but a couple of Italian madams used ear plugs. Until we gained altitude in the cabin, it was significantly hot (who remembers how to sit in an old railway car on a summer day), add very high humidity, then turn on the air conditioner - you feel better.
A few years ago, some enthusiastic lady launched a review on i-no with "...a wonderful view from the airplane window, these islands-buns ... ". Well, the islands do not look like plushies, for the life of me. The view is of course amazing: the ocean, a green island with a golden rim of sand. It doesn't look like plushies!
Island and staff.
Madugali Island has the shape of an ellipse stretched from east to west. Dimensions about 300 by 100 meters. The Madugali Island Airport is a 5 x 8 meter raft hooked onto a reef in the middle between two islands, about a kilometer from each. Nearby hangs the same raft - for the neighboring island. After splashing down, a boat with four aborigines with gloomy mugs moored at the airport (not otherwise cannibals ...we thought). They got us safely to shore. About the meeting personally with the manager with armfuls of flowers - a lie. One of the natives took us to the reception; on the way, in bad English, he told a learned lesson about the daily routine on the island. Hot towels and cold juice, however, with some delay, took place. There is a no-smoking sign at the reception. This place and the restaurant are two points on the island where smoking is not recommended, but if you want, you can.
The joyful porter told us that “for such dear guests” they prepared No. 3. Armed with knowledge from the Internet, we expressed a desire to get Nos. 30 to 40. By the way, the map of the island was removed from the wall behind the reception desk. As a compromise, we were offered a "very good room" No. 23. The room is good, spacious, everything works, the bed is 2 x 2.5 meters, the toilet is not in the garden. BUT WIND. We went to the Maldives to feel the heat, and not to Hurghada with a cold wind, without windbreak fences. After sitting on the terrace in the evening, smoking a cigarette and listening to the ocean, you freeze a little. From the wind (and a direct view of the ocean), the terrace is closed by a strip of palm trees and bushes about five meters, but from the passages made in it to the beach, it is pretty blowing. The island is designed for different wind times. Numbers from 1 to 31 are terraced to the west - there is no wind in summer, and numbers from 32 to 56 - to the east, there is no wind in winter. Numbers 1 to 15 do not have a sandy beach, stones and a reef are immediately behind the palm trees.
At number 3, a passage was cut through the coral, 50 meters and 2-3 meters wide. In other places, it is very difficult to get to the wall at low tide without getting skinned. From number 20 there is a sandy beach, but at number 30 the sun sets behind the palm trees at three o'clock, add the wind. There is practically no wind from No. 32, the beach is 5-10 meters wide. All this, of course, applies only to the winter season (read the school course about monsoons and trade winds). Yes, near number 42, a pipe with a diameter of 30 centimeters is led into the water, beyond the reef. I think there is a specific smell. Draw your own conclusions. And people swim with children too.
As a result, after several conversations at the reception and assurances that “after the tumors” you will definitely move to the sunny and calm side, we got room 32, which we were completely satisfied with (although the room was shabbier than the previous one and the Italians who lived there before us bred cockroaches in the tables, but that doesn't scare us. ) By the way, the Japanese-like girl-leader, with whom I had a chance to talk about the resettlement, Russian, at least understands, and maybe she knows it perfectly, but obviously, for the purpose of secrecy, she decided not to advertise it (perhaps mishandled). Separately, I want to talk about Ali's "housekipper", as it was presented. The janitor in No. 23 was a humble Bangladeshi who was happy to have a dollar left for him and occasionally, with the words "coco ser", brought a coconut. But in No. 32, the Maldivian Ali began by saying that for the Maldives, 1 dollar is not money.
When asked how much you earn per month, he modestly did not answer. The next day, the beach towels that this bloodsucker brought to our room were at least made of rags (it seemed that Ali had them specially stocked for obstinate foreigners). On a call to the reception, the towels were replaced immediately. Ali did not try to make friends anymore, although he cleaned up regularly. His insidious plan was revealed on the day of departure. This beetle rode up to the pier at five in the morning and brought an additional bill for the minibar so that he would be paid on the spot. There were still about forty minutes before departure, and I was not too lazy to walk as much as 50 meters to the reception in order to bring the villain to clean water. It turns out that this capitalist has been working on the island in the field of cleaning for 15 years (which is why he has on-duty preparations for divorcing tourists), and naive Italians are usually accommodated in rooms from 32 to 40. Well, he hasn’t run into the Slavs yet. Be carefull!
True, I did not observe outright theft on the island, but the administration warns: do not leave very valuable things in prominent places, do not tempt workers who will not earn money for this even in 10 years.
Entertainment
Flat-screen TVs were hung in all rooms (there is no Russian channel), it was clearly better without these talking boxes. Animation disco - every evening in the bar near the main restaurant somewhere until 23 there were some actions and quizzes in Italian, it was noisy. Every evening, after sunset, sharks and rays are fed on the pier - entertaining, but I didn’t get into the water myself. Fishing at sunset (sunrise) - was not (in my opinion, catching fish on a coil of wire is a profanity). Meeting with dolphins - we didn’t go for a reason - whether you meet them or not - is unknown and they are not allowed to swim with them. Offsite snorkeling - and why - moray eels, turtles, sharks and royal mantas met around Madugali (not all in one day, of course).
Uninhabited island - for a day $ 300 (in the reviews they wrote 100), we went for half a day. The island seems to be uninhabited, but there are plenty of fresh footprints on the sand and the boat with the natives who brought us, hanging 50 meters from the shore, did not add romance. And in general - I liked it. Diving: there is an instructor Misha - Russian-speaking, but - without a certificate, the course is very expensive (stock up on experience and a certificate at home).
In general, the vacation flew by unnoticed. Even though I felt like going home, I didn't want to leave. There is no such feeling either in Turkey or in Egypt. But if I want to go to Mkdugali again - frankly I don’t know. Sounded goodbye - we will be glad to see you back! - neither they nor me oblige to anything .. .
Review from — vOtpusk.ru
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Hey! My name is Oleg, I have been living in the Maldives in winter for more than 8 years and work as an instructor. Back in May with Ellaidhoo. It's nearby. Forty minutes by boat. For this season, the name is Madugali. In Europe and America, I myself am a regular customer of the BestWestern network. A sort of inexpensive cozy hotels with very good breakfasts.
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Hey! My name is Oleg, I have been living in the Maldives in winter for more than 8 years and work as an instructor.
Back in May with Ellaidhoo. It's nearby. Forty minutes by boat. For this season, the name is Madugali. In Europe and America, I myself am a regular customer of the BestWestern network. A sort of inexpensive cozy hotels with very good breakfasts.
Best Western is the largest hotel chain in the world. There are more than 4.000 of them in 80 countries. The Maldives must be understood, 81st.
Since I have already visited many hotels in the Maldives, it should be noted that in my last three hotels the food was getting worse, worse and worse.
It's tourists who come for ten days and they like everything, and for years I have to eat the same thing.
I remember eating this July at BestWestern in Stockholm. So there they literally filled up with juicy fruits, a huge selection of expensive cheese, a bunch of yoghurts, everything is in abundance.
I believe that the Madugali hotel, unlike Elaidu, Adaranov and Meduparu, where the Sri Lankans save on everything, who even carry fish from Sri Lanka, in Best Western they will be able to solve the problem with the best food.
Knowing well how work is built in such hotels with Western management, I offer tourists who know English or even use the banal Internet translator mail. ru or promt flood the Best Western company with reviews and suggestions in a special network service. Their address is customerservice@bestwestern. com
The hotel has just changed owners. Wash in August. The place is unique. Diving and fishing are bound to be great as the island sits right in the underwater channel of Madugali Kandu, where fresh water from the ocean rushes into the atoll at high tide and out at low tide. In such places, the water is especially rich in oxygen, so the house reef is good, and there are a lot of fish, and rays, sharks and manta rays.
The area is also especially good for diving, since fishing is prohibited in the area for local freak fishermen who have caught, for example, all the sharks on Raa and Baa Atolls. They are not there at all. On my site mydiving. org I described all the details that no travel agency will tell, in particular regarding the disadvantages and advantages of different islands, as well as the description and my maps of dive sites.
In any case, Madugali is located on the most "fishy" as it is called Ari Atoll. If you are primarily interested in the underwater world, it makes a lot of sense to come here. No one has yet died of hunger in the Maldives and there is a good chance to lose a couple of kilograms.
Madugali is a normal brutal "diving" hotel. Food really needs to be improved. And not only here. Something this is becoming a bad trend in general and everywhere.
Back in May with Ellaidhoo. It's nearby. Forty minutes by boat. For this season, the name is Madugali. In Europe and America, I myself am a regular customer of the BestWestern network. A sort of inexpensive cozy hotels with very good breakfasts.
Best Western is the largest hotel chain in the world. There are more than 4.000 of them in 80 countries. The Maldives must be understood, 81st.
Since I have already visited many hotels in the Maldives, it should be noted that in my last three hotels the food was getting worse, worse and worse.
It's tourists who come for ten days and they like everything, and for years I have to eat the same thing.
I remember eating this July at BestWestern in Stockholm. So there they literally filled up with juicy fruits, a huge selection of expensive cheese, a bunch of yoghurts, everything is in abundance.
I believe that the Madugali hotel, unlike Elaidu, Adaranov and Meduparu, where the Sri Lankans save on everything, who even carry fish from Sri Lanka, in Best Western they will be able to solve the problem with the best food.
Knowing well how work is built in such hotels with Western management, I offer tourists who know English or even use the banal Internet translator mail. ru or promt flood the Best Western company with reviews and suggestions in a special network service. Their address is customerservice@bestwestern. com
The hotel has just changed owners. Wash in August. The place is unique. Diving and fishing are bound to be great as the island sits right in the underwater channel of Madugali Kandu, where fresh water from the ocean rushes into the atoll at high tide and out at low tide. In such places, the water is especially rich in oxygen, so the house reef is good, and there are a lot of fish, and rays, sharks and manta rays.
The area is also especially good for diving, since fishing is prohibited in the area for local freak fishermen who have caught, for example, all the sharks on Raa and Baa Atolls. They are not there at all. On my site mydiving. org I described all the details that no travel agency will tell, in particular regarding the disadvantages and advantages of different islands, as well as the description and my maps of dive sites.
In any case, Madugali is located on the most "fishy" as it is called Ari Atoll. If you are primarily interested in the underwater world, it makes a lot of sense to come here. No one has yet died of hunger in the Maldives and there is a good chance to lose a couple of kilograms.
Madugali is a normal brutal "diving" hotel. Food really needs to be improved. And not only here. Something this is becoming a bad trend in general and everywhere.
Review from — vOtpusk.ru
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The island is approximately 450 by 250 meters in size, all covered with tropical forest. 56 identical standard bungalows stand around the perimeter of the island, 5-10 meters from the water. Sandy beach around the entire circumference, with the exception of two sections of a couple of tens of meters long, where corals protrude right at the water's edge.
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The island is approximately 450 by 250 meters in size, all covered with tropical forest. 56 identical standard bungalows stand around the perimeter of the island, 5-10 meters from the water. Sandy beach around the entire circumference, with the exception of two sections of a couple of tens of meters long, where corals protrude right at the water's edge.
Travel agents give inaccurate descriptions, much of
not listed.
Discos, animations, etc. no and don't : )
There is no gym, but there should be.
Most importantly, there is NO doctor, the nearest one is at the first-aid post on the neighboring fishing island of Feridhoo, which is taken on excursions. Given the presence of corals in the ocean, any living creatures such as moray eels, etc. , as well as potentially traumatic water sports, it can turn into a big problem.
See below for water sports.
- There is NO TV and radio (only at the reception) - on purpose, this is the concept of the hotel, rest from civilization alone with nature
- Meals - There are options for breakfast only, half and full board. The choice of dishes is very limited, not rich at all, but this is logical and explainable by the isolation of the island and the smallness of the hotel.
Glass of freshly squeezed juice $6
glass of wine $9,
bottle of drinking water 1.5l $3.5.
Lunch, dinner - buffet. We had half board, and a dinner for $ 25 with that set of dishes we considered unjustified, we took sandwiches at the bar for $ 7 (on a plate 4 pcs. , Triangles the size of a palm, comes with fried potatoes or rice)
The room has a hairdryer, bathrobes and beach towels. There is no tea / coffee preparation set promised by some descriptions. Cleaning 2 times a day. I especially liked that during the evening cleaning of the roomboy, making up the bed, he folded different figures from the sheet, then a butterfly, then a fish, then
a heart
Wake-up service is funny - if you have a telephone in the room, an employee comes and knocks on the door very insinuatingly and quietly. If you really sleep, you won't wake up for anything.
At the water sports center:
fin rental $4 per day
tube rental $2 per day
mask rental $4 per day
easier to buy and bring your own
pedal catamaran rental $20 per hour,
canoe $18 per hour,
windsurf lesson $50 an hour, $100 for three hours, rent for those who can, like $30 an hour
IMPORTANT:
Irresponsible instructors are natives! Zukher and Abo.
My wife and I took windsurfing lessons. Abo, pushing the board, stuck himself in the pier (he should have learned first! ).
Having barely told the basics, and without explaining and not having worked out the methods of raising the sail and safely falling, Zukher immediately dragged us into the water. Abo was hanging out somewhere in the distance. Half an hour later, when the wife once again flew off the board, the mast with the sail, falling, hit her hard on the head. A woman in water up to her throat, holding her head with both hands in shock from the blow, and that’s it.
leans more strongly, and the instructors did not even think of rushing towards her, so they stood on the shore! If the waves were higher or the depth was 20 cm more, I would be widowed a week after the wedding! It’s good that I myself accidentally noticed that something was not right, but I might not have seen it, because I was busy with my board and sail, which I don’t know how to manage! He himself jumped off his board, swam to it and brought his wife to the shore, but these okhlamons did not move, they remained on the shore, and did not think to rush to save! It seems to have managed with the head, but by the evening, from incorrect manipulations with the sail, the sciatica broke his wife. And it's all for the $200 we paid for the lesson!! !
Travel agents give inaccurate descriptions, much of
not listed.
Discos, animations, etc. no and don't : )
There is no gym, but there should be.
Most importantly, there is NO doctor, the nearest one is at the first-aid post on the neighboring fishing island of Feridhoo, which is taken on excursions. Given the presence of corals in the ocean, any living creatures such as moray eels, etc. , as well as potentially traumatic water sports, it can turn into a big problem.
See below for water sports.
- There is NO TV and radio (only at the reception) - on purpose, this is the concept of the hotel, rest from civilization alone with nature
- Meals - There are options for breakfast only, half and full board. The choice of dishes is very limited, not rich at all, but this is logical and explainable by the isolation of the island and the smallness of the hotel.
Glass of freshly squeezed juice $6
glass of wine $9,
bottle of drinking water 1.5l $3.5.
Lunch, dinner - buffet. We had half board, and a dinner for $ 25 with that set of dishes we considered unjustified, we took sandwiches at the bar for $ 7 (on a plate 4 pcs. , Triangles the size of a palm, comes with fried potatoes or rice)
The room has a hairdryer, bathrobes and beach towels. There is no tea / coffee preparation set promised by some descriptions. Cleaning 2 times a day. I especially liked that during the evening cleaning of the roomboy, making up the bed, he folded different figures from the sheet, then a butterfly, then a fish, then
a heart
Wake-up service is funny - if you have a telephone in the room, an employee comes and knocks on the door very insinuatingly and quietly. If you really sleep, you won't wake up for anything.
At the water sports center:
fin rental $4 per day
tube rental $2 per day
mask rental $4 per day
easier to buy and bring your own
pedal catamaran rental $20 per hour,
canoe $18 per hour,
windsurf lesson $50 an hour, $100 for three hours, rent for those who can, like $30 an hour
IMPORTANT:
Irresponsible instructors are natives! Zukher and Abo.
My wife and I took windsurfing lessons. Abo, pushing the board, stuck himself in the pier (he should have learned first! ).
Having barely told the basics, and without explaining and not having worked out the methods of raising the sail and safely falling, Zukher immediately dragged us into the water. Abo was hanging out somewhere in the distance. Half an hour later, when the wife once again flew off the board, the mast with the sail, falling, hit her hard on the head. A woman in water up to her throat, holding her head with both hands in shock from the blow, and that’s it.
leans more strongly, and the instructors did not even think of rushing towards her, so they stood on the shore! If the waves were higher or the depth was 20 cm more, I would be widowed a week after the wedding! It’s good that I myself accidentally noticed that something was not right, but I might not have seen it, because I was busy with my board and sail, which I don’t know how to manage! He himself jumped off his board, swam to it and brought his wife to the shore, but these okhlamons did not move, they remained on the shore, and did not think to rush to save! It seems to have managed with the head, but by the evening, from incorrect manipulations with the sail, the sciatica broke his wife. And it's all for the $200 we paid for the lesson!! !
Review from — vOtpusk.ru
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