What an experience it has been volunteering in the Maldives š²š»Ā and living like a local. You definitely get to experience life in the Maldives a whole different way living on a local island š“Ā and not just going to one of the many high end exclusive resorts that serve incredible international food and alcohol and pamper you like a king or queen.
For those that donāt know the Maldives is a Muslim country so alcohol is illegal everywhere except for the resort islands because the resorts buy the islands and are allowed to make their own laws when it comes to alcohol. Most of the 1,200 islands or so that make up the Maldives are uninhabited though just as a point of reference and very interesting fact.
Donāt get me wrong though resort life is incredible and Iām doing that part of the Maldives in less than a week when my fiancĆ©e Christi arrives from San Diego!! There is no way Iām going all the way clear across the globe šĀ and Iām not staying at a beautiful all inclusive resort in an overwater bungalow. There is a some top bucket list items and that one is right at the top of mine along with volunteering in the Maldives. The resort we are staying at if interested is called Meeru Island Resort and Spa and it looks friggen unbelievable and gets amazing reviews. It is only about an hour speedboat š¤Ā ride northwest of Male the capital too where most people fly in.
Back to living like a local though. My normal day consists of getting ready and leaving my volunteer house to be at the turtle š¢Ā rescue marine center Atoll Volunteers by 8:30 am.
First thing we do is feed all the turtles. We have to cut up some really disgusting tuna that is donated to us and feed all the turtles with calcium pills wrapped inside the tuna. After feeding is done all the volunteers and staff go to breakfast next door at the restaurant Aqua Garden which is contracted with our volunteer program. We eat 3 square meals a day here, so safe to say Iām getting pretty tired of the food. Itās actually pretty good but itās basically the same things rotated every 3-4 days and most lunch and dinners involve some sort of curry. I love rice and curry but not 24/7.
After breakfast š³Ā we go back to turtle center and cleanĀ all the turtle tanks and change their water. Emptying the water and cleaning out all the food and turtle poo š©Ā takes takes a while because they are such big tanks and we scrub them once empty. Once they are clean we refill them back up with fresh ocean water piped in from right outside our door. In between all this we get a lot of incredible turtle time with the rescues. You really develop a very strong bond for the creatures so quickly and you learn they all have such unique but beautiful personalities. My favorite is Tom who is much more like a dog than a sea turtle and who cones floating over to you everyday looking for a head or shell scratch which is the most adorable thing ever. All this usuallyĀ Ā takes us right up until lunch at 1 pm.
After lunch we do various activities like maybe a beach clean where we pick up trash, reef clean where we pick up trash in the water while snorkeling, play volleyball or just go for a fun leisurely snorkel. Pretty much everyday in the Maldives involves snorkeling of some sort. The reef around our island Naifaru is teeming with amazing aquatic life and Iāve seen so many amazing animals like wild Green and Hawksbill sea turtles, reef sharks, manta rays, sting rays, pufferfish, lionfish, clownfish, royal blue tang fish (Dory from Finding Nemo), moray eel, etc.
Unfortunately, the reefs are getting destroyed from human pollution more and more every year. The Maldives has some of the best snorkeling in the world šĀ but unfortunately even in the middle of nowhere in the Indian Ocean is not safe from humans. I would highly suggest if you are a fan of scuba diving or snorkeling you come to the Maldives before all the reefs and coral are destroyed or the Maldives disappear into the ocean as predicted over the next 50 years or so because of rising water levels. The Maldives is the lowest lying country in the world at 1.5 meters above sea level on average so come see them while you can!! Iām praying no tsunamis thatās for sure!
One of the beaches is actually called Tsunami Beach which is incredibly not reassuring living here. I guess the big 2004 tsunami to hit the Indian Ocean did lots of damage here and killed many people as it did in many other spots.
Unfortunately, the locals are some of the worst offenders surprisingly when it comes to trash and pollution. They throw trash out everywhere including in the water, the beaches, all over the roads, etc. Ā Itās really sad to see actually and itās quite apparent they just donāt get educated the same way we do in the Western world about pollution but in their defense being on an island there isnāt really a good place to put all the trash. Itās too expensive to build a recycling plant for just 6,000 inhabitants and too expensive to ship anywhere else so most trash is just burned in the North end of the island. Obviously, this is not good for the environment either. Definitely a complicated issue for the local islands. The resort islands are much more careful about trash because the tourists wouldnāt put up with it obviously for the money people are spending to come here.
Despite all this the Maldives is still the most beautiful tropical location by far Iāve ever seen in my life and Iāve seen some exotic, beautiful places on my adventures. The water is just the most aqua blue crystal clear that you could imagine. It makes the Caribbean look like dark murky water in comparison. Of course the Caribbean is amazing but this is just different level of crystal clear blue water here.
Maybe the most amazing thing Iāve done here so far, scratch that….. by far the most amazing thing Iāve done so far is go night snorkeling and seeing the bioluminescent phytoplankton. To be honest I wasnāt super excited about the nighttime snorkel because the ocean is already super scary and powerful in the daylight when you can see but at night it is even more intimidating. I absolutely love swimming in the ocean, snorkeling and playing but being in the water at night time while pitch black out with who knows what around you is just plain nerve wracking.
We followed our staff who had flashlights š¦Ā through the dark and saw so many creatures moving around who were shocked by our presence in the dark. But then came the big surprise. One of the staff said shut the flashlights off because he noticed many bioluminescent phytoplankton around him when he dove down deep. All of a sudden the ocean lit up in a neon blue glow. It was the most incredible surreal experience. All around us were glowing blue stars āļøĀ that were shooting out in all directions it appeared. Every time we would move our bodies the pitch black water would light up like a neon blue Christmas tree. The only thing I can compare it to is if youāve seen the movie Avatar and the scene where the little glowing seeds from the Tree of Life are floating, glowing and swirling all around the main characters. This is what it looked and felt like. The more I moved the more neon blue stars would shoot and swirl all around my body and my fellow volunteers and staff. It was intoxicating really. I started moving around almost excessively by twirling, spinning, kicking and punching so much I started to get myself dizzy, which is not a good thing while swimming in total darkness in the ocean.
Safe to say this was maybe the most beautiful almost out of body experience Iāve ever had and something I will never ever forget. The staff who have been here for a year said theyāve never seen the bioluminescent phytoplankton come alive like that. In fact, not even close so I feel very very fortunate to have experienced this incredible natural wonder of the world. Hopefully, some of my GoPro pictures come out and if they do obviously I will post them.
Another amazing thing we have done here (other than taking care of these amazing rescued sea turtles) was going to spend the day on a deserted island with nothing but what we had in our backpacks. I walked or swam in some parts around the entire island which took about an hour. I encountered a small dead whale of some sort and it was so badly decayed that even our 3 marine biologists didnāt know for sure what species. I traipsed through the middle of the wild interior of the island in search of good coconuts š„„Ā to drink and eat because when playing Robinson Crusoe what else would you do!?Ā Ā I found some and even got Ā a couple cracked open which was much needed with how hot it was. We climbed palm trees that were sticking out over the ocean to take pictures which were the perfect Maldives uninhabited island picture. Both ends to the island had huge long skinny sandbars sticking way out in the ocean and looked like they were almost shallow enough to just walk from one island to another. This was something I wanted to do soooooo badly since most tourists are not allowed to visit these uninhabited islands for preservation purposes and it really felt like we were alone in the world.
Another day off we went to a resort island called Kuredu, which is in the same Lhaviyani atoll. The beaches and snorkeling there were amazing and I was even able to have my first alcoholic drink š¹Ā in the Maldives because alcohol is illegal everywhere else in the Maldives except for the resort islands as explained previously. Ā Obviously, where Iām staying currently is a local island and being a Muslim country it is illegal to have alcohol or serve it. So this was an incredible day of pool, beaches, drinks and delicious food at the buffet, which was so awesome after eating the same few items everyday. There is even a real shipwreck off the reef on this resort which I snorkeled around and this was super cool to witness.
Another activity we did was snorkel all around a sandbar island that just pops out of the ocean out of nowhere. Canāt be more than 50 feet by 50 feet across. That was actually my first day arriving here and it was a hell of a way to start my experience here being in the middle of the ocean with nothing else around except this random mound of sand that somehow arises from the ocean without explanation. This is actually where we saw the manta ray.
Other activities on the local island include swimming obviously, playing cards at night, watching movies at the marine center, chilling on the beach watching the incredible Maldives sunsets or going out for a juice or milkshake. I only have wifi at our volunteer house which is actually great because it keeps me off my phone and out enjoying the unmatched beauty of the Maldives.
My next post though most likely will be from the resort island Meeru Island Resort and Spa. To be honest, Iām so ready for the resort and our overwater bungalow even though I love it here and taking care of these precious sea creatures is a true gift.
Also, as an update we had 8 baby Green turtle hatchlings we have been nursing back to health at the turtle rescue center and we just released all 8 back into wild on Friday! This was so amazing albeit bittersweet seeing them go. But they were so happy crawling from the beach into the water and into the wild blue yonder with their whole lives in front of them!
What an experience and I hope you enjoyed hearing about the local side of the Maldives.
Pictures soon to follow but some pictures from my Instagram are already up below in the site as well.
Cheers fellow travelers!!
You ready to explore with me!? 