[the 1st movie from Nathalie, our cat nanny, is already dropping in. Towser making his usual "proting" sound and Maja ignoring her. Looks good.]
The Lufthansa flight is good. Lots of leg room, chairs decline well and the food is okay (served a little late though). We both could sleep a few hours.
November 29 - Veligandu
During landing the sky doesn't look to good. Clouds starting at 10km up to almost touching the sea surface at the bottom. The strip is soaking wet. We're in the launch now. Our water-plane is due to leave at 12:00. Looking at the clocks in the lounge, each for each resort, it's one hour later at Veligandu. So we'll be missing our lunch.At 12:30 the little plane leaves. We had hardly left the harbour, still on the water, when we turn around. The radio malfunctions. Back at the airport a downpour starts and the airport is closed (no visibility). Finally, at 15:45, we fly out.
When we arrive at Veligandu we're told that we're upgraded to a Water Villa for 2 nights. Sorry? No! A) It's no upgrade as when we booked it was the same price. B) We explicitly booked a Beach Villa, as we like that much better. But after them saying "sorry" for the tenth time, we understood that they we're out of options and we had to accept the stay at a Water Villa, at least for the 1st night.
We checked in at the Dive Shop. All quick and smooth. Seems they're not too busy. Quick tour around the island. The other side is the wind side, has a smaller beach and the sand is hard with lots of coral pieces. No, than we better opt for an attached Jacuzzi Beach Villa at this side. We're told it will be #180 and we'll be moved at about 11:30.
Dinner time. Although very good we didn't discover the extra star compared to the 4 star resorts we visited in the past. Back at the room the door doesn't open. Argh. Luckily Said from room service can fix this rapidly. A bottle of cold champagne is brought to the room. I'm sure that will taste nice still tomorrow. Time to sleep.
November 30 - And the Smile is Back
Petra starts to doubt whether we should change. The view from the Water Villa is stunning and the Stingrays that swim past are so lovely. When we return from the - delicious - breakfast, we see the luggage from #180 is being carried away. "Can we have a quick look inside?", we ask. Sure! Yes! This is exactly what we want 😀. Quickly pack all our stuff and we're off to the Dive Shop.
First dive: Rasdhoo. Our guide is Nooh. O? So we'll have a private guide. Nice. Petra has issues clearing her ears. Than I start to feel my ears. Also my goggles fog up all the time. But than, who cares. The reef is beautiful. Black Tip Reef Sharks that come so close they almost bump in to you. Napoleon. Turtles. Tuna. Everything! 50 Minutes later I'm out of air. What a brilliant dive.
Back on the boat we check my air with the gauge from the guide. 65 Bar still, in stead of the 40 Bar mine reads. So next dives I can start the safety stop at 30 Bar. [and buy a new gauge back home!]
Back to move rooms and unpack. Finally holiday. The local birds are calling (gloog gloog gloog). The water chicks are running past our veranda. The Baby Sharks cruise at the water front. In the distance we see dolphins. No, the dorsal fin is way too big, these are Pilot Whales! And it's only just lunch time.
// Fast forward //
After dinner, when we sign for the drinks. "Wait, I have something for you" O? A little later the waiter returns to our table with a cake box. Inside a nice chocolate cake "Welcome Back". "You have been to Veligandu before?" No, this is our first time. "Have you been to another CCR Resort before?" Yes, Vilamendhoo and Kuredu. "Ah, that must be it. They always do this for guests that have been to CCR Resorts before" Okay? Nice and light cake by the way, even Petra wanted a small piece.
December 1 - Madivaru Corner
If there was one reason we wanted to return, after 14 years, to the Rasdhoo Atoll, it was Madivaru Corner. But, that was long time ago during our first Diving Holiday. We hadn't seen anything yet. Today we'll be diving here again. Ramon from Zürich will be our guide. The visibility isn't that great, but that doesn't matter, this is still a great dive spot. The Eagle Rays almost bite you in the noose, that how close they come. And the reef is gorgeous, full with fish. After 2 dives we have seen more beauty, sharks and rays up close, as we did during the whole South Trip we did in March!
Second stop: Manta Point. The ask all divers on the boat whether we really want to give it a try, as they haven't seen any manta's recently. Doesn't matter, all want to give it a try. Steve and Petra first do a little "Manta Dance" for good luck. And that did work. The manta passes by, briefly. From there on a nice and relaxing dive, with the song of dolphins in the background. Unfortunately they didn't show themselves.
The weather keeps improving. Blue sky, scattered clouds. The wind lays down. Picture perfect. We enjoy the rest of the day on the veranda of our Sunset Villa.
December 2 - Full Day
[writing this I am suddenly reminded of our cat, Loeki, passing away during last years holiday 😢]A boat trip to the North Ari Atoll to dive Maayaa Thila, Hafza Thila and Bathala Thila. Our guide is Pascal from Freiburg (CH). A weird guy. The last time around we dived these spots, on a full day trip from Vilamendhoo, it was quite disappointing. Bad visibility, no coral and hardly any sharks. And that didn't improve over time. Only the last dive site, Bathala Thila, had some decent corals. Unfortunately that's where things got bad with our guide. During the first two dives we alreadt had some communication issues. During the last dive it went worse. We had just arrived at a nice patch, our guide wanted to descent. Somewhat later we found another nice spot, but he insisted to move on and cross over to the next reef. When he couldn't find it he aborted the dive and we all had to go up. Out of the water he first claimed it was due to me being low on air (?). Somewhat later he confessed he couldn't find the next reef. All in all it was a nice day being on the boat.
[the new flip filter on my GoPro breaks over ... ]
December 3 - Flying
The Live Aboards are still around, so better to not do Madivaru Corner today. We are goint to the Caves, Remo (not Ramon?) is our guide today. Steve and Brian, two Britons, join. Nice and easy dive. We see a lot of nice stuff. Second dive is Rasdhoo Reef. Thomas says the current is strong, and yes, it is. The visibility is not too good either. But the reef is beautiful and we see a lot of sharks. The current made us work hard. We pop up three (!) dive sites further, in from of Kuramathi.[Later that day we talk to some who dived the afternoon. conditions had been even worse. Beyond funny.]
Tonight Repeaters Cocktail and a video presentation from the dive shop. We'll see.
Hmmm. We watched the Repeaters Cocktail from a distance. Ten staff mingling with ten guests. That looks more like work than fun. Next to that the wind picked up and Petra doesn't like that, especially when she is wearing her hair loose. The video starts at 21:30. Way too late. We're tired and have to get up early tomorrow morning.
December 4 - Last Day Diving
The plan was to go to Madi Gaa, Manta Point, and something nice afterwards. But as it was our last day diving we asked if we could return to Madivaru Corner. Eventually that became the dive plan for the day. Whether it was the best plan, we'll never know. We hardly left when I noticed I forgotten our dive computers. STOP STOP Petra shouts. We return and I quickly run to our Villa to fetch them Luckily the closest room to the dive shop. I think half the people on the boat didn't even notice what happened. There still many Live Aboards around. Also the Aggressor II is there. Their Dhoni is at the dive spot. So are pretty much all the other Live Aboards Dhoni's. Good timing. They all surface just as we arrive.Despite the horror stories from yesterday there was no current at all today. Pity. A little current is always better.
Second dive Madi Gaa. After doing the check dive, Nooh, our guide today, and Remo climb back on the boat. "Little current, 20-30 divers and no manta's. Let's go to The North Channel". Another nice and relaxed dive. At the end the manta swims by to wave us goodbye. Short, but very nice indeed.
[Steve: 45x Maldives, 29x Veligandu. This is the best compromise for us: Good food, small resort, good diving and nice snorkeling for Deb (his wife)]
December 5 - Snorkelling
Yesterday evening, on our way to dinner, the weather was lovely, so why not do the beach dinner the still owned us (promised when we arrive and didn't get the room we booked). "I am sorry, fully booked. Maybe tomorrow. You can arrange it at the Main Restaurant. They will come to you". Okay. Only one option to choose from, the simplest one they had on offer: Tuna Wasabi for starter, Prawn, Tuna and Red Snapper for main, chefs desert. $60/couple. For Petra they could do a fruit platter as desert. Okay, let's try that.A long sleep. Breakfast including bubbles this time. And than snorkelling. I take the GoPro. Petra takes the TG-5 for her first time. Nice reef. Turtle. Big Black Tip Reef Shark. Many colourfull fish. As the sky turned dark we decided to get out and go to the room. When I check the video's I made they all looked horrible (what's new). Petra's pictures on the other hand were stunning (yep).
During lunch we decided that the Beach Dinner wasn't what we wanted. The rain is getting worse. And having a beach dinner inside is not what we wanted. Reception tells us we can decide between 5 and 6. Maybe it will get better. But that the thunderstorm takes of.
We go to the dive shop to stamp our logbooks. Nooh is at the shop. He had found our SMB's. No idea where I left those. For sure I hadn't seen them nor thought about them. It's 18:15 and it's still raining. Finally we go to reception and cancel the dinner. A little rest and start to pack our luggage.
Later that evening, when we check for our water plane flight time and bill settlement, the receptionist shoves a letter under our nose. "Can you sign that we have compensated you for the issue when you arrived?" No, not in a million years!
December 6 - Eagle Rays
Our flight out is only at 9:00 o'clock.So no stress. Waking up slowly and packing the last things before we go for breakfast. When we arrive in the restaurant for breakfast, we see Deborah, Steve's wife, running towards the shoreline. Petra runs after her. A group of Eagle Rays passes by at an arm length away in the shallows. 4 Big ones and a baby she tells me enthusiastically when she returns to the table. At 8:30 sharp a knock on the door for picking up the luggage. After checking the room for a last time we stroll over the beach toward reception to do the final check-out. "Your plane is 15-20 minutes delayed". That means at least half an hour, so we stroll on towards the end of the island. Enjoying the last bits of sun.It was tight. A little bit stressful. But we made it. Row 38 in the middle appears to be bit more cramped than Row 39 at the window. I thought it was extremely spacious on the outbound flight - must be that plane tapering in towards the end.
Another 9:45 hours and we'll be landing in Frankfurt. Tonight we'll be back home with our two fur balls, time to start dreaming about our next destination.
PS: We still don't get it why Veligandhoo has one more star than Vilamendhoo or Kuredu.
