EXPLORE
TASTE
REFLECT
high at its tallest point or more than a
few metres from the ocean — spread
across thousands of kilometres, the
Maldives is a nation built for water
sports adventures. Only 200 of the
islands are inhabited, with most barely
large enough to call home. But those
that are big enough shelter picturesque
resorts with ocean villas built over
the water, and all have a very special
relationship with the environment.
The two Angsana resorts in
the Maldives are in a world of their
own when it comes to water sports.
Surrounded on all sides by the beautiful
Indian Ocean, Angsana Velavaru and
Angsana Ihuru are so intertwined with
the environment that each features a
brochure entitled “101 Things to Do”
which highlights everything you can
do at the resort. Not all involve the
water, of course — these luxury fivestar resorts are as famous for their
cuisine and lavish spas as they are the
beaches and reefs. And while you won’t
CREATE
have enough time in your vacation to undertake all 101 — a fact that probably keeps
people coming back for more — you’ve got to try at least one of the water sports on
offer. As it turns out, most people do.
“Ninety percent of our guests participate in a water sports activity,” says Thanos
Lionsatos, Angsana Velavaru’s director of sales and marketing. “The lagoon is a
major attraction for those who enjoy swimming, as the waters around the island
tend to be calm throughout the year; the majority of our guests take up the free
house reef snorkelling tour, as it provides an opportunity to experience the diversity
of the coral and marine life within our immediate vicinity.”
At North Male Atoll’s Angsana Ihuru, the story is
the same: “Eighty to 90 percent of the guests enjoy our
resort’s water sports, and most of them take part in
snorkelling or scuba diving,” says Srikant Peri, general
manager for Angsana Ihuru and its sister resort Banyan
Tree Vabbinfaru, just five minutes away.
IN DEEP
Angsana Ihuru's very
own house wreck: the
Rannamaari, is said to
be one of the best in the
Maldives. The artificial
wreck is a former dredger
that was sunk in 1999 and
now lives a much more
colourful life, adorned
with several varieties of
sea coral and teeming
with sea life from giant
moray eels to sting rays
and nurse sharks.
Up Close and Personal There’s a reason so many people
grab snorkelling or scuba gear and take to the ocean,
and it’s not just because of the calm waters. Accessible
directly from the in-ocean villas — seriously, there’s
nothing cooler than being able to step off your villa
balcony and into the ocean — Angsana Velavaru’s shallow
house reef is a dazzling display of colours highlighting
the best of Maldives’ marine life. The reef is home to
turtles, resident moray eels, eagle rays and stingrays,
B E L O W, L E F T:
Suluban Beach in
Bali, Indonesia, offers
both picturesque beach
views and enviable
surfing waves
B E L O W, R I G H T:
The deep blue waters
of the Maldives provide
an ideal playground for
all watersports — not
least surfing
and even the occasional shark. The parade of marine
luminaries doesn’t stop when you get out of the water,
either: dolphins frequent the reef, and you can watch the
brightly coloured fish flit about as you sit on the edge of
the balcony, your toes dipped in the water.
INDIA
SRI LANKA
THE MALDIVES, OCEAN JEWEL
Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
90,000 square
kilometres
Largest resident . . . . .
The whale shark (up to
10 metres long)
Average temperature . . .
30 degrees Celcius
Language . . . . . . . . . . .
Dhivehi
Wrecking Call Angsana Ihuru raises the stakes with
a house reef home to its own shipwreck. At 26 metres
deep , the Raanamaari wreck is obviously too deep for
snorkellers, and even beginning divers, but for those
who can manage the dive, it’s a fish magnet that attracts
groupers, nurse sharks and schools of fish.
Angsana Ihuru recognizes the uniqueness of
having its own house wreck, and for the last three
years has hosted a 24-hour diving event called “10 to
10 Raanamaari Wreck.” Starting at 10am and ending
the following morning at the same time, divers explore
the former dredger that sank in 1999, for six unique
dives during the day — a perspective that’s rarely offered
at other resorts. Because there is around-the-clock
supervision, even snorkellers can join in on the fun,
jumping into the warm waters to see which reef dwellers
are up early in the morning (and, conversely, which
nocturnal creatures haven’t gone to sleep yet) or for a
late afternoon dip when many of the fish are feeding.
If a dive on Raanamaari isn’t your style, there’s
a shallower “wreck” near the beach. Visible from the
jetty, the Barnacle is one of Angsana Ihuru’s crowning
achievements. Nearly 20 years ago, the man-made steel
structure was placed in six metres of water just off the
beach, and hooked up to low-voltage cables powered by
solar. The electrically charged superstructure promotes
coral growth, and is shallow enough that kayakers,
snorkellers and swimmers will be able to see its open
end from the surface and marvel as fish swarm the
corals. It’s so overgrown, though, that divers may swim
past it if they don’t know where to look.
B A N YA N T R E E
VA B B I N F A R U
Young and Free Children are not left out when it comes
to the resorts’ most popular activity. While kids can
join their parents and snorkel the house reef, there’s an
even greater adventure in store: both resorts offer PADI
Bubblemaker, a short programme lasting a couple of
hours in which kids as young as eight years old learn the
basics of scuba equipment and scuba diving. Eventually,
they gear up and get in the lagoon in front of the resort,
blowing bubbles in shallow water and marvelling at the
wonderful sea life that surrounds them.
Youngsters who are 10 or older can progress to PADI Junior Open Water Diver,
which allows them to dive to 10 metres, exploring some of the best dive sites that
the planet has to offer. There are few better places to try than the handful of sites
right near to the two Angsana resorts which feature a wonderful array of sea life
including sharks, eagle rays and manta rays, moray eels and fish of every colour
and pattern imaginable.
And yet, despite being uber brag-worthy to the kids back home, taking part in
the Bubblemaker program might not even be a child’s most memorable experience
even though it’s one the whole family can enjoy.
PHOTOS: JODY MACDONALD (MAIN); GETTY IMAGES
This Banyan Tree resort
provides a luxurious
base from which to
explore the North Male
atoll. You can even take
to the ocean and spend
a few nights aboard
the hotel's very own
catamaran: Ka’hambu,
to make the most of the
water with snorkelling
and fishing trips.
U N D E R T H E B A N YA N T R E E
01/06
2016
Citizen Scientist The coolest water sports activity offered by any resort in the world
is one that also has the added bonus of helping the environment: at Angsana Ihuru,
you can become a citizen scientist for a day, a week or your entire holiday. A staff of
marine biologists at Angsana Ihuru and neighbouring Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru has
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