Great getaways
THE MALDIVES
When winter drags you down, what’s better than a sunny getaway? Jane Anderson headed to the Maldives and recommends some more vitamin D-fuelled destinations, too…
As Ilie on a beanbag lounger by a sleek infinity pool, alongside the whitest sand and turquoise ocean, a coral pink sunset streaks the expansive sky as fruit bats weave overhead. My daughter, Scarlett, 19, and son, Finlay, 16, sip on their mango smoothies with the healthy glow of the day’s heat on their skin and we all marvel at the natural beauty of the Indian Ocean and the extraordinary man-made luxury of the resort around us. We’re in the Maldives on a two-centre trip to Atmosphere Kanifushi and sister property VARU by Atmosphere. I can literally see my kids unfurl from the British winter with this blast of vitamin D, intense natural beauty and five-star treatment – happily, for me, on an all-inclusive basis.
It’s no wonder that a British Airways 2023 Travel Trends Report found a 239% increase in searches to the Maldives this year – it remains one of the most spectacular island destinations in the world. Our own Maldivian adventure begins once our 10-hour direct British Airways flight lands by the main island of Malé and we’re escorted to the swanky new seaplane terminal. We’re soon boarding our Trans Maldivian Airways seaplane for the 35-minute flight north to Kanifushi, looking down on necklaces of tiny islands known as atolls – some barely above sea level. As we land, our seaplane skids gently over the water and we’re soon on the jetty at Kanifushi in the Lhaviyani Atoll, being greeted with boduberu drummers, palm-woven necklaces and big smiles.
We cast off our jeans for swimwear and flip-flops, getting our bearings on this 2km-long-by-90m-wide jungly island with a calm lagoon to the north and crashing open ocean and coral reef to the south– which the kids christen ‘the crash zone’. General manager Mae tells us she feels so alive here with the ocean breeze and still marvels at the fact you can see the sun rise and set from the same spot.
We’re staying in a Residence, a vast villa with a private circular pool right on the beach that has clear Perspex panels at either end and a multitude of decking and sunken seating areas. My bedroom has a round bed and James Bond movie-style chairs, and both my room and the kids’ have expansive bathrooms, half indoors/ half outdoors, with freestanding baths under the trees.
Pretty turquoise bikes are soon deliver
