Sandy Toes and Magical Marine Life
We know that many of you are really looking forward to getting back to the Maldives in 2021. In the next episode of our ‘view from’ series we asked the dive team at Vilamendhoo how they have been coping with island life this last year.
Who thought that in 2020, the world would stop all its operations because of a pandemic? Our team here at Euro-Divers Vilamendhoo certainly didn’t. We still remember the month of March when we went from the peak of the high season to stopping the entire operation within two weeks! As the Maldives was one of the last destinations to close their borders for tourists, we barely realised what was happening in the rest of the world until we had our last guests leaving. Even though we hoped at that time to be able to reopen a few months later, it turned out to take more than seven before we could open our doors again. We happily welcomed our first diver back on the 1st of November.
Image by Leila Wirz
Most of our team members went home during the lockdown and few agreed to stay on the island. At the beginning it felt very strange to live on an empty resort island with no guests around but slowly we got used to it and found our way into a new routine. It was a great opportunity to renovate the buildings and do some gardening and other things that we usually have no time for.
Image by A. Shauau
On the island, life was simple and quiet during the seven months and we even felt protected from the pandemic, living in a bubble far away from the reality that was broadcast all over the news. It was also a great time for the staff to get some more free time to discover the island and the house reef. We got the chance to witness some changes in marine life like bigger sharks patrolling the house reef on a regular basis, and turtles nesting at the beach next to the restaurant.
After several months of closure, the resort reopened at the start of November, and at the dive centre we were very happy and excited to welcome our divers back to the incredible and magical underwater world. The team were ready with new measures in place to keep our divers and our team as safe as possible. The number of guests per boat has been reduced to a maximum of eight with a respect on the social distancing. Each diver gets one set of equipment throughout the whole stay and our crew is well trained in cleaning and disinfecting all the dive equipment. Also the resort has all the necessary safety measures in place from arrival to resort to welcoming guests into the restaurant, room cleaning and all other services.
Since the reopening, diving around Vilamendhoo has been fantastic. We had encounters with whale sharks on our first trip to the national park in South Ari Atoll, and the manta trips have been more than successful with sometimes more than 10 mantas on each dive, cruising around the cleaning station and putting on a show for the divers. Our guests also had the chance to encounter bottlenose dolphins during a dive just to name a few of some quite spectacular and magical moments.
The team is now ready to welcome many new divers and introduce them to the breathtaking underwater world of South Ari Atoll, one of the best diving destinations in the world. We look forward to welcoming you back!
Manuel Schierl, Manager of Euro-Divers Vilamendhoo
Vilamendhoo Island Resort is fully open with a 25% off accommodation special offer when you book your holiday by 05 January. For more information, contact our friendly team.
