Day 6 (March 14, 2023): A Dreamy Kind of Day in Huraa

We’ve been looking forward to today!  A zero-travel day, for one, and no pressure to explore a city’s sights, for two.  Just a complete day of relaxation and good meals, as a real vacation is supposed to be.

Sunrise was at 6:15AM, and our room had a view directly east.  So we set the alarm to be able to catch the sun’s rise, and it was indeed a picture-perfect scene.

At 7AM, we set out for a walk to the nearby “bikini beach”, just to see what an official Maldivian bikini beach looks like!  From there, we headed back to the resort to take in some of the beach’s sights in the absence of other resort guests.  

Breakfast, which was a lovely three-course affair, just like lunch and dinner, was at 8AM.  We had a slight “crabby” hiccup after breakfast — continue reading for details!  Once that was resolved, we headed to a palapa on the beach for six hours, broken only by lunch.  We swam and snorkelled and had a wonderful afternoon. 

At 4:30PM, we decided to head into Huraa, which is just a ten-minute walk, to see what a typical small Maldivian island village looks like.  The photos below will provide a sense of that.  The only comment I will add here is that, we both wore shorts and t-shirts, thinking such a small village with a resort tacked onto the end of the island, would be very laid-back when it comes to tourist dress.  Au contraire!  Huraa was extremely traditional.  We’re talking strict Islamic dress up to the point of burkas with full-face and hand coverings.  So Pam’s shorts and t-shirt look, in particular, was perhaps looked upon with great disdain.  No one said anything to us, But it felt like showing up to a traditional Sunday morning church service wearing only skimpy underwear!  We did get a good sense of the Huraa vibe and saw what daily life resembles.  But we walked quickly and didn’t stop to converse with anyone, beyond ‘hello’ to anyone who would dare speak back to tourists clothed such as us.

Dinner was another wonderful meal.  As our table has been assigned, we’ve gotten to know the German couple at the next table for the last four meals.  We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our conversations with them, about travel, life in Germany and in Canada, and our mutual Maldivian experiences.

We are booked on the 8AM boat to Male Airport tomorrow morning, so no late evening for us!

A stunning sunset from our balcony marked the start of a truly wonderful and restful day.

The Huraa Bikini Beach, next door to our resort, contains two sections.  Section one, above, has an overwater swing, with a view of Club Med in the background.

Section two of the Huraa Bikini Beach in the early morning hours.

A heron hung out at our resort all morning.

Various scenes of the beach at our resort, before the other guests were out and about:

When we got back to our room after breakfast, a large land crab had laid claim to a space up against our door.  And he was not about to let us pass!  We got a stick and started poking, in hopes he would run off, but that just set him off!  After awhile, he eventually moved aside to let us pass.  We have no idea how he climbed a set of stairs to start with.

Some afternoon views of the resort’s beach:  

That’s me, NOT thinking about work!  Club Med is across the water.

We did a snorkel, which was fun, but the fish and coral were sparse.

That’s the Pearl Sands Resort from out in the water.

A shelled crab.

Late afternoon, this ray caused some excitement, as it swam within a couple of feet of the beach’s edge.

These are scenes from our walk into Huraa:

A few Dhoani (traditional Maldivian boats) were up on the land for maintenance.
 
Land-crab holes.

There is a mangrove between the resort and the Huraa village.  Quite beautiful!

Every island has to deal with the practicalities of electricity generation, water production, and wastewater disposal.  We didn’t get to see how Huraa deals with the latter two, but this is its electricity generation facility.

A mural adorns one of the streets in Huraa.  It features a whale shark, which we are hoping to get to see at our next resort in South Ari Atoll.

Pam and a typical Huraa street, late in the afternoon.

Kids were playing a football game on the local football field.

Another typical Huraa street.

The Huraa Mosque.

Two Huraa women, out for a walk near the Bikini Beach.

When we arrived back at the hotel, there was a horrible oily bank of smoke billowing all around.  One whiff felt like it would lead to lung failure!  We thought something was on fire, but it was the daily resort effort to keep mosquitoes at bay.  

Our last dinner at the resort.  Julie and Marco, from Düsseldorf, our meal partners, are in the background.  We loved our conversations with them.

Post-dinner, and feeling the burning of too much sun.  Otherwise, it was a perfect day.