The World Awaits: travel tales to inspire your wanderlust
Where does your wanderlust lead you?
To Melbourne’s cafes or the vast deserts of the Empty Quarter, a New Zealand vineyard or the pavements of New York… what’s your neighbourhood?
Join travel journalists and editors Kirstie Bedford and Belinda Jackson for inspiring stories and inside information from across the world.
Website https://theworldawaits.au
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The World Awaits: travel tales to inspire your wanderlust
EP 122 Are the Maldives worth the hype? Tips for Travel Tuesday & would you go broke for a break?
Are the Maldives worth the hype? This episode, co-host Belle Jackson talks about her most recent visit to the island nation.
We're talking about the food, the different types of resorts, their sustainability and, of course, whale sharks.
Belle stayed at Niyama Private Islands Maldives for the surfing; niyama.com & Avani+ Fares Maldives for the whale sharks; avanihotels.com/en/fares-maldives
Also, travel comparison and booking platform Omio shares some tips for Travel Tuesday, such as knowing your prices beforehand, get your logins and sign up to newsletters! See omio.com
And are Australians prepared to go broke for a break? Stay tuned... https://www.finder.com.au/news/action-to-afford-holiday-2025
Kirstie's story on https://karryon.com.au/luxury/overtourism-in-africa-help-or-hinder/
Finally, let's start a tea party! Tell us - do you pack tea bags when you travel? Belle's story in the Sydney Morning Herald: https://www.theage.com.au/traveller/inspiration/i-didn-t-want-coffee-so-my-1000-a-night-resort-gave-me-cheap-tea-bags-20251107-p5n8h9.html
Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au
Welcome to the World Awaits. Travel tales to inspire your wonderlust. Welcome back to the World Awaits. How are you all? How's your week been, Kirsty?
SPEAKER_04:Oh my god, I've had a massive few weeks and I've just finally got my seat back under the desk. So I've been on a Viking cruise in the MED, which you might have seen if you're following me on socials at Kości Rights, and we were off the ship every day and we covered four countries. So the highlight for me was um Dubrovnik in Croatia. Oh my god, I just loved that place. It was just so beautiful. It was a gorgeous old town and just had a really good vibe about it. And then when we got back, we had family here and we headed on down to my favourite local haunt, which is um Phillip Island, which the weather was not kind to us. But um, but anyway, look, it was still great. We went and visited Phillip Island Winery, which I hadn't been to, which is a gorgeous winery, uh, really lovely, and it was um, yeah, really nice experience. You can they have live music there on Saturdays if you're ever heading down that way. Um, and lots of and uh obviously their own wine brand, which was delicious. Uh, and then yeah, we showed them around some of the wildlife. Also had a cover story come out in the New Zealand Herald about Songsar in Cambodia and another on uh the yoga festival in Tahiti that I went to recently. So we can I can put links to those in the show notes. And also a piece, actually, I wrote a piece um I'd been researching about overcrowding on safaris. So that's an interesting topic, I think, that needs more coverage. So um, yeah, but how's your week been, Belle?
SPEAKER_03:Uh, I am really interested to read that um safari story because it's something really close to my heart. I am celebrating my own little victory, and it's uh much less um worthy, but it's a it's about a piece I wrote in For the Age and the City Morning Herald about worthy.
SPEAKER_04:What less do you mean less worthy than being named? Travel writer of the year for the second time in almost a row.
SPEAKER_03:God, there's that. No, saying less worthy than animal conservation. This I was saying, so this story is, you know, it's not one of the big issues, but it is a big issue because everybody just fired up about it. It is about how tea drinkers get a raw deal. So I actually put a call out to form a tea party. Ha, get it, to object how hotels will finesse the espresso, coup over the pour over, and obsess with the cold press. Meanwhile, we, the rusted on tea drinkers, and I'm putting you in here as well, Kirsty, we are ignored and we get served these crappy, pesticide-laden budget supermarket tea bags. And it really hit a nerve. So I'm gonna continue calling it out. I always make the point when I'm in hotels, when I, you know, when I'm doing an inspection and stuff, I'll say to somebody, dude, what is with the crap teabags? Seriously. You know, when these hotels are saying, oh, we embody a place and um, you know, we're all about the location and stuff like that. And then they get some dodgy ass crap teabag beside the espresso machine. I'm done. I'm done with it. I consider it my civic duty as a travel journalist. So apart from that, celebrating that win, I have actually just corolled myself in the house. I'm recharging the batteries after a busy couple of months in Central Australia, Tassie and the Maldives. So let's all lie down for Christmas. That's my motto.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, as you know, I'm up for good tea too. And I think it's a I think it's a great crusade there that you're on. Um, and it was very hard to get a good chai last night, I have to say, when I was over in Europe.
SPEAKER_03:You just got to do what we all do. You've got to start packing it and traveling it with traveling with you, you know. I've got a stash of tea bags. Yeah. So I want to hear actually, I want to hear from readers. Do you carry tea bags with you when you travel if you are a serious?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, but a bit harder to carry the sticky chai and the um coffee machine to make it in. But yeah, but um, so anyway, we are all going to hear soon about the Maldives, which I can't wait to hear about. But before we get into that, a new finder survey has found Aussies are prepared to practically go broke to get a break. Well, maybe not broke, but we're all getting highly creative to ensure that we can pay for our holidays.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, absolutely. In fact, almost half of those in this survey uh are looking at how they can make money or cut the budget to ensure they can afford a getaway. Um, with more than 20 of the people responding, uh 20% of people responding to this survey um are doing things like recycling bottles and cans for cash. And look, I totally do this because it's a win-win all around. And 14% are selling unwanted household items and clothing to pay for their trip. And I think, isn't that the whole point of um Facebook Marketplace, right? You know.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, for sure if you trust it. And about 13% have also taken on a second job or side hustle, while 25% are sacrificing their social lives. And Find a Money Expert Rebecca Pike says it shows how desperate some people are for a holiday because they're not just cutting back, but people are really hustling hard to make it happen.
SPEAKER_03:And sadly, she says that travel for many isn't affordable anymore, but people are willing to sacrifice everyday comforts, and I hope she doesn't mean good tea bags, just to make it happen. Um, because there was a shift away from spontaneous getaways to strategic planning. People are using side hustles, points hacking, and selling pre-loved items to get that travel currency. We are, I mean, look, you know, Kirsty, we're an anomaly because we travel for work. But what do you see friends and family do to pay for holidays?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, look, uh, I think if it's a priority, and and remember as the sun, it's really not, but for our listeners, of course, you're here for the travel and suppose. So of course it would be. Um, and for you, and I have friends, lots of friends like this too, it's about, I guess, reviewing where you go. So maybe instead of Europe, it might be some of my friends would just go somewhere closer to home. So they might go somewhere like Bali. Um, and also somewhere where there's a more favorable exchange rate. So, because and also we have to remember that travel doesn't have to be about cost. You can always just go and experience places close at home. And because we were just at Phillip Island, that was a really good reminder to us of that. Because we had family down there, we were taking them to places and doing things that we wouldn't normally do. So it was it was a really good reminder that you, yeah, you can you can you can still experience something new if you see a place close to home like a tourist.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, absolutely. I feel the same way. I mean, we do things like we pool travel with friends, so we split the costs on holidays. Um, and staying close to home here in Victoria. In fact, you will find me down the Mornington Peninsula this Christmas, back to my heartland, because we've got a family house um down there that lets us stay without the prohibitive price of tags of renting a beach house in summer. So all, you know, all the extended family is down there um at that time, and I think it's just really beautiful, and it doesn't absolutely bust the bust the bank.
SPEAKER_04:And so listen out for the great debate again about Morning to Peninsula versus Phillip Island after the Christmas break, and we put a link to this research in the show notes.
SPEAKER_02:Ah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_04:Turquoise lagoons, incredible sea life, overwater villas in Must Be the Maldives. This week Belle's my guest, and she's taking us to this beautiful island nation to see whether it lives up to the hype. So, firstly, Belle, for those who don't know, where are they?
SPEAKER_03:Well, let's start with our little geography lesson here. This little archipelago is southwest of India and Sri Lanka. There are just under 1,200 coral islands in the Maldives in 26 atolls. And only 200 of those islands was inhabited. All these stats just blew my mind. What is really interesting is that half the number of those islands are inhabited by Maldivians, and the other half are tourism resorts. And fascinatingly, that balance is changing. But look, the capital is Malay, which is one of the most densely populated capitals in the world. And it's not because it's got a ginormous population, but because the islands are just so insanely small. So everybody is chock on top of each other. So when you look at the size of the Maldives, it's only seven uh 870 kilometers from the top to the bottom and just 130 kilometers wide. So it's absolutely tiny. In fact, when the first plane landed in the Maldives in 1960, Malay was just too small to accommodate an airport. So they put the landing strip on the neighboring island, Hulhule Island. And I've got to say, the first two times I visited the Maldives, to get to Malay from the airport, you had to catch a small boat called Adonie across the stretch of water from the airport to the capital. Now there's actually a large bridge connecting the two islands. So when I when I was there last month, that was the very first change that I noticed flying in.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, well interesting. So how do you get there from Australia?
SPEAKER_03:Well, I've got to say, we are terribly unlucky here in Australia that there are no direct flights from Australia. Um, but look, watch this space because I anticipate news to be announced very, very shortly that will change this. So at the moment, most people fly to Singapore with Singapore Airlines and then they transfer on to the Maldives. Um, you can also fly via Kuala Lumpur with Malaysian and even with budget carrier Air Asia, which I find is really fascinating. This time I flew with um Sri Lankan Airlines and I transited in Colombo. It's only an hour and a half from Colombo to Malay, it's probably the closest of the transfers. So it really depends on your budget and the best connections, because often uh we are stuck with quite a long wait in those transit countries. But every airline worth its salt flies into the Maldives, including all the Middle Eastern carriers. Turkish is in there, Aeroflot comes from Russia, British Airways, and all the Chinese carriers are in there too. So, like, who's not there really is the question. Yeah, wow, I don't know. It's fascinating. Um, so tell us a bit about where you stayed. Well, look, firstly, almost nobody stays in Malay, the capital. While it has improved, it is generally regarded as pretty dreary, and you can cover it off in a short time. The highlight for me when I visited on a previous trip to the Maldives was the fish market, which sounds kind of rando, but when you go in, you see these absolutely enormous whole tuna sold. It like at the end of the day, they'll just be flogging it off for a couple of dollars a kilo of this beautiful, beautiful f fish. I mean, it's not the ideal way to see the famous marine life, but there you go. Um, I better say most visitors don't go to Marle. They stay at the airport and connect straight onto their resort, either by speedboat for those resorts close to Marlee, by a commercial flight to one of the domestic airports dotted around the atolls, or via seaplane.
SPEAKER_04:Now we're talking who doesn't love a seaplane.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely. Like you, I do love a little plane. The smaller the better. It's it's kind of like Fiji in the sense that there are whole fleets of twin otters, if you're an AV geek like me, skipping about amongst the islands, between the islands. So these planes seed up to 19 people, and they have the most beautiful runway in the world. They take off and land on water. And I just love the seaplane terminal in the Maldives, seeing all of these private planes whipping out to the Ultralux resorts. The um the seaplane transfers are the most indirect and also the most expensive way to get to your resort. Alternatively, for a lot of them, you can take a commercial flight to the nearest airport and then you take a speedboat onto your onto your um island. But on the seaplanes, the scenery is just incredible and they flow, they fly much, much lower than the regular planes. So you just, I mean, look, jump onto my Instagram. I have taken so many videos just of what we were looking at as we are flying over these atolls. But look, when you are planning your Maldives um adventure, let me remind you that these beautiful little seaplanes only fly visual line of sight, which means they have to be able to see where they're going. They can't rely on radar. So they don't fly at night and they won't fly in very poor weather. So you have to ensure that your international flight arrives in the Maldives with enough time to get onto a seaplane. Um, generally the last ones go out to the islands at about 3:30 in the afternoon. Otherwise, your transfers have to be done by commercial flights. And the most incredible thing about it, actually, Kirsty, was none of the pilots wear shoes. So you're flying out on this tiny plane. And with the first time we flew out, there was only seven or so of us in the plane. Pilots are barefoot. It's just amazing. Like, and and that is when you go, I'm on a seaplane with a pilot that doesn't even have any shoes on, I must be in the Maldives.
SPEAKER_04:Yes. And that's a really good tip, actually, about timing. Because often you don't you don't think about those sorts of things about coordinating because the transfers you just assume are there waiting and ready for you. So what was your resort like? And um and why did you choose to go there?
SPEAKER_03:Well, I stayed in two resorts. I was there for a week and I split my time between two of them. The first one I stayed at was Niama Private Islands, which is down south of Malay in the Dala Atoll. And then the second resort was north of Malay at the Yvani Plus Faras in the Bar Atoll. They're both owned by minor hotels and they are both very different hotels.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, and let's delve into that a little bit because uh my understanding is that from the Maldives is that you really have to choose the resort based on what you want to do because the experiences are so different to paste uh, you know, depending on their geographic location.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely. Look, yeah, the as I've said, the Malay uh the Maldives is not huge, but it is incredibly diverse. So, first I'd say it is the ultimate fly and flop destination because the scenery, no matter where you stay, is absolutely spectacular. The islands are surrounded by lagoons that hold back the Indian Ocean. The sand is blindingly white, the sunsets are magnificent, best enjoyed from your pool lounger, or if the positioning is right and it often is, enjoyed from your bed, um, or that gorgeous little beach bar shack. But look, the back to the activities and those two properties. The unique point about Niyama Private Island is it is is one of the very few islands in the Maldives with a naturally occurring surf break on its shores. The the break it breaks right off the northern um point, which is called Vodi Point. And so while they're surfing in other areas of the Maldives, such as down south a few years ago, I was at the Como Melafushi, where dedicated surf tour companies run surfing trips. But um, often they might be on live-board boats, or you've got to go out to the atolls. And that is very different to this as a beach break.
SPEAKER_04:So just apart from surfing, what were you doing to wipe away your days?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I'm absolutely. And they do do beginner surf lessons, you know. I mean, what a bragging right that is. I alert to surf in the Maldives. Um, Niamos is uh is a great one because it's really just it's just refurbished, uh, it's nearly refurbished this year. So the resort's only eight years old, but you know, sun, sand, and surf do take their toll, not only on your skin, but on the resorts as well. So we were lucky enough to stay in one of the newly renovated overwater villas. And like most resorts, they balance those overwater villas, which do come with a higher price point, with its beach villas. And Niyama has a lot of beach villas hidden between the palms, which are super private and right on the beachfront. And they are absolutely popular with families with young children because you can simply wander out of the villa and out onto your little slice of a beach to swim in very shallow, safe, and incredibly warm waters. So I did do a lot of that. And then they also run day trips out to see turtles, champagne sunsets, go on a dive tour, and all of those water sports that you'd expect. And what I loved about this resort was that unlike others, it's also quite sizable. So it's four acres spread across two interconnecting islands. They've got a little wooden bridge between them. Um, and everybody gets around in these old school beach cruiser bikes, which is just gorgeous. So, you know, you're just cruising through the coconut palms on these sandy trails along the over and along the overwater boardwalks. You go to the restaurant for breakfast, out onto one of the beaches for a bit of stand-up paddling. You might take your kids to the kids' club, or they they all have teen clubs on them now with um things like, you know, FIFA and um and ping pong and stuff like that. Or you're going to the the treetop restaurant nest, which is beautiful, out to that beach bar where you can watch the surfers. Um, what you cannot cycle to is Niama's specialty restaurant Edge, which is set half a kilometre offshore on a pontoon. So at sunset, you take a boat out um to this pontoon to this restaurant. So you can dine on Maldivian lobster as the sun sets across the ocean and there is, you know, with nothing on the horizon, it really is spectacular. And then on Friday nights, you can follow a staircase on that pontoon down to its underwater restaurant, which turns into a disco. So heartbreakingly, I arrived on a Saturday. So I cannot share with you what it was like dancing underwater, but it was like we went down to the space and it was just amazing. I've I have eaten in underwater restaurants like in on the Conrad property at Rangali Island. There was a little bit of guilt, Kirsty, because they serve seafood.
SPEAKER_02:So you're sitting there eating a fish and then its cousin swims past you, and you think, oh my god. How do they feel about that?
SPEAKER_04:But I have to say, uh dining on a pontoon um, you know, is on lobster. Oh my god, what an amazing experience. And um, I think the food would be so good you wouldn't be worrying about the uh the cousins or sisters or the brothers that are swimming around.
SPEAKER_03:And if your photo, but sorry, and of course there's no calories in holiday food as well.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, of course. Or drink. Um, but yeah, your videos were so beautiful, and everyone can check those out at um global underscore salsa. So what was the food like? And can you actually try the try the Maldivian food if it like what sort of food is that? Because that's all based around obviously the ocean.
SPEAKER_03:I am glad you asked, Kirsty, because you know I do love to eat. And one of my favorite things when I'm in places like India or Sri Lanka or the Maldives is breakfast curry. Show me a breakfast curry with parata, fried bread, and I will show you a contented woman. Um, also good tea. Yeah. So um kicking all the boxes, um, on both the resorts I stayed in, they had a Maldivian breakfast station, which I'm really happy to see because you know you can eat bacon and eggs and sausages anywhere around the world. What? But there are two foods that underpin Maldivian cuisine, which are unsurprisingly, coconuts and tuna. Years ago on Conrad Bangali Island, the head chef told me no tuna, no life for the Moldivian kitchen. So oftentimes that breakfast curry is chicken, but traditionally it's more likely to be a fresh tuna curry and a rich sort of tomato-y, coconut-y gravy. And I am so okay with that. And chili as well, always chili, because they do love a good chili. They play it down in the resorts, but um they serve it on the side. And when you say to the chef, Yeah, I can do a bit of chili, they're like, Yes, but they still keep it at a lower level to what a Maldivian definition of chili is. So uh yeah, I just think the food is really fascinating because you know, you get through to a culture, you know, you understand a culture through its food. And so when you go, it's all about tuna and and coconuts, it's like, of course, because you are on a tropical island in the middle of nowhere, right?
SPEAKER_04:Oh my god, all that chat about that incredible food's making me very hungry. But the other property you actually stated is actually one that we've featured before, which is Ivani Plus Fares, which is in the Bar Atoll north of Marle. And if you jump back to episode 98, I interviewed free diving conservationist Hanley Prince Lou, and I have to say she's absolutely sold me on the incredible wildlife sear too.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, there is a saying here in Bar, it's better in Bar. Um, and I don't know how many times I heard that because the Maldivians just love it as much as much as everybody else. This resort's only a couple of years old. It is set on a what was a 200-year-old coconut plantation um on the western edge of the country. So if you are having a little drink looking west across the Indian Ocean, there is nothing, nothing, until you hit the coast of Africa at Somalia. And that like that actually blew my mind. I felt so remote on this island. It was it was almost disconcerting that it, you know, you really felt that that incredible isolation.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, amazing. And what was the vibe like there compared to the other one you were staying at?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, compared to it, it is a really different animal compared to Niama. It's not a question of the number of rooms because Niama has 134 villas, um, which range from overwater and uh and beach villas. And then on Ivani, there are 176. So they've got overwater villas, they've got the beach villas, and then they've got these pavilion rooms, which are decorated exactly the same as the others, but then they're in an um, they're in uh small groups. So so your families can actually take a couple of them together. It's much more interconnecting. They are at a lower price point. I met this great English couple who said, Oh, we were gonna stay at the overwater villas, and then we realized we could stay for two weeks if we stayed in the pavilion room. So they were staying on this island for two weeks, which I thought was just phenomenal. Um, but there's a very different energy on Ivani Plus. I feel Niama is really classic, wonderfully laid back in that Maldivian escape style. Avani has more activities, and I that is due to the location. Avani won the Best Dive Resort uh award at Maldives Travel Trade Awards last year, and it's and it's actually won it a couple of times, and and that is fighting off some serious competition. I'll give you an example of um because I'm a snorkeler, I'm not a diver. Um I'm not a bad snorkeler. The house reef is um the house reef on the island at Avania Plus, is you literally walk to the end of the beach near Smuggler's Shack, which is a cute little beach bar, and you jump in with your snorkel on, and you are diving straight into an aquarium. It's just incredible the phenomenal amount of fish life around you. Like you'll just have schools of a hundred um, you know, tiny little angel fish flying, you know, tearing past you. They've got um, I mean, there's things like eels and uh just moorish idols. And the numbers are phenomenal. And look, I've you know, I've snuggled extensively in the Great Barrier Reef in places like the Great Astrolabe in Fiji, in southern Fiji. Um, on this beach, uh, you know, it's in its turtles have been laying their eggs, and the hotel protects them. They have about 50 or 60 hatches on the island around the year. And that's just a place where you're having like a sunset drink. It's it's absolutely phenomenal. There's a drop-off from just a couple of meters offshore, and it drop drops past, and people were seeing um sharks, nice, friendly, delightful sharks, um, just off this reef. Uh, it absolutely blew my mind, Kirsty, to be completely, you know, no holds barred, honest with you. It blew my mind. In fact, I had a chat with Ivanny Plus Farah's um general manager, Judd Rabbage, who is actually Australian and he lives on the island with his young family, and he's been there a couple of years, and he's going to explain to you why it's better in bar.
SPEAKER_00:Um, the bar toll is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. And for example, where we are um, you know, certain times of the year, you're standing on the jetty and you've got, you know, dry manta rays even coming past, eagle rays, turtles, sharks. We call them vegetarians, unlike Australian sharks. Are they vegetarians and the Maldives? They've got enough food so they don't um don't try and it eats uh eat humans, which we're lucky about, but also um you look every kind of marine life you can imagine is there, and because of it's it's a reserve, there's no fishing, um, you know, the marine animals are really comfortable coming in close, comfortable with humans as well. Um, so it's that is a destination as a bartole. You will not find marine life like that anywhere else in the Maldives. And I think a lot of places other than the Galavagus in the world, um, it's you know, you can you can go to certain areas and just the uh the the sheer amount of of turtles that'll be on one reef, or you know, there's a pot of dolphins in the area, they're a thousand strong. So it's an incredible um, you know, a toll. It's it's far enough away, you know, north that you're away from the shipping lines, you're away from normality, you know. And where we are at Ivani, we're on the very, very western edge. So you can't see any other islands as you would have noticed, but when you're on the island, you can see Vakuru just on a nice day, but it's about 15 to 20 minutes by boat, but you can't see any other islands, and and that's what really makes us being on that very western edge, the animals are comfortable to to kind of swim in. So, you know, throughout the day, the amount of marine life you see is fantastic. I was I was a bit out now on the um out to Harifaru Bay, which is where they all congregate, where the giant mandarys congregate. And we're going out there and and all the Maldivian boys, um, you know, and I and I love it. Look, I really I think you know, as a as a leader, when you're there in the Maldives, you should really focus on on the locals. You know, we're lucky enough to be expats in their country, and we should always be grateful for that. And and so I try, you know, really get involved with the local boys. And they said to me, when we get past this point, just put your head out and you'll see, you might see some some wild shots. And we saw this and and look big in Australia, but you know, I see the odd fin and I do get a bit of a fight. So put my head out, and and I sort of saw um, you know, these uh the tail coming in out of the water and got a bit of a fright. But the boys, one of the lads just jumped straight in, and um they you know they're giving me grief. Obviously, work at the hotel and they said jump. And um, you know, my wife is pretty quick always to jump in. So she jumped in first, and then I was right behind her, and just swimming with this animal that's you know, two or three trucks, good car sizes are big, and just how gentle they are, and and swimming in the you can see so far in the water, and they're just so relaxed. It was, yeah, an incredible experience. Absolutely incredible experience.
SPEAKER_04:You can definitely hear the passion in his voice about the the wildlife and the bar at all. And particularly, I loved it how he talked about how he jumped in with the whale shots on the honey farous bay. It's just amazing.
SPEAKER_03:I know. It's it's absolutely incredible. There you have it from the horse's mouth. Judd also told me incredibly the Australians, speaking of animals in uh traveling around the place, as Australians are actually number five in the nationalities that visit the Maldives. I was so surprised by that. So the most popular market is Russians, and honestly, if you have a look at their weather, you can see why. Um, with a big then followed by a lot of Europeans, Germans, and Italians. And um, and then after that, Australians at number five, which actually really surprised me. And I I did like, he made a really good point when we were chatting that his resort doesn't just focus on one nationality, but it's an eclectic mix of nationalities. So, so when you're at breakfast, you know, you can hear the Italians over this side, this German's here. We heard quite a lot of Dutch were visiting and stuff. So I I always find that fascinating. Um, it wasn't the season for um, you know, they traditionally had a lot of people coming from the Southern Asian from Hong Kong and Singapore and places like that. I just find that fascinating on land as well. Hilariously, we were on the island at the same time as British reality star Carolyn Stanbury. If you ever watched the Real Housewives of Dubai, uh, she was there with her Spanish footballer husband, Sergio Carolo, who um I was happy to be sharing the island with. She was running her power and paradise retreats here. I'll leave you to read between the lines on that last comment. She was running her power and paradise retreats here in the Maldives. And it was it was really interesting, actually, to watch how a power influencer couple operates. But it is one of the most aspirational destinations in the world, along with other places such as Tahiti and the Seychelles.
SPEAKER_04:People are madly Googling that footballer's name right now. Um, and so on to more serious issues. The question is, uh, with all this uh growth, is um is it going to be sustainable?
SPEAKER_03:Look, I've got to say that is something top of my mind when I think of the Maldives. Um, it is no surprise, it is one of the lowest-lying countries in the world. The highest point is about two meters above sea level. So if you are talking about rising sea levels, I'm like, hello, Maldives, what are you doing about it? Um, I did ask Judd about this, and we talked about the Maldives sea rangers who monitor the number of boats and proximity to animals. So, you know, when you jump off a boat to go and swim with a whale shark, you can't just jump on the whale shark. It doesn't work like that. So they are monitoring that and keeping that distance. Um, and they do come and talk to guests about the importance of keeping your distance from animals and staying close by the guides because I I think it's really fascinating. We tend to treat sea animals with a lot less respect than we treat land animals. You know, everybody is like, okay, um, you know, they understand how how um lions or elephants need that space. And honestly, they're very big and they're very bitey as well. But we don't always necessarily think about this when we're talking about sea animals. And the Maldives is changing as well because you're going, you're starting to find new islands that are being man-made or made by humans. It is incredible to note, like in 2017, the last time I was there was about 10 years ago, there were there were under less than 50 resorts. Now there are 180, and at least 20 more opening in the next year or two. And we're talking about the biggest names in the business. Bulgari opens there next year, Rosewood, Aman, Capella, Mandarin Oriental, they're all coming in the next few years. And this, you know, this is like$5,000 a night. So it's very much a luxury destination. Um, what uh what Judd, a point that he made about it, was that the marine life knows for generations where these natural reefs are. And it's going to take them generations to feel comfortable about the new reefs. So this, you know, there is muscle memory in the migratory parts. So what we've got to hope is that the tourism industry uh takes into account the the the Sustainability like actually takes on board about being sustainable. And that's not just, you know, not using plastic straws and stuff like that, but having genuine measures to ensure that they are doing things like, you know, getting away from diesel and having solar-powered resorts, which which makes sense. You know, it absolutely makes sense about sourcing food locally, you know, having the Maldivian lobster and not having the lobster that comes from Norway, which I think is an absolute no-brainer because it means, yes, you've got less food bales, but also it means us, the tourists, are having a more genuinely Maldivian experience.
SPEAKER_04:Okay, so tell us a bit about local life.
SPEAKER_03:Look, it's an interesting question because in the past the Maldivian government kept the local islands and the resort islands separate. Remembering that this is a Muslim country and bringing pork pornography and alcohol in your luggage is forbidden. So if it is your want to travel with a little pork sausage or two in your hand luggage, I'd say don't. You can buy alcohol when you're in the Maldives in the islands, of course. So the way that most people meet Maldivians, unless they take a dedicated local island tour, which I've done in the past, is you meet it through the resort staff. And I was really pleased to note that in these two internationally owned resorts, about half the workforce is actually Maldivian. So it might be the surf guides and the dive center or the personal trainers, the chefs, the butlers looking after the villas or the rooms, and a lot of the wait staff, mostly men in this situation, and they all really had a genuine warmth about them. I mean, they live in what most of the world considers paradise, and they are pretty proud of it. So what's changing in the Maldives now is the rise of homestays on the local islands. About 10 years ago, the government changed its laws to allow homestays, and they range from backpacker up to fancy five-star homestays. Um, although, you know, it's pretty hard to compete with some of the world's great hoteliers who have opened resorts here. But I think that homestays are the next story that the Maldives has to share.
SPEAKER_04:And my last question to you is, of course, interesting for most people. How much do they cost?
SPEAKER_03:Well, um, look, Nayama, uh, at Niyama, you budget around um$1,500 a night. Um, and that will range from being half board to full board, whether you get um breakfast and dinner or breakfast, lunch and dinner, and what's in your mini-bar and things like that. And as I said earlier, you know, the overwater villas tend to come with a higher price tag than other types of accommodation. And Ivani, um, around$1,200, depending on the time of year. I mean, the peak is now November through till April, which is the dry season, because look, you don't want to be, we've all been in paradise where it just rains every day, you know, which is which actually happened the week before we arrived in late October. So depending on, you know, you can get a bargain, you need to look at the weather at that time of year as well, even though weather patterns are changing dramatically. So um, there's my hot tip for you.
SPEAKER_04:So to find out more about these properties that Belle has mentioned, go to naama.com and avanihotels.com. And if you want to see more about Belle's experiences and her amazing blown blue images, go to her socials, globa underscore salsa on Instagram and search up Belle Jackson on Facebook.
SPEAKER_03:Our tip this week is about snagging the best deal on Travel Tuesday, which is a 24-hour window when the travel industry offers some of the steepest discounts of the year. So it falls just after the Cyber Monday sales. Um so once you've bought your new TV and your laptop, or in my case, dogworming tablets, um, the travel companies had a stage to themselves.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, and you're probably right across Black Friday or Cyber Monday, but um travel Tuesday is definitely one to watch.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I've got to say I am the most boring shopper in the sales season. Um so blowing it on travel is so much more exciting. I'm looking for suitcases at the moment, Kirsty.
SPEAKER_04:And if you haven't heard the term, it was actually coined in 2017 in the US when travel companies saw people jumping online to buy travel experiences after Thanksgiving. And now we have a travel sales season, and there are some really good deals out there. So we've seen some on Club Med, Singapore Airlines, and Wendy Woo.
SPEAKER_03:So travel comparison and booking website uh Omeo shares some tips for getting the best deals on Black Friday and and Travel Tuesday, because as you've said, you know, people are already releasing their deals now, and then they just peek at Travel Tuesday, which happens this coming Tuesday. So they say to prep ahead, make your travel bucket list and know the typical prices so that you compare them against the sales. Then get logged into your accounts and ready to book when the sales go live, the because the best deals sell out in hours. And I'd add to this have your loyalty program logins and frequent flyer numbers ready as well. Because if you are points collecting or you're looking for member-only benefits such as free breakfasts and upgrades, this is the time when you're going to get them. You can't always add them retrospectively.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. And also sign up for newsletters because obviously that'll give you the latest information. And follow the hotels and travel platforms on social media that you love so that you're the first in the know about these deals when they drop. Um, and we've seen plenty of deals already out there. So, and if you can be flexible about the dates and times, um, obviously that's easier if you're not locked into the school year or an inflexible work.
SPEAKER_03:Um, OMEO also advises to look out for less obvious routes or destinations. So, the example is if Phuket is fully booked out, try Krabi or Koya Noi instead. And they say by choosing lesser-known destinations, you reduce your costs. Who doesn't love that? You avoid crowds and experience lesser-known attractions and cultures.
SPEAKER_04:And they're also offering deals to celebrate Black Friday with up to 50% off all modes of travel in Southeast Asia this December. Um, you've just got to go and use the code ASIA50 and book by midnight on Tuesday, the 2nd of December. So you've still got time, unless you're listening on playback, and then you can look out for it the following year. Um, and we will put a link in the show notes. Next week, my guest is Carrie Hutcheson, who has a more than two decade-long career as a travel and lifestyle editor, travel writer, and ghostwriter, who decided to pack up her life in Melbourne and move to Sicily for part of the Australian winter. She explains how she did it and how you can follow in her footsteps.
SPEAKER_03:And we'd love it if you followed us on socials. You'll find us at the World of Waits Podcast on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Feel free to drop us a line at hello at the worldawaits.au. Or if you're enjoying this episode, please give us a rating or a review.
SPEAKER_01:That's a wrap for the World of Waits this week. Click to subscribe anywhere you listen to your favorite pods. Thanks for listening. See you next week.
