Tag: snorkeling

  • Welcome to Komandoo

    Welcome to Komandoo

    After twenty-plus hours of flying and transit, we arrived on a tiny island in the Indian Ocean to the smell of salty air and the sounds of Maldivian drums accompanying an inviting chant: “Wel-come to…Ko-man-doo. Have a nice…hol-i-day.” It was a rhyme Chris and I repeated throughout the week with affection for our temporary home in absolute paradise. And have a nice holiday we certainly did, thanks to the ultimate relaxing environment of Komandoo. The pampering commenced immediately as we were greeted and handed a cold towel, a fresh coconut, and a scoop of homemade coconut ice cream.

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    Paradise. There is really no other word to describe our surroundings. Everywhere we looked, we felt like we stepped right into a postcard. I photographed the same scenes over and over, hoping to capture at least a fraction of the magic and to do this utopia justice.

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    In my last post I detailed how we ended up choosing to stay at Komandoo, and in this two-part review I’ll cover a full report of our time at the resort.

    The Island

    Situated in the Lhaviyani atoll, Komandoo is a 40-minute seaplane transfer going north from Malé. Resort accommodations consist of fifty beach villas and fifteen water villas, so compared to the majority of Maldivian resorts, Komandoo is on the smaller side, which is exactly what we wanted since we were craving a quiet, laid-back experience. The island itself stretches less than a kilometer lengthwise and it’s even shorter across the width. The beach villas line either side of the island, tucked into the lush foliage, and a half-moon of water villas curve around the end of the island, connected by a wooden jetty.

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    I noticed right away how immaculate the island was at every turn. As if by magic, though I know it’s due to a lot of hard work from the grounds staff, all of the pathways and beaches were perpetually free of debris and trash. The overall aesthetic at Komandoo is well-manicured but natural.

    As a sign on the island states,”If you’re not barefoot then you’re overdressed,” the majority of guests spend their days sans shoes, enjoying the feel of the powder-soft sand beneath their toes. The restaurant, reception area, and bars all have sand floors, and there is even a flip-flop station at the end of the water villa jetty in which to deposit your sandals for the day. (We did find it necessary to wear our shoes to walk on the hot jetty.)

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    Almost every nook of the island is dedicated to making this a magical and peaceful place for guests, from the major amenities like the beach bars, restaurants, and spa, to the smaller touches like hammocks and wooden swings throughout. This is an island that evokes instant relaxation and wellness, and it literally invites you to put your feet up at every opportunity.

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    One of my many favorite things about this trip is that I didn’t suffer even one bug bite thanks to the care of the grounds crew (they treat the area on a regular schedule) and maybe also to the luck of having a breezy week. We spotted a few cute crabs and small lizards around the island, but aside from one bee at lunch and a few tiny ants after we left a cookie sitting out in our room (our fault, we know better), we never saw any bugs or spiders.

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    At night the island glowed courtesy of beautiful lanterns and tiny sparkles along the beach that mimic the water’s bioluminescence.

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    The Villa

    Now I want to gush about our villa and how happy we were with the choice to stay in one of Komandoo’s Jaccuzi Water Villas. The novelty of a bungalow perched right over the jewel-toned water of the Maldives claimed a spot on our bucket lists a while ago, and we decided to splurge a bit on this trip by booking one of the resort’s fifteen water villas. At 77 square-meters, Eagle Ray #9 provided more than enough space for us with plenty of storage, too. We were actually a little surprised at just how big the villas are, especially when you factor in the oversized bathroom and the huge deck with steps that lead directly into the ocean.

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    Our amazing room attendant took great care of us the entire week. Fresh towels transformed into animal art topped our bed each day, mini bar staples and bottles of water were replenished daily, and nightly turndown regularly included sweets along with special treats on Valentines Day.

    The lavish bathroom offered a giant Jacuzzi tub, double sinks, a spacious shower, and a separate water closet. Thoughtful touches included toiletries and plenty of places to hang wet towels and swimsuits. Bonus: you might laugh, but I marveled over the privilege of being able to flush toilet paper in our bathroom. Some of the Caribbean island homes we’ve stayed in (even on the more upscale side) don’t always have that luxury!

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    While we had gorgeous skies almost the entire trip, we did encounter an unusually windy week on the island. As a light sleeper, I sometimes noticed a slight shimmy in the villa at night, and I could often hear the water slapping against the steps and the stilts, but I quickly became used to water villa life and managed to get a pretty deep sleep most nights. Our king-size bed felt supportive and cozy, and it was always a welcome respite after a day of fun in the sun.

    The WiFi signal wasn’t always the fastest, but we were able to check in with friends and family back home and upload a few photos. It was enough to feel connected, but also slow enough to encourage us to disconnect, which we definitely needed! And as hot as it gets during the day, it’s worth mentioning that the air-conditioning kept us perfectly comfortable whenever we needed it.

    Our favorite part of the villa was easily the outside space. The design and layout of the water villas ensures that each guest has ample privacy. To take full advantage of the outdoors, we treated ourselves to room service for breakfast on most days (more on Komandoo’s food in the next post). Starting our day by enjoying a delicious meal on the deck, gazing out onto the Indian Ocean became one of my favorite daily rituals.

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    Any time we got a little too hot, we descended the stairs right into the water to cool off. It felt like stepping into an aquarium – we found several coral heads and tons of colorful fish only a few meters from our villa. We even spotted an eagle ray gliding along the lagoon one afternoon.

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    The Reef

    Chris and I have become avid snorkelers over the past few years and have had the opportunity to explore some of the world’s best snorkel sites, so having a good reef topped our resort requirements list. Fellow travelers mentioned Komandoo frequently on travel forums with regards to a good reef, and we can now wholeheartedly agree!

    On one side of the island, the reef was super easy to reach – from the sunset beach bar we could enter the shallow and super clear lagoon, and swim a few meters past the barriers and then through a cut in the reef. We did this routine a couple of times since it was quick access from our villa. I did notice a bit of coral bleaching, but from recent reports it sounds like the reef is well on its way to recovery.

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    On the other side of the island, the swim out to the reef was a bit longer, but with the reward of a huge section of healthy coral teaming with fish. We snorkeled most days, and it was amazing to see a few new-to-us fish for the first time: unicorn fish, Maldives anemonefish, and an eel. We hung out with one of Komandoo’s resident turtles one day, and we always loved walking along the shore accompanied by baby black tip reef sharks.

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    I miss everything about the island, and I can’t wait to return again someday. Now that we are back home in the States, we occasionally find ourselves chanting fondly: “Wel-come to…Ko-man-doo. Have a nice…hol-i-day.” Thankfully I get to relive our trip by writing about the experience! In part two of my review I’ll talk about Komandoo’s service, activities, and food. Stay tuned!

  • Photo Friday – Eagle Ray

    From the deck of Komandoo’s water villa, Eagle Ray #9, Chris and I spotted an actual eagle ray gliding gracefully through the lagoon. Chris quickly donned his fins and snorkel gear and jumped in the water to grab this shot. I love it!

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  • Paradise Found: The Maldives

    Paradise Found: The Maldives

    Early last year when Chris and I were honing in on our travel plans for 2017, we decided to use our upcoming milestone birthdays as a good excuse to select some extra special destinations. We both have a Big Birthday this year (eek!) and decided we would each choose a Big Trip to commemorate our respective days in a super fun way.

    For his pick, Chris decided on a place that has held a top spot on our bucket lists for quite some time: the Maldives. No need to twist my arm on that one – I immediately got to work researching and planning!

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    For most people, planning a trip to the Maldives mainly involves choosing accommodations, starting with the decision to stay at a hotel, a resort, at a guest house, or on a liveaboard. We tend to stay at vacation rental villas when we head to the islands, but we decided to try resort life in the Maldives since resorts comprise the majority of accommodations in the atolls. And the ease of an all-inclusive just sounded so nice compared to my characteristically intricate travel itineraries.

    Chris and I held a very official planning meeting (a.k.a., lounging around in the living room) where we discussed our requirements, and we ended up with the following list: somewhere completely relaxing and quiet with a smaller number of adults-only guests, an over-the-water bungalow, a beautiful house reef for snorkeling, and a good restaurant/bar.

    Dream vacation wish list in-hand, I did a good old-fashioned Google search and scoured popular travel forums to come up with our perfect spot in the Maldives.

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    The number of resort options in the Maldives was pretty overwhelming, but having a list of requirements definitely helped to narrow things down. If you’re on the hunt for the perfect Maldives destination, too, I recommend making a quick list of must-haves (e.g., budget, family programs, scuba dive center, private pool, etc.) and starting your search from there.

    One of our own requirements indeed narrowed the choices down significantly: adults-only. It was important to us to find a utterly tranquil environment for this trip. We initially aimed for resorts that seemed to have a more relaxed vibe based on reviews, but my ideal preference was to find a strictly adults-only resort just to be on the safe side.

    At the time of my search, it was a little difficult to find information on exactly which resorts implemented an 18-and-older policy, but Komandoo is one that was mentioned most frequently in travel forum discussions. Lucky enough, Komandoo also fit the bill as a smaller, laid-back resort. After seeing photos of their gorgeous overwater villas and reading rave reviews about their house reef, food, and service we were sold!

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    While we typically take advantage of shoulder season for a lot of our trips, we decided to book peak season in the Maldives to give ourselves the best chance for good weather. We finalized our choice back in March of 2016, booked and paid, and began the loooooong countdown.

    Fast-forward to February 2017 and we were finally off to our own little slice of paradise. Getting to the island was a bit of work and an adventure in itself. Our route took us from Washington-Dulles to Dubai, then onto Malé and finally Komandoo. We had the pleasure of flying on a double-decker A380 for the first time, and we ended our journey with a stunning seaplane flight from Malé to Komandoo. Landing directly on the water was quite an experience!

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    Stepping onto Komandoo’s floating “airport” and being whisked away by boat pointed toward the resort was just the beginning of our wonderful time in paradise…stay tuned for a detailed overview of the resort!

  • Isla Mujeres Snapshot

    Isla Mujeres Snapshot

    Once again I’m a little behind in getting this one done, but I finally put together my Isla Mujeres snapshot post!

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    Best Moment

    The entire purpose of our Isla Mujeres trip revolved around seeing whale sharks, so obviously the best moment was getting to do exactly that! More specifically, the very best moment was the first time we entered the water sans cameras so we could simply enjoy the experience. We plunged into the deep not knowing what to expect, and after merely a minute of being in the water, there they were larger than life – whale sharks, swimming right alongside us. It’s one of my most favorite travel moments so far.

    Worst Moment

    Other than the five-hour delay of our flight coming back home from Cancun, the winner for Worst Moment really wasn’t that big of a deal. Not surprisingly, it entails yet another weather-related incident! Unbeknownst to us, a wildly windy storm swept across the island as we slept through one night early in the week. According to what we could tell from the crime scene the next morning, the winds whipped into the patio table umbrella next to the pool at an angle that toppled the entire table. The glass top broke into a million little pieces, rendering the pool and patio unusable. Fortunately no one was hurt and no other damage was done, and this registered on the not-a-big-deal scale in the grand scheme of things.

    Our incredibly sweet villa owner (also a Susan!) immediately swung into action right after we let her know what happened, and with the help of her villa manager and crew, the mess was cleaned up within hours and we were back to happy pool life.

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    Best Meal

    We loved the food on Isla Mujeres so much that it inspired me to write an entire post on the topic. Chris and I unanimously decided that our dinner and drinks at Green Verde earned the number-one spot, but I also really (really really) enjoyed our pineapple dessert at Limón.

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    Something We Learned

    I learned that real, fresh coconut juice is saltier than I expected.

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    We’re Thankful We Packed

    Our own fins. Keeping up with the whale sharks proved to be more work than I expected, and I was happy to have the comfort of well-fitted fins with which to chase after these guys!

    We Didn’t Need To Bring

    Full-size bottles of sunscreen. The main grocery store on the island is totally legit! Chedraui has just about everything you could possibly want for your stay on Isla Mujeres, including several sunscreen options at very reasonable prices. (We’re used to seeing just one brand with a hugely marked-up price tag when we island-hop.)

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    Trip Regrets

    Originally we planned to spend a day off-island seeing Chichen Itza, but the temperatures were well out of my comfort zone. We lucked out with sunny skies nearly every day of our trip so I’m not complaining, but a heat index of 105 and up means I need to be no more than ten feet away from water (or a/c) at all times. Even with the promise of swimming in a cenote after the Chichen Itza tour, I just didn’t think I could enjoy the ruins so we took a pass on that excursion this time.

    Reasons To Go Back

    I would love another swim with the whale sharks! I hope to get to do it again someday soon. Also as mentioned above, we skipped a mainland visit to see Chichen Itza because it was just too darn hot. I wouldn’t have survived. So we’ll go back another time, maybe in the cooler months. But we weren’t completely void of getting to see Mayan ruins on this trip. We spent one morning at the Temple of Ixchel ruins on Isla Mujeres at what is basically the southern-most tip of Mexico.

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    Favorite Photos

    Hands-down, I’m most happy to have captured this shot. It brings back such great memories! And it kind of looks like he/she is smiling.

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  • Moving Pictures: Isla Mujeres

    Moving Pictures: Isla Mujeres

    Now for the other reason I didn’t take as many photos of whale sharks as I’d have liked to (besides the fact that they were super difficult to photograph) – I was also taking video! And videoing these guys was maybe even more fun than taking photos. Nothing compares to actually being there, but I love watching the clips of our trip and remembering those magical moments in the water.

    (Side note: I know whale sharks are sharks and not whales. I just like this song!)