Maldives

Off the southern tip of India, in the Laccadive sea, a strand of pearlescent coral islands - over 1,000 of them - stretches over 800 kilometres. The islands are grouped in atolls, ring-shaped coral reefs that surround a body of limpid pale blue water. On the outskirts of the circle is the deep blue open sea. If you were to dive down to the ocean floor you would see that each atoll is a dormant volcano that has been submerged under water, leaving a ring of whitewashed coral at the surface: the Maldives. In 1972, George Corbin, an Italian travel agent, opened Kurumba, the country’s first resort on a former coconut plantation. Since hundreds of hotels have sprung up drawing international tourists seeking remoteness with all the luxury and extravagance you could possibly imagine. The Maldives experience begins the moment you fly over the 26 atolls in a tiny seaplane and must face the immensity of the ocean. Upon landing on the water, you are greeted by the warmest people and taken to your villa on stilts under which swim harmless baby sharks. The stark contrast between opulent hotels and the simple exquisite beauty of the sandbanks they are built on is startling at first, but you will soon get used to eating rare foods imported from remote towns across the world and freshly caught local fish. Some worry there is nothing to do but the truth is, there is never a dull moment. The undersea is brimming with wildlife and multi-coloured corals. It is not unusual to see a pod of dolphins swim past your hotel room in the morning. One of our favourite things to do is to sit up on the rooftop of a dhoni - a traditional wooden fishing boat - at sunset hour. The Maldives are a diver’s paradise but also the perfect vacation place for children. Seeing water no matter where you look gets under your skin (in a good way).