insideKENT Magazine Issue 89 - August 2019 | Page 154

TRAVEL
THE MALDIVES CONT.
CONTEMPORARY, RETRO CHIC, A PLAYFUL WELCOMING VIBE,
AND THE EPITOME OF UNPRETENTIOUS LUXURY, DISCOVER
#YOURISLANDPLAYGROUND AT
Finolhu.
IT’S HARD TO DESCRIBE THE FEELING OF ARRIVING AT FINOLHU, WHICH SINCE OPENING
JUST THREE YEARS AGO HAS BECOME ONE THE MOST INSTAGRAMMED AND CELEB-WORTHY
RESORTS IN THE MALDIVES. THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE HERE IS MAINLY AWE WITH A HEFTY
DOSE OF EXCITEMENT AND A SIDE ORDER OF UNBELIEVABILITY.
Firstly, it is a simply stunning island. From the crystal-
clear turquoise and blue waters of its Baa Atoll
location – a 30 minute seaplane journey from Malé
– to its unique layout, Finolhu translates as sandbank
and you can see the longest sandbank stretching
from the main resort island (it is in fact built across
four!) to the private island home of the legendary
Crab Shack restaurant and Finolhu’s unique and
exclusive private beach bubble tent room.
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Its location is pretty unique. Not only offering pretty
much year-round summer with temperatures of
around 29 degrees, the Baa Atoll lies on the edge of
the ocean next to a deep channel making it not only
unique with its reefs, submerged cliffs and ‘thilas’
(small underwater hills offering a marine habitat to
over 1,200 species), but also protected as it has been
declared a UNESCO biosphere reserve. This
commitment to sustainability and the environment
extends across the Finolhu resort; there are no plastic
straws, no plastic bottles (and if guests bring them
they have to take them home again!) and they have
their own marine biologist who develops strategies
for protecting the sea and preserving the ecosystem
– paradise and preservation – win!
The rooms are pretty special too! Recognising that
life by the sea and its infinite shades of blue can
transform lives all 125 villas are located on the
beach, or on stilts above the lagoon and are tropical