This article does nothing else than reestablishing the truth about the current situation in Maldives. Lately medias give themselves a heart (as usual) to make shocking titles…YES it is unstable and NO it is not spreading on other islands but 1.
You have probably read and heard that more violence occurred on the Maldives following the coup of Tuesday, February 7, 2012.
Since then, the most enticing titles broke out in the media:
I quote: “the violence spread to other islands,” “anarchy won several islands of the archipelago” and other explosive slogans .
But for any traveler who does not know the Maldives, these titles can only bring confusion.
It appears to me that a short point about this has to be done.
Maldives events have started in Male the Capital and indeed have spread to another island, called Addu- and NOT other islands as titled in medias…it makes a big difference, mostly when we deal with the Maldives singular geographic situation where all islands are far from each other and not easily inter-linked.
Addu is located at the extreme South of Maldives, at 480 KM from Male and is reachable after a 1h10 mns flight from Male International Airport. The big Island is the second one after Male and hosts all main administrative offices of the South region.
Addu, like Male, is not linked to Maldives Island Hotels and Resorts. Both receive a very small amount of visitors. A few tourists eventually visit Male for an excursion ( before the riots ) or stay for a few nights for business or in transit. Addu receives almost none.
All the island hotels are therefore completely disconnected from the events, as they stand away from the “hot spots”. Male city and Male Airport are 2 distinctive islands and Addu airport is located far away from Addu city. As a consequence, travelers to the Maldives do not pass through these two islands.
Once at the International Airport (the island is located at 10 minutes by boat from Male Island City), the vast majority of the tourists take a boat, a seaplane or a domestic flight to be transferred directly to their island hotels, which, without exception, are all located at least at 20-minutes away by boat.
ALL Resorts are located several kilometers from these two islands.
At today, Island hotels are not affected. Due to the isolation and remoteness of the islands, guests staying in the Maldives do not feel any of the current tensions.
Each resort is and always has been a small world, where Male, Addu or any other local island have never had any place, consequence, effect of any kind.
Finally and again, the riots and violence did not spread to the “rest of the islands” as medias like to write or tell, but only on one island, Addu, where the police station was attacked.
NOTE: However and until further advice, the capital Male, is still to be avoided as required by all official travel advisories
Please kindly remains informed of the situation with your travel agent.
We will notify you of any new event associated with this sad subject.
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Traveler's Choice
14th Edition
