Maldives, the Paradise of Bathala

On 20 March 2004 my dream finally came true: a holiday on an island in the Maldives. Not just any island: for my first time in the Maldives I wanted a small island, one you could easily walk around, uncrowded, peaceful, and with a sea...... that made you not want to stay on the beach. The choice fell on Bathala: a very small island in North Ari Atoll, about 600 metres in circumference, perfectly circular. It is 20 minutes by seaplane from Male airport; alternatively you can reach it with 2 hours by boat, but the seaplane is much more spectacular (and healthier, for those who suffer from seasickness). Even from above the island looks wonderful: a ring of white sand with, inside, very dense vegetation that hides, in the shade, the 35 bungalows, all with a large veranda and set directly on the beach.

Each bungalow can therefore count on a very wide stretch of beach, for those who want to rest and doze or read a good book. But it is beneath the surface of the water that Bathala offers its best: the island is in fact completely surrounded by the coral reef, only about twenty metres away, teeming with brightly coloured fish, turtles, eagle rays, small sharks. According to those who have seen other islands, Bathala is one of the richest, and even the corals, burned by the passage of El Niño 8 years ago, are clearly recovering. Even for those who do not dive, then, Bathala reserves encounters with white-tip sharks, stingrays, jack fish........... The bungalows are very spacious, all with air conditioning, fan and minibar; they all have the typical open-air bathroom, with an outdoor shower.

As for the food, you eat well, even if the variety is not very imaginative: the fish (excellent) is always the same type, and grilled; then there is never a shortage of rabbit, potatoes, white rice, beef and desserts. The quantity is always abundant, the only risk being that of getting bored, eating the same things all the time. The package agreed with Azemar is all-inclusive, except for spirits. The quality/price ratio is in any case excellent: considering the beauty of the island, for other equally beautiful but more exclusive islands, such as Thudufushi (Francorosso) or Vabbinfaru (Hotelplan), the 2000 euros per person are money decidedly well spent.

As for the on-site assistants (Cristiano, Michele and Monia), we judged them a little too "absent": agreed that the island's peculiarity is precisely that of unobtrusive entertainment, but spending the whole day on the beach sunbathing (Monia) or sleeping (Cristiano) seemed to us a little too soft. As for the evening, apart from two one-hour cabaret evenings, nothing else was organised. As for the excursions, we only did the snorkelling safari to a nearby reef; in fact we judged the excursion to a sandbank in the middle of the sea too "scorching" to be organised on the second day, and the one to the fishermen's island too tiring (5 hours of travel in total out of the 8 of the excursion).

Finally, a few last tips: don't bring mosquito repellent, mosquitoes are completely absent, replace it instead with a good anti-ant cream; a good ayurvedic massage in the first days, to recover from the tiredness of the journey, given by two Indian masseurs; buy a disposable underwater camera in Italy because on the island it costs 30 dollars; the lobster dinner (extra) is not exceptional; if possible stay at least 10 days, a week goes by too fast. A farewell to Bathala to you all!!!

For more photos and information, you can also visit my personal website