Author Topic: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start  (Read 38437 times)

Online jj1000

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #80 on: February 09, 2017, 02:05:05 PM »
Could be the reef at W was subpar... Go diving or snorkeling in GBR and you'll see the difference.
And if there were OWB on top of GBR it would be part of this discussion.
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Offline CZ60

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #81 on: February 09, 2017, 10:01:47 PM »
Maldives Day 3 - Shabbat:
The St. Regis was surprisingly shabbat friendly. Although the lights and blinds in the room are controlled by iPads we just left the bathroom lights on and the rest off. The bathroom doors kept the light out when they were closed (while we slept) and let enough light come in when we had the doors open. The front door does require a magnetic key that has a light but we kept it unlocked by having the deadbolt turned so the door doesn't close all the way. (It's a risk we were willing to take. The island feels incredibly safe- we didn’t think twice about leaving valuables lying around). We also left the Do Not Disturb sign on so we wouldn't have to worry about them changing any of our settings.

We ate our lunch on the beach chairs by the main beach (we brought a platter of finger foods - mazza as davidmal would say- from our local butcher for that day). After lunch we hung out in Vommuli house. They have a library, and two story game room with ping pong, foosball and air hockey downstairs and board games upstairs. The upstairs room is air conditioned and has very comfortable suede bean bag chairs so we spent a lot of shabbat there escaping the heat. We didn’t revisit this room so sadly, we don’t have pictures of it. But picture a large living room with couches and beanbags to sit on and play videogames, jenga, etc.

After Shabbat we went on a night snorkeling trip, which turned out to be a great experience. Our guide took us out to the house reef with strong flashlights and pointed out cool things like puffer fish, lion fish, huge starfish (biggest we've ever seen), a huge hermit crab, and sleeping reef fish. Once we were deep in the water he told us to cover our flashlights and wave in the water. We didn't know what he was getting at but we followed his instructions and saw something incredible. There are bioluminescent plankton in the ocean that light up when agitated. Waving created a show of lights we'll never forget.

Maldives Day 4:

Sunday was our most active day on the island. We woke up early to get some morning snorkeling in since there are supposed to be the most fish out in the morning. We then went kayaking (free) from the watersports center past the family villas, past the main beach, and around the overwater villas. We turned around at the John Jacob Estate. I sort of regret that we didn’t get the glass bottom kayak because that would have been a window to whatever is underneath but it was still fun nonetheless. We saw a lot of fish from our kayak, and jellyfish that must have numbered in the thousands (literally). After kayaking we had lunch at Alba then Naseeb gave us a tour of the John Jacob Astor Estate. (dw wanted me to mention that Naseeb happens to be one of the best iphone photographers she ever met and he was amazing about taking pictures of us throughout the trip.)

A short snorkeling video:




John Jacob Astor Estate - In case anybody has 40-50k laying around and wants to try it for a night...





















Me thinking I’m Tarzan:





A Ride in the butler cart (wind noise so maybe turn volume down)



We then went back to the watersports center for our Discover Scuba session (we wanted to get fully certified but they said that would take 3-4 days which we didn’t have). We became friendly with Allister from the dive center - we met him Friday during Sea Bobbing and had our night snorkeling session with him so he was our guide for the scuba course. It was both of our first time scuba diving but Allister made us feel very comfortable and made the experience very fun. We started out at the watersports center getting a quick 20 minute explanation of the basics of diving. Then we moved into the water by the beach. We started out in shallow water practicing some skills then spent some time in deeper water getting comfortable with everything. When we were ready, we took a boat to an amazing coral garden with more lively and colorful coral and sea life than the house reef. We were underwater for a total of 32 minutes and went down to 12 meters.





After scuba diving we went back to the room to shower then went to the Whale Bar for drinks and dinner. The sunset was really incredible and sitting on the outdoor deck was the perfect way to end the day. (PS this is where we had a mini DO and met Chuchem and another Jewish couple from NY). I didn’t mention earlier that every night at dinner we would speak to our servers about the Maldives, their local Islands, their history, and much more. Each and every one of them had such different stories and taught us so much about the islands and what it’s like being a native Maldivian. (DW says “if only…”)

The Whale Bar













Everywhere you go on the island, the give you a scented cold towel. Each place you go has a different scent. I remember the beach being a mint scent, the restaurant some oil scent, etc.



Bloody Mary served in a shell




Just a side note, their drinks are pretty good. Not out of this world amazing but pleasant, enjoyable, and relaxing.

And another random video, this time of me in the water, taking a 360 view (there was some shmutz on the camera that we only saw now, while viewing and editing the videos)


« Last Edit: February 09, 2017, 10:05:24 PM by CZ60 »

Online jj1000

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #82 on: February 09, 2017, 10:29:54 PM »
Unbelievable. Great videos and pics!
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Offline CZ60

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #83 on: February 09, 2017, 10:32:08 PM »
Unbelievable. Great videos and pics!
Thanks!! Even better in person ;)

Offline tageed-lee

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #84 on: February 09, 2017, 10:52:31 PM »
Amazing top to bottom!! Thanks for sharing!!

Offline AJK

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #85 on: February 10, 2017, 12:22:58 AM »
And if there were OWB on top of GBR it would be part of this discussion.
Lol. Don't be sensitive that I learned you something about coral reefs and fish. Or that the hotel you stayed at didn't make the grade.
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Offline AJK

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #86 on: February 10, 2017, 12:28:44 AM »
Sounds like you had a blast. Night snorkel and seabob, two things I'll likely do because of this TR.
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Offline davidmal

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #87 on: February 10, 2017, 01:00:56 AM »
Quote from: CZ60
  We ate our lunch on the beach chairs by the main beach (we brought a platter of finger foods - mazza as davidmal would say- from our local butcher for that day)
officially my best part of this epic TR
-DMC
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Offline mmgfarb

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #88 on: February 10, 2017, 01:25:33 AM »
officially my best part of this epic TR
Your vanity knows no bounds
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Offline davidmal

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #89 on: February 10, 2017, 01:44:45 AM »
Your vanity knows no bounds
I was focusing on his noble attribute of kindness
It just so happens to be my name.... coincidence
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Offline davidmal

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #90 on: February 10, 2017, 01:45:27 AM »
Wiki looks great!!! Maybe add a few words summary per day like Shabbat or snorkeling sand skiiing etc.
-DMC
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Offline mmgfarb

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #91 on: February 10, 2017, 01:46:06 AM »
I was focusing on his noble attribute of kindness
It just so happens to be my name.... coincidence
Lol
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Offline CZ60

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #92 on: February 10, 2017, 09:45:22 AM »
Sounds like you had a blast. Night snorkel and seabob, two things I'll likely do because of this TR.

Just note, there are way less fish at night, but you see different things at night than in the day. That being said, I would still highly recommend. We did it without the UV light and was pretty cool. They charge $30 more for a UV light but I'm not sure what type of benefit it gives you. The guide told us its not worth it.

Offline CZ60

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #93 on: February 10, 2017, 09:45:53 AM »
officially my best part of this epic TR

I was testing you to see if you were actually reading or were in it for the pictures  ;)

Online jj1000

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #94 on: February 10, 2017, 10:10:04 AM »
Lol. Don't be sensitive that I learned you something about coral reefs and fish. Or that the hotel you stayed at didn't make the grade.
Dude they heated up meals for free? Who cares in NYC there are great kosher restaurants. Is basically what you said.

No one claimed the Maldives had GBR level coral, so why would anyone look for that there?
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Offline davidmal

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #95 on: February 10, 2017, 10:28:21 AM »
Dude they heated up meals for free? Who cares in NYC there are great kosher restaurants. Is basically what you said.

No one claimed the Maldives had GBR level coral, so why would anyone look for that there?
Belize Barrier Reef second largest in the world is dying as well...

I met a international Snorkel/Scuba and they claimed that Cozumel Mexico was one of the best snorkeling they've had. (as doubtful as that sounds)
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Offline Luvtotravel

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #96 on: February 10, 2017, 11:20:45 AM »
incredible! two questions, how was the Sabbath lunch brought to you regarding carrying on shabbos? what are the nets at the end of the deck?

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Offline AJK

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #97 on: February 10, 2017, 11:48:08 AM »
Dude they heated up meals for free? Who cares in NYC there are great kosher restaurants. Is basically what you said.

Not quite.  You said "One negative was dead coral but if the fish are still there it's not a negative for me personally."

I responded that it's likely not a negative for you because the reefs you've experience have probably been sub-par.  I happened to note the GBR, which is famous, but the reef at the Halaveli in MLE was also fantastic.  It's quite elementary that the more lively the reef = the more fish are present.  The fact that you drive a Honda, and not a Lamborghini, doesn't make the Lamborghini any less fantastic, or your Honda any more exotic.
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Online jj1000

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #98 on: February 10, 2017, 11:51:34 AM »
but the reef at the Halaveli in MLE was also fantastic
So go ahead and add more things to your statement. Totally fine, but don't act like that was there before.

Also based on his videos did the snorkeling outside your OWB have much better snorkeling in regards to the fish specifically?
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Offline AJK

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Re: The first DDFer to go to St. Regis Maldives, with a little Dubai to start
« Reply #99 on: February 10, 2017, 12:01:02 PM »
Considerably more.

And, I only added what I did because you apparently didn't follow the the simple point I was trying to make.  Either way, feel free to have the last word -- I've no more time to debate the intricacies of biodiversity, geological study, and coral reef ecosystems when I could otherwise be doing something productive :P

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