January, 2025

Ayada Resort in the Maldives 

This really expensive trip had all the elements to be one of the best ever, but the biggest reason for the trip - mainly to wade fish the reef flats on nearby islands - was a bust.  The reason we tried this beautiful resort is that fly fishing in the country of the Maldives is very restrictive since legally one cannot fish along the edge of any island on which the resort sits.

Only a few resorts offer the practice of fly fishing close to them.  Kanifushi was the first we tried, and it was a successful trip.  As that resort has now further restricted fishing access, we had to search relentlessly find another spot to enjoy the activity.

So here's the story of the expedition.  Flying to either the Maldives or the Seychelles is a nasty experience from the USA given the length of the trip.  To get to either country it's about 40 hours of flights with long layovers between legs. 

This time we flew from Tucson to San Francisco to Dubai to Male to Kaadedhdhoo Island before taking the hour long boat ride to Ayada Resort Island - and reversed that process returning home with the exception of substituting Houston for a San Francisco stop on the way back.

Choosing to fly business class on Emirates Air made the travel much more pleasant albeit tougher on our wallets.

Here's a quick few clips on how the trip went going to the resort:

The resort itself is absolutely outstanding.  Quality of the beachside accommodations was probably the best we've seen anywhere in the world for this type of resort.  With the single exception of the so called private butler that's assigned to each guest when they arrive, the staff was similarly outstanding - well trained, relentlessly friendly, and helpful.

A quick look around the beach villa we inhabited:

 We were on the crystal all inclusive plan which gave us ample dining and beverage options.

There are plenty of resort activities to take advantage of while there, but we limited ourselves to daily fly fishing, snorkeling, some bike riding, shore hiking, and over eating.

These are a few clips of the fishing that was at best, modestly successful.

And here's a few miscellaneous shots of the resort, the food, and other stuff we found interesting.

As the fishing that forms the basis for these periodic tropical overseas trips was not the greatest, this visit became a one and done - though not because of the resort's quality which clearly is five star.

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