emerald, ivory, aquamarine, cobalt, indigo, azure

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our time at the park hayatt maldives was so colourful and so pristine.
here’s a few more pictures from that amazing place.
i hope sharing these brightens up some dreary cold march days out there!

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^^ this is the only picture we got of all three of us on the island! ^^
i realized on this trip that i have significant anxiety about picture taking and i need to keep reigns on that and find a little better balance. i feel such an urge to capture and share so much! but i practiced just experiencing, and taking pictures only when that really enhanced the experience. image (3)image (4)
that said, i pulled these two photos above, and a few more below (as noted) from the resort photos supplied on the ipad in our villa. i just didn’t get any good ones of the incredible reef and the gorgeous design of the hotel.
on two different mornings (after watching the sunrise with moses and then putting him down for a nap), i grabbed some snorkel gear, walked to the end of the jetty (which is also the end of the reef), jumped into the deep blue, and then floated back over the aqua marveling at the most ridiculously kaleidoscopic fish. it was remarkably peaceful and i just wondered and marveled. ian snorkeled before i did, and when he came back he said, “you’re going to die!” and i did! so amazing.
next six photos also lifted from the resort ipad.
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i got a massage (at the island spa ^^) one afternoon, which was divine, and such a treat.
image (9)moses was a popular dude around the resort. so many of the staff members were so excited every time they saw him. during most of the meals we ate at the restaurant (^^), our waiter or other new friends that work at the hyatt held little mo (and took him on little walks or played with him) while ian and i enjoyed our food – with both hands :) that was pretty awesome.
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we relaxed a lot in our villa, literally just steps away from the beach.
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here’s hadahaa island from above. the best part about this place was how remote it felt.
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moses just loved the sand and the pool!
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the ocean he was a little less enthused about – the waves made him a little nervous!
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we got to do three dives among the incredible underwater wonderland of the maldives. we had one dive right on the house reef (we jumped in off the jetty and went right under), where we saw reef sharks and all kinds of gorgeous fish and amazing giant clams, and then two boat dives out in the deep blue, where we saw dozens of turtles (one of which i swam right next to – i could have reached out and touched him!) and sooo much underwater colour. we really enjoy scuba diving together, and the visibility in this bit of ocean was incredible. i’ll include some underwater pictures and videos in my next post (last from this trip!).
IMG_4258 ^^ returning from the boat dive to our island! ^^
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^^ coming back to moses after being away from him for about five hours was seriously one of the highlights of our trip – haha! he had a great babysitter from the resort staff, but we missed him so much! it was hard to not wake him up from his nap when we got back :) ^^
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^^ breakfast (with a side of moses’s toys!),
and our bathroom (the outdoor shower & tub was our favourite part!) ^^
photo on the right is from the resort ipad
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^^ little mo was too interested in that amazing water colour –
he couldn’t be bothered to look at the camera! ^^
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^^ can you spot the neighbor island in the distance? uninhabited. like hundreds and hundreds of islands in the maldives. ^^
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have a sunny monday!

Comments

  1. Wow, what a trip!!! Those pictures were perfect on my gray Seattle day. Thanks!

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  2. WOW!!! bucket list destination, for SURE! it would be quite a trek from california though!

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  3. Do the people who work in the hotel live at the hotel? Or do they commute by boat for every shift? (Just being nosy; I always wonder about the operational things)

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    1. we were super interested in the operational things too! one of the coolest part of our stay actually was the "back of house tour" we went on where we got to see where the staff lives and the offices and learn about the generator, water source, etc etc. most of the staff members live on the island. 50% are maldivian and the other 50% are from all over the world. some of the maldivians can get to their home island pretty easily, but some of them are multiple plane and boat rides away. all staff have a month off, and most use that to go home to visit family. it would be so hard to work at this resort, i think! we loved talking to different staff members and learning about their lives and careers. apparently working at a resort like this is a really great resume-builder for the hotel/hospitality industry. we became good friends with our "host" charles - he is from china and he was so wonderful!

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    2. This is awesome! I thought I was the only interested in that type of thing! ~Yvonne

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  4. Your pictures are so sunny and cheerful on a chilly day! Gorgeous shots xx

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  5. Did your bathroom have four sinks? I love amazing hotel baths :) That shower!

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  6. This hotel looks so much like Bali! LOVE IT! There's nothing like a beautiful blue sea, lots of Sunshine and a gorgeous place to hang out to sooth your soul!

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