LOST IN DHANGETHI ISLAND

Have you ever thought about leaving everything and going to a deserted little beach away from everything and everyone? We do. But we would never have imagined being able to realize this "dream" and suddenly voila ... fate had prepared a good surprise for us ... we went to Maldives on a lost island out there: Dhangethi!

This little island is about 6 hours ferry from Male, the capital of Maldives, and although we were very excited (not every day one goes to Maldives) we had a certain degree of cushioning: it is that there is almost no information about Dhangethi on the network, which we liked on the one hand ( It has to be very little touristy) but on the other hand it bothered us a bit (and if it is poop? If the beaches are not beautiful? If there are killer sharks that enter your room at night, they kidnap you and take you from banquet to Triton?)

But as you have to take some risk in this life, and especially because we found a good-beautiful-cheap room there we decided to go ... and less bad!

As soon as we disembarked we met Mohammed who received us with two fresh coconuts. Aibaaa what a luxury! Of course, we had never realized how much a coconut weighs, but there, under the sun of Maldives loaded with backpacks, we thought weighed a lot :-P. Then he took us to our Homestay, where we would spend the following 6 days: we loved it!

But what about the beaches? The truth is that when we got off the ferry we stayed a little bit chafados. The beach was beautiful, yes, but not far from paradise: the water was full of seaweed (and to know down there how many sharks ready to take us to Triton for a banquet were rubbing their fins!).

But we try to be positive and convince ourselves: you will see that on the other side there are super cool beaches... and yes: we were right! Also the best beach on the island was 5 minutes from home, yuppi! It was certainly the best beach we saw in our life: clean, warm water, with thousands of blue and green tones, white sand, coconut palms ... paraisoooo we have arrived!

Here we spend the hours between photo sessions, baths and snorkelling (we even saw blankets and a shark!). Our daily routine in Maldives was very busy: we got up at 9, breakfast with eggs, sausages and bread, beach, swimming, snorkelling and fighting with the territorial fish, sunbathing, lunch, nap, internet, walk through the village , read and relax in our favorite corner, sunset, dinner, movie, internet, zzzz…. A very hard life, but someone has to do it!

One day we met some Bangladeshi guys They work at a nearby resort (they earn about € 200 a month!) and we talk a little about Spain, India, Bangladesh and the Maldives: the boys were happy but the oldest was super depressed ... and he has been working 15 years in the Middle East as a bus driver and literally told us that he didn't like Maldives at all because there is only water and fish :-p

The truth is that we loved it and we did not regret going to Dhangethi Island! It is surely not the prettiest island of all the Maldives, but for us it was perfect.

Here are some pros / cons of staying on a local island in Maldives:

PROS

1. WE WERE THE ONLY TOURISTS

Having a postcard beach for you without having to share it with other guides ... it is priceless! Well, one thing must be said ... About 17 other guiris arrive: apparently at the resort they sell day trips that include a stop on this fishing island to see local life more closely ... it is very curious to see how tourists disembark, but even more curious is to see how the shops on the main street suddenly open selling clothes, shells, maps and more souvenirs! Of course, the beach for you alone ... nobody takes it away!

2. CONTACT WITH THE PREMISES

If you travel in resorts or other more touristy islands (such as Mafushi for example) we are sure that direct contact with the locals will not be very real (surely they want to sell you something, or are committed to treating you well , even some workers at a nearby resort told us that they are forbidden to talk to customers). Here however people are very friendly. We also had the opportunity to meet Mohammed, a very nice man who also spoke Italian with a Venetian accent: a crack!

3. REAL LIFE

Since it is not a resort or a tourist island you can appreciate the real life around you: the children who go to school, the fishermen who go out to work, stop to chat with the women who sit to gossip at sunset, tinker with the children , see the men pray in the mosque ... for us the real luxury is being part of the real life of a place!

4. PRICE

You certainly save a lot of money traveling this way, especially if you are lucky enough to have a kitchen!

CONS

1. NO BIKINI

For Lety it is not a problem, but if you are one of those who go to the sun in a lizard plan here you will not be able to do it. Or rather, you can do it but not in a bikini. We understand that in the resorts there are no problems, but in the other islands of Maldives, girls have to bathe in shorts and T-shirts.

2. CURRENT

We do not know if it was for the season, for the moon, or simply for the wind these days, but there is enough current somewhere on the beach. Sometimes we seemed to be in a river! Although the current is not dangerous: it is not a hangover and takes you directly to the beach next door where you think you are in a pool.

3 SOME BEACHES

On the island there are several heavenly corners. But there are not so beautiful corners: the biggest beaches are neglected and with a lot of trash. The image of garbage clusters will not be taken away ... one of the biggest problems in Maldives.

USEFUL INFO

How to get?

From the port of Villingili in Male you have to take a local ferry to the island of Mahibadhoo that lasts about 4 hours. There you take another ferry to Dhangethi Island in another hour and a half. The combined ticket costs 53 ruffias

Where to sleep?

We slept in the Dhangethi Holiday House. (The house has changed management, so conditions may have changed).

If you need a hand to find a place to sleep in paradise ... check out our post with updated offers of the best offers of Cheap accommodation in Maldives (Coming soon).

Where to eat?

There are a couple of restaurants on the main beach where you can eat a variety of snacks based on fish or sausages that cost 1, 2 or 3 ruffies (from € 0.05) or fried nuddles or fried rice (30 or 40 rf). Although if you have a kitchen like us you can stuff yourself with pasta and potato omelette 😛

More info: If you want to see some tricks to save in Maldives click here

Video: Maldives Vilamendhoo VLOG (April 2024).