Revisiting a Classic As
Revisiting a Classic As Soneva Fushi surges past its 25th anniversary, the Maldives resort remains as captivating as ever. by Lee Cobaj A bird’s-eye view of Soneva Fushi’s private island, in the Maldives’ Baa Atoll 14 DEPARTURES THE WORLD AROUND ME is now a tranquil royal blue dusted with a galaxy of trillions of tiny plankton. I listen to my breath and the splishsplash of the Indian Ocean as my eyes search the water for giants of the deep – manta rays. Within minutes, the first appears through the silvery mist as if by magic, then another and another. Their angelic forms, some three metres wide, are suddenly so clear that I can see the curl of their horns and their black pearl eyes. I’m so busy staring at this cluster in wonder that I fail to notice a fourth manta rising up directly below, until it appears beneath me as big as a 747. Moments later, I’m at the centre of a slowly swirling tornado of more than a dozen of the creatures. It’s the kind of extraordinary encounter anyone would think themselves lucky to experience once in a lifetime, but at Soneva Fushi, they’re served up like hot cakes. The original Indian Ocean idyll, Soneva Fushi is a palm-painted island haloed by bone-white sands adrift in the Baa Atoll, a 30-minute seaplane flight from Malé, the capital. Its owners, Sonu and Eva Shivdasani, were doing some serious blue-sky thinking back in 1995 when they came up with their sustainable island sanctuary. They were the first to bring true five-star luxury to the Maldives, the first to come up with the “no news, no shoes” concept, the first to introduce alfresco bathrooms, outdoor cinemas, an observatory and free ice cream for all. Often imitated but never surpassed, a quarter of a century on, Soneva continues to lead the way. During my stay, a collection of eight new overwater retreats had just been unveiled. They are the largest oneand two-bedroom overwater villas in the world, each with an expansive deck, a pool big enough to sail in and a waterslide whooshing straight into the sea. In the bedroom, glass floor panels keep the aqua attractions on full display, while retractable roofs can be rolled back in the evening to reveal a glitter bomb of stars. In this 2021 version of “no news, no shoes”, wifi can be turned off at the flick of a switch. © SONEVA FUSHI
NEWBORN - 16 YEARS
