A Resort

all of the bungalows are built on stilts above the sea so moving to the island for dinner or worse still after the bar could be fun. A 960 kilometres long submarine ridge rises abruptly from the depths of the Indian Ocean and runs from north to south about 450 miles southwest of Sri Lanka, on the equator. Where it breaks the surface live coral reefs and sand bars form a double chain of twenty-seven atolls. Most atolls consist of a large, ring-shaped coral reef supporting many small islands which average only one to two square kilometres in area and lie between one and one and a half metres above sea level. Of the 1,190 coral islands; in these atolls 202 are inhabited and 87 are exclusive resort islands with more scheduled tobe auctioned shortly. The auction is simply to discover who will pay the highest rent; the previous best being $38,000 per bed. Before the days of large jets Maldives was isolated and was one of the thirty poorest countries in the world but tourism has changed that. The Maldives today is well known as a tropical dream destination with many of the major airlines offering scheduled flights and many companies offering regular charter flights. All international flights to the Maldives land at Malé international airport where a thirty day visa is provided upon arrival. There is an accommodation bureau at the airport but it only has information on the large hotels and resorts. They may pass you on to a local who has more information but be certain, he is working for commission. More than a half million tourists visited the Maldives in 2003 with little direct benefit to the island's population because the poor education system has led to a lack of qualifications necessary to work in a resort. Indirect benefits show in the steadily improving health and education systems and probably the best pavements in the Indian Ocean but these only in Male.