ISLAND Vilamendhoo island is on the south-east edge of the South Ari Atoll. This area has some of the best dive sites in the Maldives. The island is a uniform oval shape and as a result quite samey all the way round. It is not the prettiest island we have ever been to, but it does have everything you ever need on a Maldives holiday, and that counts for a lot.....hence this is our third visit here.

DIVING/SNORKELLING Vilamendhoo has the best dive centre, the best diving and some of the best snorkelling in the Maldives.....no contest! That is the big selling point of this island, there is a huge amount of diving going on here! When we were there the dive centre was being run by Sonja, she is married to Illy a Maldivian divemaster, an amazing couple. Sonja doesn't dive too much now but Illy is a great guy to dive with. They have two or three dive boats going out every day and the dive sites are spectacular, there is even a manta point on the other side of the atoll. I only did ten dives this time but unfortunately managed to format the SD Card that had most of my dive photo's on so not many dive pic's to put in the album for this holiday!

MEALS The Maldive islands have no agriculture or industry, they have to import everything so it constantly amazes us how they manage to provide us with such a huge variety of great meals. When we are in the Maldives breakfast is always the best meal of the day and on Vilamendhoo it is no exception. We like to get up around 5:00am for coffee then go out for a run around the island while the sun comes up.....a stunning time of the day! Generally we have the beach to ourselves so it's like having your own private island. After the run we will cool off with a bit of snorkelling in the lagoon or out to the drop off. Cooling off is a relative term considering the water here is around 30 degrees all year round! All that gives you a fantastic appetite, hence our love of breakfast. We stayed at the adults only end of the island this year and the views from both sides of their restaurant here are breathtaking. What a start to the day!

WEATHER Expect it to be hot and sunny. This holiday, like most of our visits to the Maldives, was in late December. Although the wet season used to be over by the end of November the seasons are changing here, as they are in other places around the globe, so if you're unlucky it can still be a bit unsettled in December.

MALDIVES The climate is perfect this time of year, you just have to put up with a few stray showers. For a totally relaxing beach holiday the temperatures are absolutely perfect in the Maldives, around 30 degrees, day and night. The evenings are slightly balmy.....perfect for the tee shirt, shorts and the 'No News No Shoes' uniform of the Maldives. The water temperature is always around 30 degrees and it is the same 30 metres down, maybe dipping to 28 degrees in their coolest season. This area of the world is just stunning, there is simply nowhere else like it. You have to be prepared to relax here, there is not much to do except snorkelling, diving, reading and sunbathing. But if you can get into that vibe, the Maldives slows you down like no other place on earth.....then you are in chillout heaven!

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To view the rest of my Photography Collection click on Link below: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nevillewootton/albums">www.flickr.com/photos/nevillewootton/albums</a>

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PLEASE NOTE: I take Photographs purely as a hobby these days so am happy to share them with anyone who enjoys them or has a use for them. If you do use them an accreditation would be nice and if you benefit from them financially a donation to <a href="http://www.sightsavers.org" rel="nofollow">www.sightsavers.org</a> would be really nice.

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