Thursday 14th – Monday 18th April 2022
The resort was paradise indeed; the arrival island with the main facilities, and a short water taxi ride away, the second island (actually entirely submerged) with over water villas like ours and a fabulous Japanese & Peruvian restaurant.
Raffles pride themselves on their guests feeling at home rather than temporarily hosted, and so it was for us – but having a villa with the floor area of a five bedroom home despite having just one was incredible! I loved the stylish wooden cupboard with coffee maker, the spacious sitting room, the massive four post bed with mattress three metres wide (but was glad I didn’t have to change the sheets!), the walk in dressing room, the huge and stylish bathroom, our own private swimming pool, our decking with sun loungers where once they were in shade, we’d spend hours simply reading, the rope hammock over a crystal clear sea, the caress of the sun, being surrounded by nothing but water, and an indescribable feeling of total relaxation yet positive energy. We were so, so fortunate and took care to mindfully soak up every single moment.
Everything went like clockwork, nothing was too much trouble for anyone, the water taxi was just a 60 second hail away, and the food in all three restaurant was beautifully fresh, healthy and of divine quality (usually a la carte, but set menu for dinner on Good Friday and Easter Sunday). The water was as clear as glass giving way to aquarmarine and then deep blue as the the depth increased – just unbelievable.
Sunrise each morning is at 6:00am, so despite being night owls we got up at about 05:30am each day to witness the pre-dawn glow magically transcend to golden light. Again, just unbelievable, and with the first dawn being our wedding anniversary itself what a magical way to start the day. Never in a million years did we dare to think that 22 years later, this is where we would be. After an hour’s nap back in bed, we’d take the water taxi for me to enjoy the 8am yoga class and Steve his first of two daily sessions in the gym before meeting up for a 9:30am breakfast that’d last a good couple of hours and end with a delicious Cappuccino.
Multiple snorkelling sessions were a highlight for us each, feeling privileged to see the corals and brightly coloured fish of all sizes and shapes – and some friendly shark moseying past. Steve took some GoPro video when diving down to some of the deeper coral, but sadly the case sprang a tiny leak and the front glass misted up each time after a few minutes so we’ll see what the results are in due course; he’s now back in the UK on a business trip so this will be in a couple of weeks’ time. He did though take a few still images and one of these is included in the album.
In conclusion; I wish you were there too.
Rennie
