The Maldivian atolls
One of the quiet joys of the Maldives is how close the underwater world really is. Many resort islands are ringed by a coral house reef that begins just off the beach, so you do not need a boat, a guide or a long swim to reach it. You simply walk in from the warm white sand, or step straight down from the deck of an overwater villa, lower your face beneath the surface and find a whole living world waiting a few feet below you.
The water does the rest. It is warm and astonishingly clear, and the reef drops away in a tumble of coral heads and channels alive with movement. Clouds of small, bright fish drift past in the shallows, parrotfish graze the coral, and on a good morning a green sea turtle glides by below you or a reef shark or a ray slips along the sand at the reef's edge. It is gentle, accessible snorkeling that suits every level, easy enough for a first-timer floating in the shallows and rich enough to keep a seasoned diver coming back day after day.
We love that the house reef turns the simplest plan into the best part of the day. There is no schedule to keep and nothing to arrange: you can drift over the coral before breakfast, dip in again at golden hour, or spend a lazy afternoon doing nothing else at all. When we plan your trip we look closely at each resort's reef, because some are far better than others, and we match you to an island where the snorkeling off your own steps is part of the reason to be there.
