Maldives (Hulhumale) Aug 2017 D-3

Day 3 Tuesday 8th August 2017 - Today our group supposed to take a public ferry from Villigili Ferry Terminal to Rasdhoo Atoll for an overnight stay. But it turned out to be a disaster. As the sea journey was rough and after almost an hour of ferry ride, three of us succumb to sea sickness and started to vomit ! What a terrible experience ! The next worst thing to happen was when the front entrance glass doors of our ferry were hit & smashed into pieces by a strong wave resulting in a large pool of water together with broken glasses gushing into the middle deck of the ferry. As KC and myself were sitting on the 4th & 5th row, our whole bodies were soaked with sea water and my shoes & socks were filled with two inches of water - a wet wet day indeed ! Fortunately, none of the broken glasses hit our passengers. As it was not raining at that time, otherwise more water would slip into the boat and the consequence would be grave for everyone ! An hour later, we realized that our ferry was heading back to Male city so our three hour ferry ride to Radshoo Atoll was called off ! The ferry management refunded our ticket money. Subsequently, I informed our hotel in Rasdhoo by phone of this incident and requested that they cancel our hotel booking as we were not keen to find an alternative transport ie speed boat to continue our journey ! So near yet so far, so our dream of visiting and staying overnight in an atoll was shattered by this bad incident ! What a big let down !

Due to this happening, our plan A of an overnight stay in Radshoo atoll had been jeopardized and the most viable alternative now is to take a step back and put out a night in Hulhumale, a quieter place to stay !

1) Awaiting  & boarding our ferry at Villingili Ferry Terminal for our 3 hour sea journey to Radshoo Atoll. The public ferry was scheduled to depart at 09.00. 

The two damaged front entrance glass doors
after been hit by a strong wave

Sweeping & picking up the broken
& sharp pieces of glasses, scary isn't it ? 

2) Useful timetables for public ferry rides to Raasdhoo atoll & Maafushi. Suggest check with the Villingili Ferry Terminal on the latest update on departure & arrival times if you are planning to visit these atolls.

Island Depart Island Arrival

Male 15.00 Gulhi 16.15 (all days except Friday)
Gulhi 16.25 Maafushi 16.45 (all days except Friday)
Male 09.00 Rasdhoo 12.30 (Sunday,Tuesday,Thursday)
Rasdhoo 11.00 Male 14.30 ( Saturday, Monday & Wednesday)

3) Lunch at a restaurant near the House Clover Hotel, this meal for three costs 205MVR (US$13.66)

4) Our last minute booking at UI Inn in Hulhumale replacing the Rasdhoo Atoll Residence (US$71 for a triple bed room online booking via Booking.com); a honeymoon suite In UI Inn booked over the phone for three costs US102 inclusive of services & green tax + a free breakfast. Beggar has no choice, take it or else we have to moon shine on the beach !

5) Evening stroll at the Eastern Beach in Hulhumale, enjoy the sea breeze or take a dip into the crystal clear water for a swim or have some fun at the beach ! You can have the beach by yourself as August is a low season month with fewer tourists so the beach is pretty quiet most of the times ! 

KC taking a stroll on the beach, pondering
what happened to this morning ferry incident ! 

6) My dinner at a local café; curry chicken + vege costs 55MVR (US$3.60)