As promised here comes the live blog with daily updates from Outrigger Konotta.

I will use mobile photos while here. There will be a new update with high resolution photos from my DSLR camera when I’m back home.

 

Day 1

We arrived somewhat tired after a long journey. We set foot on the island around 2pm (resort time is one hour ahead of Male). Our villa was ready upon arrival so we checked in there. We were allocated a beautiful water villa with pool, and our lovely host Yasmin from Denmark; showed us all the functions of the villa and informed us on general things about the resort.

We then had lunch at the bar. Both had angus burger, which was really tasty.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and catching up with sleep.

 

Day 2

The first full day started in the pool on the deck, what a fantastic experience..

We then headed for breakfast which was again very good. The eggs benedict was cooked to perfection and was enjoyed with a glass of sparkling wine.

We spent almost 3 hours in the water. We jumped in the water from the WV, and swam around the whole island back to the WV.

We saw so many adult reef sharks we stopped counting, both black tips and white tips. Spotted a turtle after 5 minutes in the water as well. Did not see any octupus, eagle rays or mobilas, but hoping will see those during the holiday as well.

Also saw the biggest swarm of parrotfish we have ever seen…

Seems like the reef will grow back very quick. There are a lot of 1+ year acropora colonies, and if you look more closely there are far more «baby» colonies from last coral spawning (1 inch encrusting base), in many places they are like 30cm between them in average. When these get 1 year to grow, and become 5-6 inches they will really start covering the surface. There are also tons of 6-8 inch tabelling corals on the northeast and east side of the island.

The really good thing is that these are really fast growing species, so there seem to be bright future for this house reef.

All in all; we love the reef, and it is the best we have seen after the El Nino in 2016!

We then had dinner at Blue Salt. Again the food was very good.

In the evening we watched the sunset with our friend Babs, from our sunset water villa. This was a really stunning experience..

Day 3

Yesterday was a nice day, we were just relaxing and enjoying the island.

We had breakfast and then headed off to Babs jacuzzi beach pool villa, and borrowed their jacuzzi (Thank you Babs).

Must also mention that I love the sculpture at the reception (In the photo below).

Most of the day we enjoyed the water villa deck and pool.

Due to a light sunburn we just did a 30 minute snorkel just before sunset.

Dinner was again very good and tasty, the food here is really great.

After dinner we just had a short stop by the bar, before we headed back to the villa and went early to bed.

Day 4

We tried out Navasana spa. The massage was very good. I chose a firm and deep massage, and the therapist had really strong hands. Afterwords we felt very relaxed and were ready to enjoy the day.

The hydrotheraphy pool is very large.. Take a look below.

In the evening we were celebrating the Birthday of a friend, so we all headed to Nala Rah for dinner. The Teppanyaki chef gave us a great show!

The beef was just lovely, so tender that it almost melted in the mouth..

Day 5

We decided to make this the big relaxing day on our water villa deck, so we spent the time in the pool and snorkeling. The weather was fantastic with millpond conditions, so we thought it was a great day to do this with no other activities. You never know what the weather will be like the next days in the Maldives, so we thought this was a good idea.

Lunch was also eaten in the villa, to maximize the time there.

The deck is just fantastic, the best I’ve had in the Maldives.

When snorkeling we spotted lots of sharks, several octopus, a turtle and the biggest swarm of parrotfish I have ever seen. All caught on camera!

Day 6

We decided to try out the signature birdcage breakfast at Blue Salt. This is a good way to try out buttermilk pancakes, Belgian style waffles and French toasts all at once.

While we were eating breakfast, we spotted a pod of dolphins swimming close to shore.

Weather was still nice, but the ocean was quite choppy, but it surely did not stop us from entering the ocean.

We had dinner on the deck, and opted for premium dishes like duo of organic duck, surf and turf (lobster and beef tenderloin) which all was cooked to perfection. We ended it all with the Konotta Chocolate platter – 7 reasons to love chocolate, mmmm (I am glad they did not list the calories hahaha)

Day 7

The last full day of the holiday was surely the best.

Since it was the last night with the core of the gang on the island, Mrs D invited us all to gather at their pool water villa.

But the management had a surprise for us all instead. They had set up a nice party with bubbles, snacks and canapees in the luxurious Grand Konotta villa. It was all beautifully set up by the staff. We all suspect Niluka to be the brain behind all this. Thank you very much, we will never forget!!

We had a late dinner on the beach, all again set up in a wonderful setting with lights and decorations.

Day 8

The day of departure.. The time went so fast, but when you are having a great time, it usually does!

We got up in the morning to have a early breakfast to make room for a final snorkel. On the way back from breakfast we found Mrs and Mr Babs goodbye -message in the sand. (We are going to miss you as well xxx).

The ocean was calm and we spotted a turtle and several sharks. Never seen so many sharks at any other islands, and in Gaafu atoll everything is bigger as well. I really recommend this house reef as the diversity of species is great and you often encounter dense fish soups.

It was time to settle the bill for the holiday. Our lovely host Yasmin was waiting for us there and sorted it out. She surprised us with a gift that was nicely wrapped up.

We opened the gift when we stopped at the bar on our way back to the water villa. She had framed a beautiful photo of the whole Konotta gang from the Grand Konotta villa deck. What a heartwarming gift..

When we were leaving the resort from the jetty, the management and our wonderful friends in the Konotta gang showed up to wave us goodbye. I must admit that it was hard to hold back the tears.

The last view of the gang was Mr D jumping in the water behind the boat which made me laugh, and the rest behind on the jetty waving goodbye.

Goodbye Outrigger Konotta, what a fantastic holiday with great friends; at a truly wonderful resort…

If you like us, spend a lot of time on research; you can read our Konotta blog at Tripadvisor below. It has more than 1300 replies at the moment:

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g293953-i7445-k10732628-Anyones_s_Konotta_blog-Maldives.html