Kandima offers everything but stillness. That, you’ll have to steal for yourself.
The water was impossibly blue. Cobalt blue. Turquoise as we neared the shore. Kandima appeared like a postcard: white sand, palm trees, and a wooden deck stretching into nowhere.
There are two Maldives: one lived in, the other imagined. We checked into the latter at Kandima, a private island in Dhaalu Atoll, now home to the country’s first electric go-kart track, a move designed to bring Indian travellers back after diplomatic frostbite.
Manta Air, the resort’s airline, flies from Bengaluru to Kudahuvadhoo in an ATR-72, the biggest plane that can land on a 1.8 km runway jutting into the sea from an island barely a kilometre long. The moment we touched down, efficiency kicked in. A Kandima staffer greeted us like long-lost cousins, our luggage beat us to the room before we could say “jetlag,” and a speedboat whisked us away.
The water was impossibly blue. Cobalt blue. Turquoise as we neared the shore. Kandima appeared like a postcard: white sand, palm trees, and a wooden deck stretching into nowhere. At the lobby, damp towels scented with lemon balm, a spa ritual, wiped away the journey.
A drink arrived, orange-yellow like mango, but it tasted sour at first, then sweet, with a faint grainy texture like that of a guava. Passion fruit, they said. Ironic, given how calmly it made me question my life choices.
We headed straight for the launch of ‘Fast Track, Maldives’—a 500-metre-long, professional-grade electric go-kart circuit with 12-turns. “Don’t brake on the turns. Trust the kart,” said a staff member, strapping me into a four-point harness. We rode; no fumes, no roar—just the whirr of motors and the occasional squeal of tyres biting asphalt at up to 80 kmph. Each lap took less than a minute, but we raced four times.Launched on November 15, 2024, Fast Track at Kandima Maldives is more than just a high-speed thrill. It’s a calculated move.
In 2023, India was the Maldives’ biggest tourism market, contributing over 209,000 visitors. But after offensive remarks about India by Maldivian ministers on social media in 2024, the numbers plunged to 130,805, pushing India from 1st to 6th place among the island nation’s key markets. Diplomatic talks helped ease tensions by late 2024, and the Maldives is now looking to rebuild trust and welcome 300,000 Indian tourists in 2025. Since, Kandima and other resorts have pivoted their focus. “This addition is designed to attract families and Gen Z travellers,” the resort informed this newspaper.
Kandima has 270 beach studios and villas.The beach studio I stayed in had a modern design with tropical flair: an open-concept bathroom with a whirlpool spa-tub, a bathtub, a closed shower and an open one, on one side, and a private pool overlooking the ocean on the other. Sustainability here feels intentional.Glass bottles and bamboo toothbrushes replace plastic; shorelines show barely a trace of waste.
But let’s be real: those hauntingly beautiful white sand beaches, unlike common quartz ones, are formed from coral remains and are not “pristine” by accident. A dedicated team hand-rakes the sand in rhythmic, wave-like motion and it certainly adds to the beauty.The 10 dining options range from BBQ to Chinese at and Mediterranean. The Indian food? Solid. The Mediterranean? Excellent. Maldivian options? Missing.
At Sea Dragon, the resort’s Chinese restaurant, fish and lobsters glide in aquariums until plated to order. Beauty here is fleeting but delicious.
Nightly theme parties keep things lively—some by the pool, some glow-in-the-dark.The dolphin cruises offer a quiet kind of magic, but the real surprise to us was the flying fish!
They burst from the ocean, gliding a foot perhaps two above the water, sometimes stretching up to two metres in an unexpected display of speed while wagging their tails.
No scripted resort experience, just raw, wild wonder. Snorkelling, windsurfing, kayaking, dolphin cruises, art classes, and the esKape Spa round out the itinerary.Kandima offers everything but stillness. That, you’ll have to steal for yourself.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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