"Long Island" Dhigurah made me wish for a longer stay

Me on Dhigurah's famed sandbank yesterday.

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As the current academic year holidays drew near to a close, me and three other members of my family decided to travel out of Maldives' congested capital island Male' one last time, but a bit further this time, during this weekend - in addition to already visiting the nearby Vilimale on Monday.

Our "paradise" destination this time was none other than Dhigurah because for many a days we had been hearing a lot of good things about the breathtaking and mesmerizing beauty of this unspoiled natural island, home to local tourism, with a host of comfortable guesthouse stays to choose from.

Located in proximity to the southern tip of South Ari (Alif Dhaal) atoll, Dhigurah, loosely translated as "Long Island" because of its physically elongated nature - and even its natives fondly calling it "Long Island" in English - attracts both local and foreign tourists due to its clean white sandy beach and vast pristine blue lagoon. In fact, locals and foreigners from nearby inhabited islands and tourist resort islands respectively, routinely visit Dhigurah as it is ideal for sunbathing and swimming - not to mention snorkeling and viewing whale sharks, turtles, dolphins and manta rays all round the year.

It took about one hour to walk the three kilometer length of the island and it's famed sandbank ("thundi" in Maldives' Dhivehi language) which connects Dhigurah to Lux* South Ari Atoll but there is a notice board prohibiting people from walking into the resort.

As for the commercialization which people expect of any island opened for guesthouse tourism, Dhigurah is very distinct from, say, South Male' atoll Maafushi island which now has no "vaa" (jungle). In Dhigurah, so far, they have managed not to spoil and cut down the natural vegetation. To go to the famous "thundi", we had to take a long trip on a buggy through a vast jungle which made it feel like as if being in a National Geographic documentary.

But sadly, because it is already popular with tourists - currently there are more than 400 tourists due to the European winter - due to its preservation of the natural features, in the future Dhigurah may become another boutique resort like Maafushi. But for the moment, the island retains its natural vegetation and a pristine long beach and a vast blue lagoon.

I am glad I came here before this island suffers the same fate as Maafushi (which I earlier visited a few times because been South Male' Atoll, it is closer to Male'). Dhigurah's current vegetation and jungle are amazing with so many types of trees and shrubs that I can't identify.

I would recommend Dhigurah to anyone who wants to experience a natural island in Maldives. In fact, we met a lot of budget travellers who stay in the nearby Maamigili, Dhihdhoo and Dhangethi islands but travelled to Dhigurah "because it's so beautiful". So, this may be one of the last natural looking islands before all inhabited islands of Maldives become boutique resorts due to the introduction of guesthouse tourism in Maldives in 2008, under the initiative of ousted President Mohamed "Anni" Nasheed.

It's inevitable that in the future Dhigurah will become another boutique resort, as natives need money to survive; so there is the pressure to build more guesthouses, restaurants, diving schools and water sports centers. The island councils across the Maldives archipelago will be forced to allocate land for the construction of such facilities, which means cutting down trees and clearing the land, even for agricultural purposes also. But some of my friends are of the view that councils should put a cap on the number of guesthouses.

We were fortunate to get a Family Room at Bliss Dhigurah as this is the peak tourism season. It is actually two connecting rooms which can accommodate four people. It's very ideal as the hotel welcomes not only solo travelers and couples but families as well. There were many "Western" kids having the time of their life, in activities as simple as picking corals and shells on the beach, or running their hands through foliage which they might never get to see in a city such as New York, London, Milan, Berlin, Zurich or Paris.

In fact, adult tourists were also having the time of their lives - simply sitting on the beach for an unobscured sunrise, or an amazing night time dinner on the beach under the clear full moon.

The food at restaurants such as Hermit's (owned by Bliss) and Bonthi (owned by Beach Inn) were world class, and dishes such as Bonthi's Sri Lankan Rice, Garlic Chicken Rice and Butter Chicken were indeed as tasty as reviewers declared online.

There were water sports facilities, such as windsurfing and jetskiing for the adventurous travellers, while the island was big enough for bikini clad beach "bums" who just wanted to quietly sunbathe to only the sounds of the surf, the whispers of the wind through coconut palm fronds, and the chirping of crickets and other critters.

We took the "Endheri Express" speedboat to Dhigurah and the "Erwina" back to Male'. It is roughly a two hour trip. The crew were very helpful, which made me wonder whether it's the "paradise" nature of our islands which made natives, expatriates and foreign tourists very friendly towards one another. We made friends with a handful of people, exchanging not just contacts  but also gifts.

Fortunately the sea was calm on the trip to Dhigurah but the return trip was rough, although that didn't prevent me from dozing off.

We stayed only for three days - from Thursday to today and so missed the whale shark viewing excursion scheduled for tomorrow. How we wished we could have stayed far longer because the island was so alluring. God willing, I hope I will get to visit Dhigurah again. Amen.