diving

Into the blue

Five percent. Only five percent of the ocean has been topographically imaged. This means that 65% of our planet, where you and I live, is unknown. We’ve mapped Mercury and have an incredibly detailed “Idiot’s Guide to the Moon”, complete with ramblers maps which show you how to trek around the international claims of the US and Soviet governments. But comparatively, we know very little of the abyssal plains and continental shelves.

Sensational Soneva – The Maldives

To date, the magic of The Maldives has eluded me regardless of the regular encounters I have with euphoric ambassadors who are willing to preach its virtues the world over. As someone who likes to think they have a strong eco warrior side, I have perhaps a rather misguided ideal that if I avoid these precious islands, I will protect them from the ravages of tourism. The very essence of The Maldives, their purity, rarity and fragility is what has kept me away. In hindsight I have acted as a latter-day conscientious travel objector, I have withstood the pressure to visit in my rather grandiose desire to single-handily protect these…