Longing for serenity
To be sure, the great time of travelling has not yet returned. A short trip to Cocoa Island and Maalifushi in the Maldives is a good start to what is still to come.
The resort of Como Cocoa Island on the South Malé Atoll is a 40-minute speedboat ride from Velane International Airport on the main island of Malé. A first feeling of happiness sets in after the nine-hour journey from Germany: The air is soft, the yacht flies over thousands of shades of blue. It is a spectacle that only the Indian Ocean around the Maldives can produce. The capital Malé, its skyline rising into the sky like a Little Manhattan, recedes from view.
The strange world as we were used to it for so long now fades in my memory. Soon we docked at the Jetty: palm trees, sun, the air measures a pleasant 30 degrees, I stepped onto a tiny island in the middle of an infinity pool called the Indian Ocean. General Manager Oscar Perez of Como Cocoa Island pushed an open coconut into my hand. I didn’t have to think long: this is paradise. What you experience when you walk barefoot on the sand is an overwhelming feeling of freedom and happiness.
First stop: Como Cocoa Island
With a length of only 350 metres, Como Cocoa Island offers an amazing variety: a sandbank, for example, which extends to 800 metres at low tide in the turquoise water and a house reef with an impressive tropical underwater world with colorful clown fish, eagle rays and black tip sharks. It’s located behind the overwater villas, a few steps down from the sun deck and you’re ready to snorkel. After all, more than 20 dive sites can be reached within 30 minutes by boat from the resort. Reef diving, wreck diving and night snorkeling are on the agenda at the Padi-certified dive center. Instructor Hussein Sharmeel, nicknamed “Sharky”, is the master of ceremonies for the underwater expeditions.
The understated aesthetics of the reception and the only restaurant blend harmoniously with the vegetation of frangipani, breadfruit and banyan trees. A hammock is set between two palm trees; it doesn’t get more relaxing than this. The infinity pool is on the sunset side of the island. The Faru beach bar next to it offers drinks to match the psychedelic natural spectacle as the sun disappears in slow motion behind the horizon.… weiterlesen
My curriculum vitae is as colorful as the world. I was editor at ELLE, tested cars and participated at off-road tours. I lived on a small island in Florida for twelve years and from there I travelled the Caribbean and almost all states of the USA for various magazines, conducted interviews with interesting people, reported on beautiful homes and exotic travel destinations. After my return to Germany I worked for InStyle magazine for 14 years in various positions. And it was there that I first came into contact with the topic of beauty. To this day I still enjoy immersing myself in the fine cosmos of creams, perfumes and lipsticks. (photo: Thomas Dilge)
