A Dream You Don't Want To Wake From

Augustman Editor spent his second honeymoon in Joali Maldives and what he discovered is a destination that would make day-to-day living something to endure

- JONATHAN HO

BIBLICALLY SPEAKING, there’s no literal description of heaven. Popular television like The Good Place has conjured up imagery of a pleasantville where all your desires are fulfilled; in our earthbound confines, this paradise has a name and it could quite plausibly be Joali Maldives.

Opened in 2018 by Turkish entrepreneur Esin Güral Argat (who hails from the family conglomerate which owns businesses including LAV, the world’s fifth largest glassware manufacturer), Joali Maldives is Güral Argat’s first foray into the hospitality business. Joali is proof that an enterprise uninformed by “standard” hospitality benchmarks can actually create a heaven on earth. After all, if the Good Book itself does not describe it, what good (no pun intended) would it be to create utopia with pre-existing, pre-defined notions?

The first of its kind, Joali Maldives is an art-immersive resort that follows the philosophy of “the joy of living”. Its scattered artworks around the island are a constant reminder of divinely inspired joie de vivre – whatever your state of mind was, peace and constant wonder become your default state of being.

With utmost privacy and sustainability in mind, Güral Argat chose Muravandhoo Island in the remote northern Raa Atoll, a 45-minute seaplane from capital Malé, to situate this Nirvana: Sitting amid one of the world’s largest and deepest atolls, fringed by pristine white-sand beaches, swaying coconut palms and peaceful lagoons, the area is so remote that no other inhabited islands could be seen on the horizon even on the clearest of days.