BEFORE SUNSET

A first-timer to the Maldives finds unexpected R&R and much to do, even as a nonswimmer visiting in the off-season, at Le Meridien Maldives Resort & Spa-one of the archipelago's stylish new island resorts

- PRANNAY PATHAK

I'm at Riviera, the beachside, adults-only bar. My cocktail is a cucumber green, just like the parasols out front. They wear beachside stripes that never seem to go out of fashion, and are cinched in the centre so they don't keel over in the evening breeze. My new loafers ate some sand, but I like it that way. Derrick, the affable Balinese barman I've struck up a friendship with without him suspecting, wants to know if my London Green & Tonic is the way I had expected it. It is, I answer without thinking, before repeating that it is, this time sure that this may be the first thing that is the way I expected it in the Maldives.

I remember being the eyesore of the flight and then the seaplane that brought me to Thilamaafushi island. If honeymoon destinations had stags and marine biology hotspots had unlettered loiterers, I would fit both descriptions. Hell, I don't even swim. I've always found that the appellations of mountain boy and city bird go with my persona, and the mere thought of seaside sunshine has me sweating in discomfort. Then one afternoon, I find myself sipping a welcome drink at the arrival lounge at Le Meridien Maldives Resort & Spa.

Situated in the southeast of the archipelago's Lhaviyani Atoll, which is regarded as an extraordinary diving destination, the settled serenity and understated glamour of the resort belies its newness. My hosts quickly have me hop on the buggy, a giant ant that takes me around the island, and finally emerges at the other end of it, where the resort's overwater villas sit like buttons on both sides of a placket. A leggy seabird patrols the beach for lunch options and a woman in a wedding dress poses for her photographer husband as we ascend the wooden bridge, pushing on noisily towards Villa 208.