TROPIC OF TECHNICOLOUR

Gill-to-tail feasts, sizzling sunsets and a rainbow marine life-venture beyond the grand blues at Hilton Maldives Amingiri Resort & Spa

- SOHINI DAS GUPTA

OLD BLUES, NEW BOTTLE 

To be perfectly clear, there's no Maldives without the blues. Swerving down the wooden pier in a buggy, I'm bowled over by the Indian Ocean's movie-star good looks. And at the newly-opened Hilton Maldives Amingiri Resort, the ocean is always a blink away. Blink to your right and you'll see a string of overwater villas, thatched with straw and island sun. Blink to the left for identical floating casas, waves licking at stilts that peer above squares of Swarovski water. You'd think that being over-Instagrammed would take away some of the charm, but no such thing when the seascape is a chameleon. Before I can finish the welcome drink, it has transitioned from teal to turquoise to the jade of my father's absinthe.

At the wheel is Shaufa, zipping past wharf restaurants, beach swings, dive centres, art studios, and even a resort-wear boutique. The 109-villa property is laid out roughly in the shape of a fidget spinner-a strip of land decked only with the most immaculate elements of the outside world. Where the sand pellet ends, it protrudes into piers on either side, juggling overwater rooms. The island's near-photoshopped beauty is only disrupted by its mercurial weather, the most recent example being a storm last night. "And then you guys brought in good weather," Shaufa laughs. Sure enough, our crew of four journalists is off to a breezy start. Earlier today, a 20-minute water taxi ride from capital city Malé had eliminated the tumult of a seaplane, the only way to access the more remote resorts. And yet our journey to the North Malé atoll was laced with cosmic romance. How often are you greeted by a pod of bottlenose dolphins, fresh out of the airport?

 CALM WHITES AND SPICY SKIES