The beach was just two minutes away by foot but we were glued to our seat. With cold mocktails in hand, we sat at the outdoor lounge of Clear Sky Inn, enjoying the sultry Maldivian summer nights while listening to a local musician strum and sing his way to Bob Marley’s I Shot the Sheriff. This isn’t the Maldives that I had in mind, but like the darkened beach a few blocks away, it was close enough.

Some hours ago, we flew to the capital of Maldives, Male, after spending two weeks in Sri Lanka. We were very much elated. Not only was it our first time in Maldives, but also, man, this is Maldives! A beach haven we only hear and read about from luxury travelers!

CHECKING IN AT MALDIVES!

We have eight full days in Maldives and after much planning, we decided that the far-off island of Maamigili was gonna be our base of operations. The only thing was, it was eight hours away by ferry—well, they do have flights there, but at USD100.00 one way, we’d take the USD3.00 ferry any time of the day. Well, that’s really part of the problem since we’re arriving at night, and there’s no ferries going to Maamigili at night.

OUR SUPERIOR ROOM AT THE CLEAR SKY INN

So we’re basically stuck in Hulhumale, a reclaimed island right across Male Island, Maldive’s capital. This is where the international airport is, so the solution for us was to book an affordable lodging near the airport.

And so here we are on our first night in Maldives. Not too shabby, eh?

CLEAN EN SUITE TOILET & BATH

Clear Sky Inn is the perfect airport in-betweener for a Maldivian get-away. We were booked at their Superior Rooms [CHECK ROOM RATES & AVAILABILITY], and our room is spacious and tastefully decorated. It has ample storage space for baggage and what-nots, a cable television with international channels (CNN!) and a clean and decent en suite toilet and bath.

NAPOLI’S ALL MEATY PIZZA (MVR145.00) PLUS RED BULL MOJITO (MVR65.00) FOR THE WIN!

THEIR GRILLED BEEF STEAK (MVR140.00) WAS ALSO AWESOME

Downstairs, their Sky Café Restaurant serves the best pizza this side of Hulhumale—their Napolis Pizza ad says so. And well, so does our taste buds! Maldives is a Muslim country, so forget about having bacons on your pizza. But even so, it was quite good.

THE IN-HOUSE SKY CAFE RESTAURANT

Right after our dinner, as we were sipping our mocktails—alcohol is also strictly prohibited on local islands—at the al fresco part of the restaurant, our friends from Manila arrived. They joined our table right after checking in and excited conversations quickly erupted into the night. We’ve been away from the Philippines for exactly fourty four days and we almost kissed them from head to foot as they brought out a bunch of Jollibee Yum Cheeseburgers! Even without seeing the beach, our first day in Maldives was then complete.

~ OUR STAY IN HULHUMALI WAS HOSTED BY CLEAR SKY INN. VIEWS & OPINIONS ARE ALL MINE.

 

Clear Sky Inn
Address: HM Lot 11118, Nirolhu Magu Street,
              Hulhumale, Maldives
Contact Number: (+960) 335-0300
Email: info@clearskyinn.com
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GPS Coordinates Map: 4.208277, 73.542212
► CLICK HERE FOR DISCOUNTED ROOM RATES