Year 3 -16 April 2026 – Houvafen Fuschi Lagoon -Baros – Himmufuschi -North Male Atoll – 17.67nm Maldives
I was woken at about 5.30am to a thunderstorm and the anchor alarm. It was tipping it down and there was quite a swell. I turned on the instruments and the wind was 25 + kts and then I saw a 32 kt gust (a force 8) and there was thunder and lightning. This continued for a few hours and we were not moving and the anchor was holding well. We were swinging around quite a bit and we were one side of Jamala, the other yacht and then the other.
The weather got everyone up and we had teas and coffee and breakfast. I got on with some other jobs and the benefit of the weather was that it was cooler. I could see the reef around us and we had not moved in relation to it. We were planning to go to Baros, an island where J & Miranda were spending a few days and we hoped to get into their lagoon to anchor and to have lunch.
We left about 11.05am and the anchor came up well. By this time the wind had died to nothing and it was still drizzling. We even had to put on a light waterproof to start with but within 10 minutes the rain had stopped. We motored put of the lagoon through the pass and then headed more or less directly to Baros.
Baros Maldives is a renowned 5-star luxury resort located on a natural tropical island in the North Malé Atoll, offering intimate overwater and beach villas. Accessible via a 25-minute speedboat ride from Velana International Airport, it is celebrated as a top romantic destination with a premier house reef for snorkelling and diving. I had actually been to this resort some years ago and had done my padi course there. I can vouch it was very nice.
We motored across and came round to the entrance to the Baros lagoon and a boat met us and guided us in. The channel took the depth down to 3.1 so we edged in and picked up a mooring line. We then changed and made ourselves presentable and then the boat took us all ashore with J & Miranda’s luggage.
We were met and welcomed by the resort staff and given a cold towel. We were then led to a seating area and given a glass of champagne which was lovely. We chatted and enjoyed a bit of luxury. We then went to the outside dining room and we had a lovely lunch whilst overlooking the sea. It was great to not have to cook and to have some different wine.
Once we had lunch we had to get back to the boat to get on to Himmafuschi. We were given a lift back and then we slipped the mooring and started to go out of the channel the same way but the tide had gone out a little and we touched the sandy/coral bottom. The hotel sent out a boat and they pulled us back and said follow them as there was a deeper way out. We followed them and managed to get out with the depth going to 2.8m at one point. This was a relief as we may have had to stay the night – not sure J & Miranda would have appreciated that!! They are after on their honeymoon.
We motored on to Himmafuschi which has another entrance into a lagoon and which was shallow and market by sticks. The lowest depth was 3m.
We anchored as close as I could to the little harbour as I would have to row to the harbour tomorrow to pick up the outboard man.
It was a bustly place with ferries coming to and fro and the odd fishing boat. However, it was different to be in a sort of town rather than a lagoon with nothing but beautiful views. We had a sundowner on the deck and had a great sunset. We only had cheese and biscuits after our large lunch.
The picture of today is champagne on Baros.
Need/Opportunity Year Three
I will be going shortly from India to the Maldives and then on to Mauritius, Reunion, Cape Town, St Helena, Azores and back to the UK.
I am looking for one crew from Mauritius/ Reunion Island to Cape Town (mid-June to end of July). If of any interest do email me.
The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com