Batala Travel Guide

There's only one restaurant on Bathala, with sand on the floor, so that you never need to wear shoes - and the meals it serves are all buffet style.

Favorite Dish: I had heard it before: the fish is never exceptional in the Maldives: confirmed! I only really liked uncooked tuna fish. The restaurant's curries were really good, in general, as well as the other western dishes. What made the difference, however, were the sweets... unbelievably delicious - and plenty of them!

There is very little nightlife on Bathala... the most exciting moment after nightfall is at 7 o'clock sharp on the north pier. A man from Bangladesh takes out all the daily fish leftover fo feed the sharks. There are normally five or six grey sharks and a white-fin shark that come regularly to the pier to be fed, as well as two large blotched fantail rays and hundreds of jackfish. Fun to say, but the quickest to get the food are the jackfish, while the mighty shark appear particularly clumsy and slow.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: bring shoes that you can wear in water (like reefshoes)... to protect your feet from corals and especially from the deadly stone-fish

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: high protection sun-screen (40 factor and over)

Photo Equipment: cheap underwater cameras

Camping/Beach/Outdoor Gear: fins, snorkels and mask to enjoy marine life. Bring also a t-shirt for snorkeling, so that you don't burn yourself

The Ayurvedic massage centre is so well hidden that one risks to spend their time on Bathala without ever noticing its existance. In fact both times I went to reception to book a massage I was the first (and only) client of the day). It's a pity because the two Indian masseurs are quite good. There are several types of massage available: if you opr for the full massage, don't book the 45 minutes one, book the 30 minutes ... the masseurs are not really so much in a hurry that they will stop bang on time: they'll finish the massage - often in over 45 minutes anyway.

Favorite thing: Bathala is a beautiful island in the north Ari atoll, about 56 kilometres from the airport. You can reach it by speedboat in 90 minutes or by seaplane in 20 minutes. Bathala, in particular is a natural island: no trees were cut to make room for the beach - no nasty walls were built to protect the beach from the sea. And It's tiny: it takes seven minutes to walk its perimeter

Fondest memory: I liked the white soft beaches and the different colours of the sea. I also and especially liked the fishes: I spent the best part of the day with my head underwater, snorkeling. Wonderful, colourful, amazing, curious and friendly little fishes. And by the way, Bathala is a sort of sweet potato. Go figure...