Contact Info If you are planning a visit to the Maldives and will be packing a racquet, here's who to look for: Ali Naseer Abdulla General Secretary Badminton Association of Maldives 1st Floor, Male' Sports Complex Maafaiy Thakurufaanu Magu Male', The Maldives Tel +960 331 4057 Fax +960 331 7896
I use to go to Sun Island, Maldives almost every year in the end of November. They have very nice gym for badminton there. If you come alone you can always find someone else to play with since there are almost 500 guests on the island. There is also option to hire local partner. The island is 1 km long and 300 m wide but still has all the facilities for various sports. Exellent place for vacations.
If you're referring to the Sun Island Resort, that's nearly 7km long. Also, the guest list can go up to around 1,000 people. You can rent a bicycle - the resort has several hundred of them - and it's about USD 3 for a day. The resort has a full-fledged gym, a wide jogging/cycling path and separate facilities for badminton, tennis, table-tennis, basketball, wind-surfing, diving, snorkelling and beach volleyball. There are two badminton courts... with wood flooring and rather poor lighting. A couple of dilapidated racquets and very brittle shuttles are also available. During my stays there, I put up notices inviting people to join me for a game. The only response was from a few Japanese tourists... and their skill level was abysmal, to say the least The Paradise Island Resort has a great badminton court. And a few of the staff, if time permits, can play a mean game Anyway, the best badminton in the Maldives is in Male', the capital.
I am sure you are wrong. Here http://www.sun-island.com/ you can find a map of the island. As for its length - look here http://www.holidaywatchdog.com/13594-South_Ari_Atoll-Sun_Island_Resort-Holiday-Review.html It says 1.6 km long. In fact it is a bit shorter then that. Been there 5 times I was always lucky to find partners there exept for one visit in May when I had to hire local chap as a partner. He was not excellent but still was pretty good to me. I am sure one can have better choise of partners in Male but Male is not as nice as Sun Island for other things
From the links you posted, it's clear we are referring to the same resort. (I also recognise the resort's layout map, which is issued to every guest.) To the best of my knowledge, this is one of the largest island resorts. The parent atoll itself - Ari - is one of the longer ones in the Maldives. Let me see if I can get clearer (and more accurate) information
You are correct. It is one of the biggest resort islands. Yet is it only 1.5 km long. Others are even smaller, sometime a lot smaller. A friend of mine who likes swimming use to swim around it as part of his every day routine. We use to stay on the nothern tip of the island (room 101). Gym is indeed not well illuminated and there is no adequite ventilation either. Still nice to have two good quality badminton courts. That is one of several reasons I keep faithful to this particular 5 star resort.
You should try Paradise Island - it has a very nice court. A few of the resident staff on Paradise Island can play quite well. As this resort is quite close to Male' (the capital island), you could even go over in the evening and catch a few hard games at the Indoor Stadium
if visiting Maldives don't forget to goto Ari Atoll, which is the largest atoll in Maldives. got nice resorts and specially south Ari Atoll area is great for a dive
