Standard trips

There are a few standard excursions offered by every resort. Snorkelling trips take guests to their house reef, if it is inaccessible from the island, or to other reefs nearby. This can take place once or twice a day and can be to great reefs or to dull ones. As a general rule, it is much better if the dive school rather than the management runs these.

Sunset fishing is another standard. Guests go out in a dhoni and let down hooked lines over a reef. It is as simple as that, and effective. Often too effective, as the dhoni deck can get half covered in snappers, rock cod, groupers and other fish. A few might get barbecued but most are thrown away, leading some resorts not to continue with this excursion.

In its place, or alongside, the sunset dolphin watch is popular. You are not as guaranteed to see dolphins as you are to catch a fish, but viewings are surprisingly frequent and certainly more thrilling.

Island hopping

Island hopping is the other mainstay of resort excursions. This will be some combination of visits to other resorts, inhabited islands and uninhabited islands. Lunch might be packed or, much better, barbecued fresh on a desert island with good snorkelling.

The inhabited island visit might be a walk up and down the main street with samey samey shopping or it might be a guided trip around the island, meeting locals and visiting historical places of interest. The local island visits usually tell you how lucky you have been in choosing your resort.

Another variation is a desert island excursion overnight for a couple, armed only with a mobile phone and bottles of champagne. Inevitably called a Robinson Crusoe excursion, this can be a special one-off experience.

Something special

For resorts that are not too far away from the airport, it is possible to book a seaplane sightseeing flight and picnic. From thereabouts too, you can board a mini submarine for an unique experience. Finally, Dr. Charles Anderson runs whale and dolphin trips into the deeper waters. These are not regular events but special when they happen.