Maldives: Blue and White in the Coral Sea

The Maldives is the coral nation of the Indian Ocean. Five days and four nights, spending your holiday on the water, between coral reefs and sandbars, turn your holiday into a postcard.

Stay in a water villa, with a boardwalk from the bedroom leading straight to the sea. Open the door and you'll find a private terrace and seawater; watch the sunrise in the pool in the morning and fall asleep counting the stars at night.

Snorkeling or deep diving to see coral reefs, tropical fish, turtles, and soft corals swim in the clear waters. Good dive spots offer visibility up to tens of meters, like falling into a blue dream.

Taking a doni boat to an uninhabited sandbar, a circle of white sand floats in the jelly-colored sea, revealing a heart-shaped silhouette at low tide. Bring a book and a bottle of coconut green, and half a day passes.

At sunset, dolphins often leap out of the water after the boat. The bubbles in the glass and the gold on the horizon make for the most luxurious dusk in the Maldives.

The purity of the Maldives is simplifying the world into blue and white. When you lie on a sandbar with the sound of waves as your only background sound, you'll understand: luxury—it turns out it can be this quiet.