You arrive to the island paradise by sea plane, hovering above crystal blue water and remote atolls, it’s the rock stars’ arrival. Fushi was our first destination and has a rustic Robinson Crusoe feel about it. Handing over your shoes before stepping off the sea plane – ‘no shoes no news’ is like a long exhale. The villas are enormous and private and quiet – all the ingredients for a perfect start with our noisy family in tow. No request is too great, your every need, want, desire is catered to and there is adventure everywhere you look, if you choose – or places to escape and do nothing much at all.
My family chose the adventure, we were treated to a picnic on a private island, an afternoon of snorkelling with turtles, private lunch with Akira a Japanese hatted chef and food you couldn’t dream up! Honestly – where do we go from here!
Yes, there’s a chocolate room, yes there’s ice cream all day everyday – yes you can have the opportunity to blow glass with a glass smith or slide into the crystal blue sea on giant slides and yes word on the island is there’s surf – but we didn’t have much of a chance to find it. Next time!
Your every culinary desire is on offer – it’s the epitome of a real-life dream! We zip-lined to a dinner in the treetops, we started our mornings in the bath-like sea. We rode our bikes from one side of the island to the other – multiple times a day, my boys raced – I breathed in the trees and canopy of nature surrounding me.
Our next stop was Soneva Jani – imagine water world, villas wrapping the sea for as far as the eye can see. Again the villas are huge, with your own private slide to turquoise waters and the ride to the crab shack for breakfast or lunch was never with spotting a manta ray. It always surprised me that you don’t often see other people, but if seclusion is what you’re after this is the place.
Our boys exhausted the water sports team, with wake-boarding, sea-bobing, tubing, e-surfboarding and foiling. Who needs surf when you’ve got motorised water sports!
Try their signature couples massage and get the electric bikes – the island is a 20-minute ride from one side to the other. A great way to work off the exceptional and endless food that’s on offer.
I could get used to having my own ‘barefoot guardians’ on both of these dreamy islands, in my real life. They instill the slow life philosophy – one my family refuses to embrace – but thank you Soneva Fushi and Jani and our beautiful barefoot Guardians – Iye and Fez for your warmth, kindness and showing us that life is certainly better barefoot! You gave us the luxury of time together and a trip of a lifetime.
