While the lush tropical beaches of the Maldives feature on the front covers of glossy travel magazines around the world, the colourful living coral reefs just below the waterline are the real natural wonders of the islands. The Maldives owe their existence to one of the largest coral formation on earth - a vast undersea landscape that provides a habitat to more than a thousand types of marine plants and animals, many of them rare or even unique to the region. The abundance of small marine life on the reefs draws larger species of fish, dolphins and whales from the open ocean into waters around the atolls to feed. As a result, the Maldives are one of the foremost ocean habitats in the world, renowned for their diversity of undersea life. The seawater of the calm atoll lagoons and channels between the islands is also remarkably clear, and so the Maldives have become one of the most important and popular scuba diving locations on earth.
And yet you do not need to be a certified scuba diver to experience this extraordinary underwater world. Snorkelling is a simple and safe way to explore the surface reefs, and most marine life is found in the upper layers of the ocean where the light of the sun can penetrate. Scuba divers can get a deeper view, but most of the underwater wonders of the Maldives are accessible to anyone who can put on a snorkel and mask.
The basic snorkelling equipment consists of a rubber and glass mask to keep the salt water out of your eyes, a snorkel to breathe through, and a pair of swim fins for your feet. Even relatively inexperienced swimmers can use these items to explore the shallower reef areas, and you can quickly build up the confidence to explore further. Each of the the many resorts in the Maldives has a "house" reef near the main beach that is perfect for learning to snorkel, and a resident dive school that can help with equipment and supervision for those who are just starting out underwater.
If you do plan to spend some time snorkelling while on holiday in the Maldives, consider spending a little bit of money to purchase your own mask. This can be done before you leave home, but most dive schools in the islands run their own dive shop that sells basic equipment. Masks can also be hired at the resorts, but a well-fitting mask is the most essential item for any snorkeller and so it pays to be prepared before you arrive. the mask should fit snugly around your face, and stay fixed without a strap when you breathe in through your nose. Your own snorkel is nice to have as well, since it won't have been chewed on by anyone else, but it is not so important. If you are really keen you can also purchase a pair of good swim fins - but these can be bulky and troublesome to carry in aircraft luggage, and renting or borrowing them from the resort usually presents no problems. A Lycra reef shirt can also help protect your skin from the sun while you are snorkelling, and keep you warm when you have been in the water for a while - your body will lose some heat even when swimming in the warm waters of the Maldives.