There was a nasty squall again this morning and we had to wait a while before we were able to get out and go to breakfast. The squalls just come and go usually, but this one hung around for a while.

We did eventually manage to escape our room and we had a leisurely breakfast before returning to wait for the weather to calm down enough for a swim at the pool.

It wasn’t too bad when the guys came to make up our room so we went to the pool and I got a few laps in before we were once again forced inside.

There was a photographer drumming up business at breakfast time, and he managed to con a European couple into photos on the beach. He ended up with them on the swing, which was pretty much under water in the high tide, and the poor couple nearly got drowned. I can’t imagine what the photos were like!

We were supposed to have our dolphin cruise at 4.30pm, but due to the red flags posted around the place, that had become doubtful.

No phone calls were had by 4.05pm so we headed off down to the jetty in anticipation, but when we got there a lady was walking towards us who told us that the dolphin cruise was indeed cancelled. That was a bit disappointing as I thought they had done it rather prematurely since the weather had calmed down considerably by then.

Since they had cancelled much of what we had booked we ventured again to the water sports kiosk to see if we could tentatively book something for the next couple of days.

No, there was nothing going until Monday, which is when we will be leaving, so, so much for our vouchers, which have proved to be mostly useless. Can’t help bad luck and bad weather I suppose, but at least I got in a couple of long awaited dives.

The sea calmed quite a bit in the late afternoon so I went for a swim out towards the reef and back. It was quite pleasant,  although the tide had gone out by then and I had to be careful not to scrape against the little coral bommies in the shallow water.

The cocktail hour loomed around 5.30pm so off we went to the pool bar to indulge,  before ‘Maldivian night’ at the main restaurant.

There was no sunset to speak of due to the thick cloud so no nice sunset photos were had by anyone, but the cocktails were flowing as usual.

Maldivian night consisted of copious amounts of very spicy but delicious food, and the two female wait staff were beautifully dressed in their traditional Maldivian dress, which nowadays is only worn on special occasions. They also had delicate gold necklaces which were made by a local craftsman, and they both looked absolutely stunning.

I had a word with the head pastry chef (who incidentally looks very much like the lead singer from ‘The Fine young cannibals’) and complimented him and his staff on the incredible desserts that they produce night after night. He was very pleased with the compliments, and seemed to be getting them from everyone whom he spoke to as he meandered around making sure his desserts were suitably well presented.

There was supposed to be a movie tonight outside in the area near the pool, but due to the wind, we presumed that would be cancelled as well. I can imagine that the screen, if they tried to put it up, would quite possibly end up on the runway, so we decided to retire to our room for the night.