Visitors are transported by speedboat or, for farther destinations, a Maldivian Air Taxi seaplane www.mataxi.com . Maldivian Air Taxi operates one of the largest seaplane fleets and its Canadian prop Twin Otters serve over 30 resorts. Flight timings are based on international flight arrivals and departures.

With no fixed schedule to go by, things may appear a tad dramatic, but it all works out in the end. Service is friendly and informal with frequently barefoot pilots handling both the baggage and the flying. Views are terrific from any seat.

The Maldives is a 100 percent Sunni Muslim republic with just under 300,000 people, who live in 198 inhabited islands and the country's capital island of Mal¨¦. The capital has a population of about 80,000, a few trendsetting restaurants and transit hotels (but no alcohol) and little to appeal to the hedonist from the west and east.

Pleasure-seekers, however, are thoroughly pampered on exclusive resorts where spas, bars and romantic alfresco restaurants compete for attention with a brilliant see-through underwater world. The fact that all these acres of unspoiled coral are right at your doorstep, simply adds to the allure.

The airport is on its own island and will shortly be linked by road to the newly created residential island of Hulhu-Mal. Arrival facilities are simple as long as the three sections of the immigration form are completed correctly, and foreigners have a return ticket and a confirmed hotel reservation. A 30-day visit permit is given to all nationalities on arrival. All arriving luggage is X-rayed for bottles since the importation of alcohol is prohibited. Any found is kept in bond for the visitor's departure.

However, there is a duty-free shop selling wines and spirits, as well as others with upmarket perfumes and fashions, in the airport's small departure lounge. A Johnnie Walker Black Label one litre bottle will set you back about US$28, while a one litre Chivas (aged 12 years) costs US$29. Come prepapared for long waits at the airport as the air taxi service only flies by day and several flights depart late at night. There are a couple of undistinguished cafes serving the staple hamburger and chips and a Movenpick at the airport entrance offers ice-creams.

Mal the capital, right by the airport island, has developed rapidly over the past two decades from two-storey sea-front shops adorning sandy streets, to a fairly cosmopolitan town - at least in appearances. It now boasts black-top streets, tree-lined avenues, a clutch of restaurants serving everything from Thai to Continental, the odd Internet cafe and the busy No. 1 Jetty - a five minute walk from the bustling fish market - where your boat will most likely dock. Buildings remain lowrise but have acquired reflective glass frontage and taxis now ply streets where walking or bicycles were once the norm. Taxis charge around 15 Maldivian rufiyaas ( US$1=Rf12.75 ) for most trips. However, if your feet will transport you, most places are within a 20-minute walk.