Originally Posted by
yutaka12131415
Open water scuba diving:
I have never been to other places in Maldives so I'm not sure how it is compared to WA but coming from California, that was the best dive I've ever been. The hardest part about scuba diving is having to carry, put on, build up the super heavy scuba gears. Here they literally do everything for you! Unlike the dive boats in California where you have 25 other divers with you, here it's just you! This makes diving so stress free and extremely enjoyable.
Yeah but that service is also what you're paying a premium for. Diving in CA is certianly going to be a different experience - cold water kelp forests and sea lions, vs. tranquil warm water reefs. Certainly it's a lot more chilled diving in the Maldives!
ZUMA:
I know everyone here had a very high rating for this place, but honestly as a Japanese person, ZUMA Maldives just didn't measure up. ZUMA sells itself as a high end contemporary Izakaya with a creative touch. Izakaya in Japan is almost never with a luxury remark as it serves small dishes for the purpose of drinking and socializing with co-workers or friends, as opposed to fancy dates.
For us it was the ambience that made Zuma. Nowhere else had any real atmosphere to it. The cocktails were made really well - where elsewhere they'd been largely average. Sitting in that open window looking across the lagoon to the resort, whilst on the other side the chefs busied themselves with the food just felt like a proper dining experience.
That being said, I like Zuma in Dubai anyway and eat there a fair bit, but I'm also aware it's a chain and I don't expect perfect Japanese cuisine as a result. Fresh, tasty food and a decent selction of drinks in a fun environment is good enough for me. And specifcally related to the WA - we'd already been to Li Long and seen that their Chinese cuisine was largely sub-par so getting to Zuma and having hot, fresh food was a welcome relief - so perhaps our expectations had been lowered somewhat elsewhere.
But ultimately I think going in there expecting it to match up with 'authentic' Japanese restuarants will ultimately lead to disappointment. Though there's no excuse for the service you received - I'd have been talking to my conceirge if that had happened to us.