Somewhere between the Maldives’ northern-splayed Lhaviyani and Noonu atolls, we slipped through some kind of portal; from heaven, into something better.
Pulling up to Velaa Private Island aboard the Ayma, an outrageously sleek sports yacht, our family emerges; my never-silent children – son, 10, and daughter, five – dumbstruck. The jetty stretches towards the pristine icing-sugared beach, ringed by a mesmerising expanse of aquamarine perfection. Is that lush tropical foliage, that shock of emerald intensity, even real? (Later, posting pictures online, I’m asked whether they’re AI-generated.)
