I’ve been thinking about how to explain what the skydiving boogie in the Maldives was for me, in a manner that everyone could understand. It’s like trying to tell what sex is like to a virgin or why we keep jumping from an airplane for a non-skydiver. And so, that’s why I decided to put some footage together and show you guys all about this skydiving event in the Maldives.

I don’t know you but this edit blew my mind. All the content of photos and videos I manage to create in The Maldives is for download. I hope everyone can use my work to remind how fabulous that skydiving trip was. Thank you again for all the lovely memories and amazing jumps. Enjoy it!

Photographs Link: https://we.tl/t-JgCgLuABkZ – password: augustobartelle2020 (603 mb)

Skydiving Jumps Link: https://we.tl/t-Q5w8LGS5m0 – password: augustobartelle2020 (2.6gb)

The arrival

All skydivers had to figure out a way to get in Malé, the capital from the Maldives. Personally, I wanted to explore this city and learn a little about their culture and lifestyle from that entire place. Also, I didn’t want to have any issues to catch the flight that Rich Grimm, the event organizer, had set up with Manta Air. This flight took all skydivers to Kooddoo Island and back to Malé.

Nathalia and I spent two days in Malé, and we walked around a lot to know the island a little better. Without a doubt, the best tip I can give, is to walk on the main street called Majeedhee Magu Rd. Of course there are lots of small shops with many different useless things that people buy during a trip. The only concern you must have there are the scooters. There are lots of scooters on the streets and sometimes on the sidewalk too. If you want to know more about Maldives, there is a blog post with 14 things you should know before go to the Maldives.

Staying in Malé

In Malé we decided to stay in the closest hotel to the airport. Because, we had to be at the airport to catch the Tsunami Boogie Flight at 6 am, and I didn’t want to be late. Hulhule Hotel is a good hotel but way too expensive for what it delivers. Other hotels can schedule a taxi, and they will take you to everywhere in the city in less than 20 min. Therefore, in my opinion, if you are just staying for one night before you go to the resort, get something in the city. *Save money strategy*

“On my last day in Malé, I stayed at Sala Boutique Hotel. They text me on my WhatsApp to schedule a pickup at the airport. When I got there, someone was waiting for me and he took us to the hotel. They have simple and clean rooms. The best part of this place is the food and the price per night. Check out the Thai Restaurant.”

Kooddoo Island

At 6 am on February 1st 2020, everyone on the week one was at the airport awaiting their flight to the Mercure Maldives. The flight got a little delayed, but the vibe was so amazing that no one got upset. Once we took off, everyone kept eyes on the views outside the plane. I couldn’t see much from my side, but I was looking to other people’s phones when taking pictures. At this time, I remember thinking about with how much anticipation I waited for this day to arrive.

Kooddoo Island and the Mercure Resort are incredible. I was trying to get some aerial shots from a drone, but I didn’t find anyone who had a drone that week (sorry guys). We will need to survive with the shots from the jumps. 

“I want to mention that Everyone at Kooddoo Airport is gentle and super helpful. They follow the rules but are always open to help in anything that the skydivers needed.”

The Mercure Maldives Resort is quite small in comparison with other resorts in the Maldives Islands. However, it was the perfect size for our Skydiving Maldives Boogie. As well, the people at the resort are fantastic. Certainly, I can’t explain well enough how fabulous the Mercure Maldives crew is. Altogether, they did everything perfect, from the atmosphere, food, parties, cleaning, and cordiality. If anyone from the resort is reading, thank you guys!

This photograph shows the Kooddoo Island from above. Also the Maldives water colors and sunset.

Skydiving Maldives Boogie

Obviously, I think everyone knows that we came to the Maldives to skydive, and I already wrote too many things about other stuff. Let me try to explain the unexplainable. 

“That wasn’t simply a skydiving boogie. It was a big family trip where we all were able to skydive together. Besides that, one of the most beautiful views ever seen, with lots of amazing skydivers and first-class load organizers.”  – What else can I ask for?

The first skydiving day

At 8:30 am, we were all ready for the safety briefing. Rich Grimm started to explain the safety points and suggestions regarding his experience during skydiving boogies in other places. Besides Rich, Markus Bastuck gave us a presentation about the aircraft (thank you for flying from Germany to the Maldives just to help us skydiving). 

“I have to admit that, after those briefings, no one would like to be “that guy” and land in the water or somewhere not allowed. He did a fantastic pitch to help us keep the skydiving event as safe as possible.”

After the briefing, we ran to the Manifest with Rhonda Kaletz. Indeed,  I’m not sure we would have this boogie in the Maldives without her. Really, I was very impressed by how well she could take care of the manifest. As well as work with all the people that haven’t heard about skydiving in their entire lives. Surely it was a very stressful job, and we were all are grateful for having Rhonda there. Its worth mentioning also, how amazing is it, that locals who never heard of skydiving, now had this amazing experience. All thanks to the Skydive Maldives Boogie, and the staff who welcomed everyone with care. 

We have spoke before about just how important the Manifest folks are. Rhonda’s work was outstanding, and if you would like to read more about just why Manifest is so important, check out my blog post Who is Skydiving Manifest?

The first day of the first week of the most anticipated skydiving boogie in the world, was amazing. Beginning, not that many jumps because we are getting used to the pace, but we could kill the impatience, to skydive over the Maldives.

Let’s skydive in the Maldives

Next, on the second day I was even more excited to jump again. Completing only three jumps in the first day, I wanted to do more! Not only more, I want to jump with some big formations over the Maldives. The deal was that for large formation, where everyone needs to land at the same place or else in the water, was kind scary. However, the second day we were more secure with visuals and so on. We decided to go for a head-down 16 way over the Maldives. We got that record, by the way. Thank you, Amy Chmelecki and Michael Bohn, for organizing it.

How to be a good Load Organizer is a great article to read. It helps to understand better what they do and how they think.

Following this, we manage to pull out a big angle group organized by Michael Bohn. Similarly, the angle jump over the Maldives was just as amazing as the big way head down formation we did before. However, in the angle, I got more a camera position, and in the head-down, I was part of the formation.

All the other days were full of skydiving and good vibes only. Taking more than 100 photos from this event, I’m so happy with the results. It’s incredible how true it is when we say that the photographer’s work is to put people together and in the right spot. Once we have that, the only thing I need to do is flying around them and remind them to smile for the camera.

Time to say goodbye

Of course, always the hardest part. Leave a place we like so much and get back to normal life. Well, I honestly can’t complain. I get to do what I love with the kind of people I love. Although, leaving that group and the Maldives behind was hardcore. I’ll always remember the jumps we did, and those skydives will be the best jumps ever for a long time, if not for my entire life as a skydiver.

Thank you, everyone, for helping this happen. There are so many people to be grateful for this event that I don’t know where to start. So, before I forget anyone, I will just say thank you to ALL of you guys.

A fascinating article to read after all that food and drinks is the one about how to get back in shape after the holidays or after the Maldives. Check it out if you need a little inspiration.

I just one to add one more thing before saying goodbye. There is a startup Drop Zone in the Maldives. If you are looking for a place that can take you to the sky and back on the ground safe in The Maldives, you must talk with Moe. He can help you to kick out skydiving from your bucket list.

Keep coming back

All content from The Maldives event are on the top of this page. There you can download all the content (photos and videos). Please just keep my logo on it.

I also want to say thank you to Clauricio (Pirão), Franck, Markus, Ryan and Willian for sharing their videos. That was a huge help during this and for the next video edits of the Maldives Skydiving Boogie.

If you like the article, please let me know, send me an email or a message on Instagram. I want to know you experience and thoughts!

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