SANGU STORIES, The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands

Ocean Discoveries with Dive Butler International

March 28, 2021 Host: Mark Hehir - General Manager Season 3 Episode 2
SANGU STORIES, The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands
Ocean Discoveries with Dive Butler International
Show Notes Transcript

Welcome to another episode of Sangu Stories.

This week, we sat with Alexis at The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands taking in the beautiful blue waters of the island and excitedly planning our diving and watersports programme. Spending more than half of his life in the Maldives, Alexis brings insightful details and stories to the island. In the episode, Alexis shares with us his journey and the impressive array of underwater adventures he has for us.

To discover more about Dive Butler International, visit their website: https://www.divebutlerinternational.com/

For any further information or assistance, please contact Aminath.Haadhee@ritzcarlton.com , Marketing Communications Manager.

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For more information about The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands, visit our website

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Mark Hehir:

Welcome to Sangu Stories. We are located in the North Male Atoll at the edge of the Northern Eastern rim with coral reefs, dive spots, surf sites, and the deep channel, just a few minutes from the resort. Often we see dolphins even from the island itself with rays just swimming in the lagoon. Diving and water sports experiences is definitely an important part of the Maldivian experience. We are delighted to partner with Dive Butler, International curating unique experiences for guests of all ages. Today, we welcome Alexis to the podcast, the managing director and founder of Dive Butler International. We're excited to explore today what the unique role of diving and water sports programmes bring to The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands. Alexis to the Fari islands and The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, finally after a journey for you and I. Okay.

Alexis Vincent:

Absolutely. Mark. Thank you. Well, it's an honour and delight to be here on Fari Islands and, uh, finally arrived and I, I think this is your first, uh, in person podcast, if I'm not mistaken, is that right?

Mark Hehir:

Yes. Uh, we just recently did one with Tim who runs the Fari Islands campus, which we've been living in, uh, recently yourself as well. I've just arrived but definitely our first one in the island itself. So here we are sitting in our one bedroom villa looking out over the Indian Ocean. And, um, we were just sort of, you know, both of us getting excited about the quality of the property. And we super excited to get into the dive center and the water sports and understand all of that. So, you know, for me you know, as we are really building out the story of the opening of the resort and how we'll bring it alive, and there's so many things we're doing the podcast has really been able for us to slow it down and tell the stories, because there's so much detail that we're putting together for the resort. And so our listeners are excited to hear more about the activities that you have in store for our guests. And I thought, bring it to the man and ask him the question, you know,

Alexis Vincent:

Well, you know, the Maldives, I always remember a short story when I first arrived here in 1998, it was in December and I landed at the airport and I walked out and I felt this hot warm balmy air. And at the time I was a dive instructor going to a resort and I felt I've arrived home. And in fact, in my short 48 years on this planet I've spent almost most of my adult life here. So this has become home more than my native country. And what do we offer? I think that really is special in regards to our activities. U h, first of all, the environment is so conducive to having an amazing experience. And the Maldives is a country, which is, y ou k now, 99% of water over spread over multiple latitudes. And, and as a result, you have, you know, you have 1200 islands and so on. And so there's water everywhere, right? And we tend to forget this because of course we arrive to, it's such a beautiful property, like Fari Islands, and you may not ever want to leave your room and just look at the water, but it's so beautiful and there'll be a pity also not to really go out there and enjoy it. So when you ask, what do we offer? I mean, it's, it's, it goes as simple for some people who have never been in the water, it's quite a impressive and an intimidating. So we go from literally from just learning how to swim a little bit, feeling environment and bathe, and just float under the surface all the way to being comfortable, right. And that's the human connection. And the emotional element water is very much like the womb of the mother, right. There is something we forget as the same salinity. And therefore if we let ourselves relax in water, we can truly connect with nature. And that's a real plus. So specifically what we do is anything from swimming, snorkeling, diving, cruising, we do some yachting. We obviously have high adrenaline watersports. We have some more slower non-motorized water sports like stand-up paddling or, or, um, or even kayaking and so on. But just the contact in the water itself is super important. Uh, diving, obviously being a huge part of,

Mark Hehir:

Yeah, I often say to people that it's like going to the mountains and not climbing the mountain, you know, you might, if you come to the Maldives and you don't look down into the water, we have these amazing, uh, underwater mountains here with the most amazing fish life. And you can explore it in, as you mentioned now, so many different ways throughout the day for family, for couples. And there's so much to, you know, we've always been excited and we've worked together for many years about how we evolve experiences and have people come home with these emotions that they carry on for a lifetime, you know, and then they end up bringing others along and saying, come back to the Maldives and you must stay here. And I, and that's what we're all about at The Ritz-Carlton all these is, is bringing these emotional experiences. And, and I think the water element is one of the key parts. You know, we are not a lodging company. We are an experience-led company, and this is how we work together to, with the Dive Butler. So could you share more on the special diving snorkel sites that we have near our island and our surrounding waters and what makes diving in the Maldives so special?

Alexis Vincent:

Mm, absolutely. Uh, and, and as you said, you stole the words out of my mouth. Uh, when I say, I always say this, that the only mountain peaks you have in the Maldives are the underwater ones, actually, you're sitting right on top of it on the island. Right. It's so true. Um, what makes, I mean, diving into Maldives in general is it's almost would be disrespectful to the Maldives, not to, uh, not to acknowledge that the diving, the Maldives is amazing everywhere and what makes it so special is the, is the sheer abundance of life in, you know, I always say that one, look at the good dive sites underwater in one second can see more than a hundred dives in the Caribbean, and this is not to this, the, the, the Caribbean, because you have some beautiful dive sites there as well, but just that sheer abundance. Um, so in North Male Atoll, uh, you have where we're positioned is in the Northeast of North Male, which gives us, uh, an amazing advantage to some of the more it's just far away from Male, that you don't, you don't have as much boat, traffic and so on. And you have some amazing channel dives on the east side, right? If you keep going east, you end up in Indonesia. So that's the kind of location you have, like really in the middle of the Indian Ocean. So those channel dives, bring a huge amount of pelagic lives. And then you have Thilas, which is kind of an underwater island. Eventually you do become islands. That's our way the Maldives are formed, right? And in there, as we were talking pelagic tunas, as you're talking sharks, you are talking mantas, one of the things that makes it special, where we are here is that we have a year round manta season because we have access with our vessels to both the East and the West of the atoll. So I can name a number of dive sites specifically like Helengeli Thila, Okobe, Nassimo or even HP reef, which are legendary dive sites. But the point is that we have a locally over 50 dive sites available. Wow. And, and we broadened the scope with some further away, we have access to five atolls with the vessels that we get. So that, that broadens literally hundreds, if not thousands of dive sites.

Mark Hehir:

Um, and that's what makes this whole Maldives special and then Fari Islands even more special because we've got all those options, absolutely how long you stay in and how much you want to do so for us. And, and, uh, definitely it's been a conversation we've had for over a year now, originally brought by Evan, originally brought from, from Evan, who heads, the, the project, uh, from Pontiac Lands and, and, uh, really is the inspiration of Fari Islands. And he always said to me, and to ask that I've got to get the children into the water and we've got to make it easy, and we've got to make it a part of what we do and we need. And so for us, um, you know, we're, we've already agreed that the children have a free introduction water activities and they can which is a very nice touch. And, so what are the signature experiences for children? Well,

Alexis Vincent:

To taking them back, first of all, I'm completely aligned with Mr. Kwee in regards to that the our children are our greatest treasures, be our future. And the more we may, we allow them to be in contact with nature and bathe in nature, as opposed to their screens. Uh, do we, you're really bringing an experience that they'll remember all their life and today more than ever, especially after the year and the last, let's say 15 months we spent on this planet and how the technology has affected our children and this isolation. We've had the fact of getting back in contact with the elements, I think is essential more than ever now. Um, but I can tell you my daughter came to the Maldives when she was three months old, then she stayed there for, until she was, until almost 10 years old. Right. Right. So for her, I can see her where she is now she's a water baby. She is comfortable on a sailboat. She's comfortable cruising, she's comfortable diving. She's comfortable doing water sports. And she has a happy demeanor because she's constantly in contact with the elements and she doesn't have to see, she doesn't realize it quite yet, but she, you can see that her mood goes down. So, and I think so to go back to the activities for children, like I said, then we're completely aligned with Mr. Kwee is that, yes, let's get them in the water, let's get them away from the screens. And some of the activities we do, it's basically introducing children to all wonderful activity, such as scuba diving, uh, intro, introducing them, snorkeling to Marine biology and their ecosystems, um, even to swimming. Um, and again, uh, being culturally sensitive, you have, you have some nationalities are more comfortable in the water than others. And I think just the intro to swimming and being comfortable in the water is a huge thing. Uh, so you, we have to take that into account every single time, right. Also, uh, introduction to surf. One of the things of this area, uh, is that on the east side is when you have the best surf in the Maldives on the east side. So when you go on the other sides of the atolls, just so, so that just having some in intro, but not to be on a board to begin with and eventually to leading, to surfing activities and excursions, uh, and finally, uh, intro to normal dive activity. So we, we are going to have a daily, uh, introductory complimentary activity for children that, uh, that we serve, uh, you know, strongly encourage the parents to encourage our children to partake. Uh, they'll have an amazing experience and it'll want more, I can guarantee you

Mark Hehir:

That. So that's fantastic. And, and, uh, definitely we are going to have some happy families here, for sure. What other trending water sports activities on the island.

Alexis Vincent:

So the technology is moving at an amazing pace. Um, what are some of the things that we're, you know, for example, like the sea bobs and jet skis and jet blades, and some flying activities, uh, are becoming more and more common. And every year we're going to have a base, a base level of services and, and toys. And then every year we're going to bring some more toys just to ensure that we're constantly there. But I would say for the time being, uh, activities, like Sea Bob and jet blades and jet skis and excursions with jet skis, uh, these are some of the really, it's hard to beat. You're just, you know, you're going out and you're going in a channel and just a pod of 50 dolphins going around or do you want,

Mark Hehir:

and you don't have to go far. We see them coming up and down through the lagoon here.

Alexis Vincent:

You're there, you're there. You just have to know their timing. As you mentioned, I think on one of your previous podcasts, uh, with Dr. Murphy, uh, it's like, um, they're there all the time you even had that, or you you've named them

Mark Hehir:

About. In fact, we have villas that they hang out in front of which we may name the villa. It's crazy, but it's a, it's such a great thing because that's what Maldives really brings, which in other destinations you have to do two hours just to see a pod of dolphins, maybe, maybe, you know, and then you're not sure. So for us, uh, we've got so much to offer, but talk a bit more about what is on offer. What is the must-try experiences? Can you share more about the human connection and the one-on-one instruction that Dive Butler specializes in?

Alexis Vincent:

Absolutely. Well, first the must-try and that's, again, it's a bit disrespectful to a pretty much everything, that's an offering to select one. I would say, you know, you come to the Maldives 99% of water, try as many activities as you can, because you will regret them when you go home. I have a friend recently that told me I'd been to the Maldives. And when he said to his friends, I've you haven't been diving. He said, no, he was shamed by his friends. Unfortunately, no even no one wants to be shamed, but the truth is that now he has regrets that he hasn't. So anything from, like, as I said, from swimming all the way to surfing, to scuba diving, to snorkeling, to just cruising, to going with the dolphins, uh, try it. They're all must-tries. I mean, I, I hate to say, pick one out of the others, What Dive Butler has been known for, um, and, and not tooting too much on horn. And what we developed and we're pioneers, uh, apparently is on, it was really the, this one-on-one semi-private or private approach. So we, and this is nearly 2001. We started doing this as we saw an increasing demand, much like personal trainers or personal yoga teachers. And so on where people were walking into the dive school and asking for one-on-one instruction. And at first it was dismissed. And then eventually, uh, we decided, uh, my wife and I to give it a go. So instead of having, you know, four, six, eight, 10 divers and group, it just have the one and everything changed. Everything changed. All of a sudden you have this one-on-one connection, people which are sometimes a fear of peer pressure. And then from an emotional standpoint, could let go. And even if there was a few tears, because they were dealing with some, Oh my God, I'm not going to, I'm not going to breathe under there. I'm not going to be able to survive, actually relax in the environment. There was nobody to judge them, whether it's a husband, wife, son, or colleagues, friends, whatever it, no peer pressure. And then also when we realized something very fascinating is when there was only one or two divers on the water, the wildlife acted as though we were part of them. So they were no longer seeing us at an invading force. So therefore they could relax. And then to the true magnificence and magic of the underwater world could be experienced by, uh, by us as guests and even feeling, making us feel welcome. So it was a completely different experience.

Mark Hehir:

Amazing. Yeah. And that's what really attracts, uh, that, uh, that service to us, uh, at The Ritz-Carlton Maldives is how we then elevate those experiences where one-on-one, and really narrowing in on that personal connection is super important. And that's where that emotional moments happen. Um, so when we talk about sustainability efforts, uh, that you know, that you're engaged in, could you tell me a little bit more about where that's going from your side?

Alexis Vincent:

Well, where to begin? I feel that we can have 10 podcasts on this, uh, this topic Mark, because, uh, first of all, you know, the messaging from Fari Islands and, uh, Mr. Kwee and obviously Pontiac Land has been very, very clear that, uh, you know, even from the building of the villas that had been you know, upcycled and recycled, uh, that were, were created prior to having this whole concept is very, very important for us. So again, we feel really aligned to that. The Jean-Michel Cousteau experience with Dr. Murphy and team for us is super important. I think we will definitely enhance each other's offerings, ask from a service delivery perspective, then with their knowledge of seas and ecosystems and how sustainability and active practice can be done. Um, you see divers from the get-go are natural investors of the sea, we've always have been because of course we destroy the environment. And if only for egotistical reasons, we don't have a job anymore. Right. But more importantly, because the seas is a source of all life, including ourselves. We work, we, we have worked in the past and we will continue to work with a new hope to work with various, uh, various entities, such as one particular, uh, person of importance for us Frank Heidinger from, uh, who has worked with Parley. And I understand there might be, there might be some future plans

Mark Hehir:

We're working on Parley projects, definitely, which we'll be talking about soon.

Alexis Vincent:

That's beautiful because, you know, I think this is an amazing effort and, um, creating plastic as a resource and creating as an upcycled and eventually removing it from our seas. That's a great intent. Um, another thing that we, we, we, I, I think it's important to highlight as we are Padi five star resort. Okay. Uh, our dive centers. And that means that also we, Padi has been for years and years as a project, a part of it, which is a non- profit project and through this organize on the word cleanups, and this is a bit, it's a bit of a repeat of people. You know, we, it's important to not forget the baseline of where we come from. And Padi was the first organization to, uh, have this awareness around, protecting the environment way before all this plastic problem came around.

Mark Hehir:

Um, okay. And what, sorry, I'll throw one at you, uh, on that invite, where are we going with, uh, powering our toys? Yeah.

Alexis Vincent:

Yeah. It was just so wonderful. So I've been spending the best part of one year, dedicating way more energy to those, probably anything else is to finding solutions on a solar powered vessels, u h, electrical p ower vessels. And we are, my dream is that within five years that every single vessel in our fleet okay, would be, u h, electrical powered from a sustainable source right, now in practice is not as simple as it may sound. So we are starting now. U h, there, there are some various w ater s ports motorized companies that we have a pproached, and we are currently in negotiation with, I don't want to make p romise that I can deliver on. A nd, and as a result as we move forward with us, we'll keep you updated. And they will become news newsworthy as we b uild.

Mark Hehir:

And you'll introduce them as they work

Alexis Vincent:

As the work we can face, they must be safe. A second, it must be, it must be sustainable and must make sense from a logistics, pragmatic, operational perspective.

Mark Hehir:

That's great. You know, we are all working towards these goals, you know, we're all we're, we're, uh, and we're serious about those goals now. And I think that once you do that investigation, we work with you. We then put those, uh, goals in play, and then we see how we get to your five-year goal.

Alexis Vincent:

Absolutely. I know there's a, I don't know if it's it, honestly, I still cannot give you a firm answer, whether it's feasible to have a hundred percent carbon neutral, but understand definitely that's what we want for, and it goes beyond business or anything for us is like, you know, really be there and help save the planet, uh, and may sound naive, but that's really making a positive impact, uh, on, on, on people around us, on making positive impact on the environment. That is our most important purpose, uh, that we feel as a part of our DNA of the company.

Mark Hehir:

Great. Thank you, Alexis. Thanks for your time today. Uh, and we will start this journey at The Ritz-Carlton Maldives and Fari Islands on a bigger scale as we work together with Patina and you're in Capella in the future, there's lots happening. And also our Ladies and Gentlemen Island, where we want to really have activities for our Ladies and Gentlemen to experience the water as well. Uh, there's lots happening. Uh, it's just starting. It's great to have the conversation today as you've just put your foot on the island as well. And there's been a lot of conversation the last 12 months, and we look forward to this journey, continuing.

Alexis Vincent:

Thank you, Mark. Absolutely amazing. I'm delighted and honoured and I thank all our various partners for their trust in us and a vote of confidence. Uh, we absolutely look forward to launching this. I believe this will be truly the jewel on our ground. Thank you. Thank you.

Mark Hehir:

Well, I hope you enjoyed today's podcast. Join me next time. When we discover more about The Ritz Carlton, Fari Islands.