What If You Got Stranded On A Maldives Desert Island?
There are 1190 islands and unaccounted number of sandbanks in the Maldives. Travel by sea is an unavoidable part of the island nation, unless you fly and stay in a hotel room the entire stay. Scuba diving is kind of an addiction once start seeing the beautiful underwater world. Otherwise there are also Dolphin Watching, Fishing and many other sea based activities for you to do in Maldives.
While 200 of the 1190 islands are occupied by local residents, about 170 are resorts with some still under construction. About 800 islands are still uninhabited even though some are leased for industrial projects, resorts or airport development.
All residential islands and resorts get cell phone network coverage, most of the desert islands also do and the coverage even reaches many areas of sea within the atoll. In an unlikely situation of engine failure there is a high chance you of receiving cell phone signal, if not the boats have UHF / VHF communication systems to radio for help.
Let’s assume everything failed and you ended up on a desert island. How would you survive with absolutely nothing? Not even water or food. Here’s how!
Before starting the survival tactics, I must admit that I am a great fan of Bear Grylls seen on Ultimate Survival series on NATGEO. But in this survival guide you won’t have to think of Bear Grylls’ taboo foods such as raw crabs and bugs.
First thing you want is to find water. Get inside a thick bush that has dark soil and dig up the sand, you will find water within a metre or two below. Let the dust settle and clear up the water. Find an empty bottle on the beach to collect water. Add some charcoal to purity water or you can even make a filer with some cloth. You can find charcoal on the beach, if not light up a fire and burn some dry wood.
To start a fire you can use the old fashioned friction method. If it is a sunny day the easiest way is to find some clear plastic bag to add water and use its magnification to concentrate sunshine into a pinpoint where it catches fire. Desert islands often have empty lighters and many useful stuff washed ashore. You can also find pieces of ropes and make a shelter on the beach.
Almost all islands in Maldives have palm trees. Climb up and get the coconuts for food, it also has tasty and nutritious water.
Get a stick and make a spear for fishing, you will need fish. Cut a big plastic water bottle in half and use it to see through in the water. If you don’t have any spear fishing experience it would take time to learn. In the low tide if you see coral reaching water surface, there might be fish trapped in a small puddle. Use the spear and there is no easier way to catch fish. Sometimes there are large schools of parrot fish trapped. You might just be lucky.
Most uninhabited islands are good places to find bird nests too, even birds if you can catch them. Put a trap on the beach and lure the bird into the trap.
Don’t forget to fully explore the island. Many islands have good foods such as banana, screw pine. I have seen makeshift shelters in some desert islands, sometimes locals stay on these islands to collect coconuts and firewood.
If you are stranded on an island there will be people looking for you. Keep an eye on the ocean for any passing boat, make a fire and throw raw leaves to create smoke. Draw some cross or SOS signs on the beach at different areas of the island, there might be seaplane rescue teams looking for you.
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