The island council of Goidhoo island in Baa Atoll has announced plans to rent land for tourism purposes. The council has allocated 275,000 sqft of which 75,000 sqft is assigned to develop guest house or city hotel, this includes 5 plots of 5,000 sqft and another 5 plots of 10,000 sqft. The remaining 200,000 sqft is aimed for developing private residences and villas. This opportunity is available for local companies, partnerships and other local businesses. Foreign investors can participate through a local company. The deadline for submitting bids is the 28 August 2023.
The land allocated for developing private villa is enough for 20 units of 10,000 sqft. The island council officially didn’t not reveal the land sizes for these villas, but private villas need more space and ideal size would be 10,000 sqft. However, based on currently available details, it is upto the developer to determine size of villas and number of units they would develop. The council is only renting the land in coordination with Ministry Of Tourism.
Baa Atoll is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve that takes about 30 minutes to travel by seaplane. The domestic airport is located at Dharavandhoo Island, it takes about an hour to get there by speedboat. Most of the islands in Baa Atoll operates speedboat ferry from capital Male’, it takes about 1.5 hours. The most popular attraction in Baa Atoll is the world famous Hanifaru Bay which attracts hundreds of manta rays and some whale sharks that congregate every year to feast on the tiny planktons which get concentrated at that location. The seasons runs primary during the summer.
Goidhoo is home to 825 residents, some have already migrated to capital Male’ for education, employment and other purposes. The 113 hectares of land is mostly unoccupied except for about 30% which is taken over by the local residents. The vacant areas are covered with thick vegetation including palm trees, the locals widely use coconuts in Maldivian cuisine. It would be hard to find any dish that does not contain coconut. It is one of the main ingredients in any local dish. That is not surprising since coconuts and fish were primary sources of food in the ancient times and they are commonly available. Vegetables and fruits are mostly imported, little farming in some islands take place and they grow cucumber, tomato, lettuce, watermelon etc. Plucking coconuts and processing it takes time and manpower that leads to high cost of living. So, some imported coconut milk in curries while other dishes require freshly grated coconut.
Unlike pristine lagoons the Maldives is widely known for there is thick growth of seagrass at Goidhoo. It can be removed but most of the resorts have experienced difficulty in its permanent removable. This may be unpleasant for some tourists but for others it is the nature and seagrass is just a type of biodiversity which attracts sea turtles and some rare species of fish such as seahorse.
Goidhoo is located in its own natural atoll which contains neighbouring Fehendhoo and Fulhadhoo. There are some sandbanks with pristine clear waters all around, without seagrass, it takes only 5 minutes to get there by speedboat.
If you are seeking to build private villa by the beach that has a rich house reef Giodhoo would be one of the best choices within Maldives. Some rare formations of table coral are found in this natural atoll. For administration purposes the government categorised these islands under Baa Atoll.
Guest house tourism has recently started booming in the Maldives with local investors as well as foreigners who invested through local companies. Tourism being the epitome of economy the guesthouse sector is also thriving and generating a good return on investment. The government is taking note of these developments and forming up policies to encourage more business in this sector. Government earn a remarkable amount of tax from guesthouses while local get employment opportunities. Currently in Goidhoo there 4 guesthouses. There is only one restaurant on this local island. Having one means the tourists would have the choice to enjoy local dishes at local pricing. If you are planning to invest in a private villa in this island you want to include full kitchen, a private pool as well. So, if you have a different dietary requirement you can always manage it, usually the local restaurants are not efficient in that perspective.