Three Chinese girls from Wuhan are spending a year working at this immaculate new resort in the Maldives. [Photo by Matt Hodges/China Daily]

In addition to the idyllic views, its trump card is having the only resort-based museum of Maldivian culture outside of Male, as well as the country's first gallery of modern Maldivian art in a stunning overwater pavilion.

The discovery of two ancient sunken baths made from sandstone, the island's bedrock, suggests a Buddhist temple once existed there. The resort is partnering with the Maldives National University to dig deeper.

Maamigili translates from a local dialect of Dhivehi as "big island cabbage", but that didn't deter ancient kings from using it as their private playground. Tourists seem unfazed that the Maldivian word for islands is "dives". Clearly, they're not.

Loama is one of 102 operating island resorts in a necklace of 26 major atolls comprising 1,192 splotches of turquoise, yellow and green south of India and Sri Lanka.

The only downside is the $540 you must fork out for the return seaplane ride from Male, a 2-square-kilometer island that houses one-third of the Maldives' 350,000 people. It's a scenic, if sweaty ride.

The Maldives is a strict Muslim nation where locals, but not tourists, can face prison terms if found consuming alcohol or pork.