Few places on Earth look quite as extraordinary from the air as the Maldives.
The first time I saw the islands from above, I was peering out of the window of a rusty old seaplane, with earplugs firmly in place because the engine noise was unbearable. Below us, tiny green islands floated in impossibly blue water, surrounded by rings of white sand and turquoise lagoons. It was surreal, almost as though someone had painted the whole thing.
Scattered across the Indian Ocean, this tropical nation is made up of nearly 1,200 coral islands grouped into 26 natural atolls. From above, they form an extraordinary pattern.
Some islands are little more than a patch of vegetation surrounded by shallow water. Others stretch into long, slender sandbanks or sit within vast lagoons where the sea shifts from pale aquamarine to deep blue. The contrast is spectacular, and the geography is unlike almost anywhere else in the world.
Many of these islands are home to some of the world’s most beautiful resorts, with overwater villas extending into the lagoons and palm-fringed beaches tracing their shores.
These 35 aerial photos of the Maldives capture that remarkable landscape from its most flattering perspective: the sky.
