The Maldives: How I Drowned a Drone and Asked a Hotel for Rice
Updated March 2026
I brought two drones to the Maldives — a DJI Phantom 4 and a new DJI Mavic Air I was eager to test. I came home with one.
The Maldives is the kind of place that exists specifically to be photographed from the air. Roughly 1,190 islands spread across 26 atolls in the Indian Ocean, with 99% of the country’s geographic area being water. The highest natural point is 2.4 metres above sea level — making it the lowest country on earth. From a drone, the contrast between the turquoise shallows and the deep ocean is almost unreal. For anyone with a camera and a set of propellers, it is difficult to think of a better destination.
Which is exactly the mindset that got me into trouble..
The Auto-Landing
After a few trials runs with the Mavic, I had an idea. I would sit on a wooden path over the water and let the drone glide beneath me — a low shot skimming the surface. As I set up the shot, the drone, as if with a mind of its own, began an auto-landing. Right into the sea.
“Oh no, no, noooo!!!” I yelled — a bit too loudly. Discretion was no longer an option. I plunged into the water fully clothed. My spectacle did not go unnoticed. Laughter echoed from the beach, mingling with sympathetic advice from guests who had apparently all become experts in drone salvage.
One suggested the old rice trick to combat saltwater damage. Amused yet desperate, I approached the hotel reception and asked for a kilo of dry rice. To my surprise, they handed me a jar.
The Explosion
After a hopeful two-hour rice bath, I reinserted the battery. The drone greeted me with a small explosion. A puff of smoke, a distinct burnt-electronics smell, and the confirmation that the rice trick has its limits.
Just then, my wife walked in and immediately wrinkled her nose. I maintained a poker face. “I don’t smell anything,” I said, hoping to spare her the full story of the drowned drone, the beach audience, the jar of rice, and the small fire.
She was not convinced.
Flying in the Maldives
For drone operators, the Maldives is simultaneously paradise and a logistical headache. The scenery is extraordinary — overwater bungalows, sandbanks emerging from turquoise lagoons, reef formations visible from 100 metres up. But nearly every resort in the country sits on its own island, and most have seaplane ports. With over 90 floating seaplane platforms operating across the atolls, the airspace is more complicated than it looks. Drone operators are reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the Maldives Civil Aviation Authority, and approvals are not instant.
None of which I fully appreciated before I arrived with two drones and a plan.
Back in Dubai, I quietly replaced the Mavic — a secret I had hoped to keep buried under the sands of the Maldives. The photographs, at least, sruvived.
