A perfect string of more than 1,200 tropical islets fringed with white-sand beaches and electric-blue waters teeming with marine life: it's hard to describe the Maldives without resorting to cliches. Spread across roughly 35,000 square miles of the Indian Ocean - 270 nautical miles south of India - it sits along ancient trade routes from the West to the East. It was well regarded for the fish stocks that sustained sailors, and soon became an important staging point for merchant ships. Today, the Maldives' marine life is equally prized by the wealthy tourists who flock to its private island resorts - and a steadily growing number of superyacht owners. With an increasing: number of yachts
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