Yeah, it was a dream of mine too. After we lost out on the Kanimeedhoo lease we signed the lease on 4 islands in the south (10 mins away from some iconic breaks).
It fell apart when the then Tourism Minister decided to embezzle $80m. The investors bailed out fast once that became public and it pretty much cost me my house. Covid's fucked things since then.
https://maldivesindependent.com/busi...project-118356
The sunburn on my forehead came from the 3 days surfing the North Male Atoll breaks waiting for lawyers before signing the contract. The guy I'm shaking hands with is (according to a guy at the Asian Development Bank) the only Agriculture Minister he knows that wears a $50k wristwatch.
Fortunately, the current government seems to be pretty straight so we'll see what the future brings.