Reji Sebastian says his Indian home is just two hours' away from the Maldives by flight. [Photo by Zhao Xu/China Daily]

"The Maldives is different from all the rest, in the sense that the islands are all very separated. The result is a rather encapsulated way of existence that can in some ways wear you down."

Fan reckons that these days there are about 60 Chinese diving coaches in the Maldives, of whom she knows about 25. "Since we live on different islands we don't see each other very often."

Indeed, friendship made in this part of the world is subject to change from the very beginning, as Cui has learned over the past year or so.

"In the Maldives we usually have one hotel for one island. So a change of job usually involves island hopping," says Cui, who shares one bedroom with three of her workmates at St. Regis.

"When I went to Dubai, 10 girls from the same tourism school went with me. Three of us eventually came here. Now I'm the only one who's still here."