Water villas at St. Regis Vommuli. [Photo by Wong Chiu Man and Zhao Xu/provided to China Daily]

And Fan believes that in the Maldives the constant sense of fluidity inevitably seeps into relationships that elsewhere would probably have lasted longer.

"Romance does blossom here but is often short-lived. I've seen as many marriages (often involving a foreign woman and a Maldivian man) end up as divorces. To be frank, the Maldives is probably one of the most open Muslim countries."

Asked what she does in her spare time, Fan, whose contact with the wind and the sea is burnished on her face, smiles and says: "Gossip. This is a small place."

Once every year she spends time with her husband, who introduced her to scuba diving, outside the Maldives.

"He has only come here once, because I need to go somewhere else."