A luxury resort in the Maldives has launched what it claims is a world first, offering colour blind guests the chance to experience both its surroundings and the underwater world in dramatically expanded colour.
Seaside Finolhu Baa Atoll Maldives has partnered with colour vision specialist EnChroma
to provide colour-correcting glasses and snorkel masks for guests with colour blindness. The initiative launches during International Colour Blindness Awareness Month and is exclusive to the resort.
The collaboration gives guests access to EnChroma’s patented lens technology, designed to enhance colour separation for people with red–green colour blindness — the most common form of the condition, and one this journalist suffers from. Alongside sunglasses for everyday use around the island, Finolhu will also offer EnChroma snorkel masks, allowing colour blind guests to better experience coral reefs, marine life, and the changing tones of the Indian Ocean.
Colour blindness affects an estimated 350 million people worldwide, including around 30 million in Europe. It is significantly more common in men, with around one in 12 affected. While people with typical colour vision can perceive more than a million shades, those with colour blindness may see as little as 10% of that range, with colours often appearing muted or difficult to distinguish.
For red–green colour blind individuals, common confusions include green and yellow, purple and blue, grey and pink, and red and brown — differences that are especially noticeable in environments defined by strong natural colours, such as tropical landscapes and coral reefs.
Finolhu’s location in the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of Baa Atoll makes it an especially fitting testbed for the technology. The Maldives resort is surrounded by vivid turquoise lagoons and coral-rich waters, while its interiors lean heavily into bold, kaleidoscope-inspired colour schemes — elements that can be lost or flattened for colour blind guests.
Steven Phillips, general manager at Seaside Finolhu Baa Atoll Maldives, said the initiative was shaped by personal experience as well as guest feedback.
“Travelling the world is one of life’s great pleasures, but imagine doing so while only experiencing a fraction of the colour most people take for granted,” he said. “As someone who is colour blind myself, I know how much that can affect the way you experience a place. This partnership allows guests to see our surroundings in a way that may be completely new to them.”
EnChroma CEO Erik Ritchie said the introduction of snorkel masks was a particularly meaningful development.
“The Maldives is one of the most visually spectacular places on earth, above and below the waterline,” he said. “For colour blind divers and snorkellers, being able to experience coral reefs and marine life with greater colour clarity can be genuinely transformative.”
The glasses and snorkel masks will be available for guests to borrow during their stays, allowing both adults and children to try the technology without committing to a purchase.
While colour-correcting lenses don’t ‘cure’ colour blindness, they can significantly improve colour differentiation for many users, and often for the first time. In a destination as visually defined as the Maldives, the impact could be profound.
For travellers who are colour blind, Finolhu’s initiative represents more than a thoughtful amenity. It’s a rare acknowledgement that luxury isn’t only about indulgence — sometimes, it’s about finally seeing what everyone else sees.
