Anyone been to the Maldives?

[TrueBlue]

Planning a trip for me and hubby's 20th wedding anniversary in February 2020. I know it's a while away still but have never been before and don't have any friends / family that's been either so need to plan plan plan

Just wondering if there's any do's or don't? and feed back would be amazing

We will be stopping over in Dubai for 3 days before flying out to Meeru Island Resort (that's the island i've got my eye on and it's within our budget). In Dubai we'll be staying with my brother who lives there and once we get to the Maldives we're going to be staying in an over water bunglow.

Is the water safe to snorkle / swim in? I believe there are sharks in the Maldives but they are harmless?

is there mosquitoes ?

What about tipping? We will be booking all inclusive.

So much I need to learn...

[florida_2012]

We honeymooned in the Maldives. On Kuredu island. Absolute paradise. Amazing. Nicest place we’ve been. We long to go back for an anniversary. Couldn’t justify the funds for 10th anniversary so maybe the 20th and when the children are teenagers and would appreciate it more.

We got a sea plane transfer to our island. They are used like taxis in the Maldives. I would definitely recommend this depending on where your island is located.
We stayed in a water villa with a private sunbathing area and steps directly into the Indian Ocean for snorkelling. The snorkelling and diving was amazing. We saw a wide variety of fish, mantas and sharks! The sharks were sizeable 😵 but harmless.
All inclusive is the best way to go as there isn’t a great deal of restaurants on each of the islands.
Locals were very friendly.
I would thoroughly recommend the Maldives as a paradise location 😀
Any more questions just ask

[florida_2012]

Forgot to add. I am a mosquito magnet. I got bit a few times but I did use mosquito spray so it wasn’t too bad. The villa had air con which helped keep the mosquitoes away.

We did tip (in US dollars I think) but other than tips we hardly spent anything as there was only 1 gift shop on the island. Plus we paid for a few diving lessons and a spa treatment.

[TrueBlue]

Originally Posted by florida_2012

We honeymooned in the Maldives. On Kuredu island. Absolute paradise. Amazing. Nicest place we’ve been. We long to go back for an anniversary. Couldn’t justify the funds for 10th anniversary so maybe the 20th and when the children are teenagers and would appreciate it more.

We got a sea plane transfer to our island. They are used like taxis in the Maldives. I would definitely recommend this depending on where your island is located.
We stayed in a water villa with a private sunbathing area and steps directly into the Indian Ocean for snorkelling. The snorkelling and diving was amazing. We saw a wide variety of fish, mantas and sharks! The sharks were sizeable 😵 but harmless.
All inclusive is the best way to go as there isn’t a great deal of restaurants on each of the islands.
Locals were very friendly.
I would thoroughly recommend the Maldives as a paradise location 😀
Any more questions just ask

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Originally Posted by florida_2012

Forgot to add. I am a mosquito magnet. I got bit a few times but I did use mosquito spray so it wasn’t too bad. The villa had air con which helped keep the mosquitoes away.

We did tip (in US dollars I think) but other than tips we hardly spent anything as there was only 1 gift shop on the island. Plus we paid for a few diving lessons and a spa treatment.

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Thank you for your quick reply and for the information.

Can I ask who you tipped and how much? i.e. the person that flies to sea plan? Waiters etc?

I know there will be some extra's like a massage etc and I also want to book a photo shoot (if they do them).

This will be our first time away without our boys (who will be 22 and 17 when we go). I've only had 1 night away from them before and that was 20 miles up the road just last year . Can't wait to spend some quality time with just me and my hubby

Thanks for letting me know about mosquitoes. I tend to be a magnet to them too so will take plenty of spray with me.

Do you see any wasps? Those are my biggest fear - i'm literally petrified of them

[florida_2012]

From memory we tipped the bar waiters, restaurant staff and room service in US dollars. We didn’t tip each time but maybe every few days $5 or $10 or if we got to chat with some of the staff.

There seemed to be mosquitoes and sandflys but didn’t see any wasps. I used a deet spray in the Maldives in the evenings. I use boots yellow tube and also incognito in Europe and will use these in Orlando this year.
Maldives is the ultimate relax but there is plenty to do if you want to be active like snorkelling, diving etc.

We did a sunken boat dive. It was crazy that we swam out a few hundred yards from the beach and it’s relatively shallow - we could see the sandy bottom then suddenly a shelf and below was deep darkness 😀

Very memorable experiences from the Maldives. It is lovely for a couples holiday

Originally Posted by TrueBlue

Thank you for your quick reply and for the information.

Can I ask who you tipped and how much? i.e. the person that flies to sea plan? Waiters etc?

I know there will be some extra's like a massage etc and I also want to book a photo shoot (if they do them).

This will be our first time away without our boys (who will be 22 and 17 when we go). I've only had 1 night away from them before and that was 20 miles up the road just last year . Can't wait to spend some quality time with just me and my hubby

Thanks for letting me know about mosquitoes. I tend to be a magnet to them too so will take plenty of spray with me.

Do you see any wasps? Those are my biggest fear - i'm literally petrified of them

See more...

[Colette-S]

I have been, we stayed in Soneva Fushi. Safe to snorkel and the snorkelling is amazing. There were a lot of mosquitoes but the beds had nets and the hotel sprayed regularly. Can't remember on tipping sorry

[ROBBOTOO]

Went many many years ago to Vilamendhoo. What an experience then, including the sea plane flight!

We paid Ł499 for two weeks all inclusive !

I had a cough as we went so couldn't snorkle but everyone who did said it was amazing.

I remember people going out on a boat trip to spot dolphins. They didn't get to see any but we saw loads that day from our sea view villa !

I have to say even with their mosquito spraying it was the most I've ever been bitten. Hopefully that's just me being unlucky. But even ended up seeing the island doctor. But as I say it was a long time ago.

[Guest]

I expect each island is different but ours was totally safe to swim in and the rays were the biggest sea creatures that could make it over the reef into the lagoon. Have stayed in both the beach bungalows and the water bungalows - both are great but the beach bungalow was actually my favourite as you had your own piece of sandy beach as well as being 10 steps from the water. The water closest to the bungalows was also deeper and better for a swim/float around! It also was at the side of the island with the best sunset (over the water).
Some islands can be very dark to walk between rooms and bars etc so a small torch might be useful if it is a bigger island.
Sea plane transfer is amazing so if you can then do it - only time you'll see a bare footed pilot and windows open on a plane!
It's paradise - enjoy!

[scottish mama]

We went to Kuredu many years ago for our first anniversary. Wasn't intentional but got 2 wks for price of 1 AI (though not as good a deal as ROBOTTO) and it was fantastic.
Went barefoot from the first day, had a beach bungalow (it was before Kuredu had water bungalows) had reef sharks swimming right up to the shore, hermit crab racing was the evening entertainment, had turtles and stingrays swimming over us, nearly drowned DH back peddling when snorkelling as I reached the 'drop off' - quite scary as sea drastically changes temperature and colour as the reef drops away so steeply.
Would love to go back as hear they've made lot some of changes.
Ah, happy days, you'll love it!

[scottish mama]

Just remembered someone I know has just come back from Kuredu and said it was amazing