Maldives trip, recommendations and tips needed!

[Lizzim]

I am looking ahead to next year, we originally wanted to celebrate our 40th birthdays in the Maldives but the pandemic stopped that.

We have Florida and an Alaska cruise from Seattle planned for this year, so am looking at 2023 for the Maldives.

Rob is dead set on an over water bungalow so I know it won't be cheap but any tips or recommendations will be welcome

[Blue nose]

We go this August to Oblu Sangeli.

Booked with Cinders Mum off here who is a Travel Counsellor. They have the best COVID Martin Lewis reviews so I wanted that reassurance rather than DIY and flying from Manchester have limited choice.

She got.us exactly what we wanted with a 2 bed villa with single beds in the second bedroom for teens.

We're flying Manchester - Doha - Male with Qatar.

Our island is meant to be more relaxed, family and sports focused which suits us. Most look amazing.

There's a couple of people in the travel industry on here so I'm sure you'll get some fantastic advice and one Dibber has just come back.

[aqualiv]

Hi!
My favourite subject and my favourite destination!
I am a Travel Counsellor and a Maldives specialist
My last trip was last month at Kurumba, so any questions ask away! 😃

[aqualiv]

Originally Posted by Blue nose

We go this August to Oblu Sangeli.

Booked with Cinders Mum off here who is a Travel Counsellor. They have the best COVID Martin Lewis reviews so I wanted that reassurance rather than DIY and flying from Manchester have limited choice.

She got.us exactly what we wanted with a 2 bed villa with single beds in the second bedroom for teens.

We're flying Manchester - Doha - Male with Qatar.

Our island is meant to be more relaxed, family and sports focused which suits us. Most look amazing.

There's a couple of people in the travel industry on here so I'm sure you'll get some fantastic advice and one Dibber has just come back.

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Have colleagues who have been there today! They are on a Maldives trip to the new Oblu Xperience and have just done a tour of Sangeli
I’ve been to Oblu Helengeli and thought it was great

[joshmadty]

Highly recommend Constance moofushi….. absolute bliss 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

[aqualiv]

Originally Posted by joshmadty

Highly recommend Constance moofushi….. absolute bliss 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

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Gorgeous island and a great all inclusive

[darbs]

We are booked to go to Kuramathi next year, our first time to the Maldives and can't wait! Flying man to lhr then direct to male, all with BA. Aqualiv was great and really helped us. So easy to book with her, would highly recommend... Happy planning!

[aqualiv]

Originally Posted by darbs

We are booked to go to Kuramathi next year, our first time to the Maldives and can't wait! Flying man to lhr then direct to male, all with BA. Aqualiv was great and really helped us. So easy to book with her, would highly recommend... Happy planning!

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Thanks so much
You will love Kuramathi x

[Pumba]

We went to the Maldives in 2017. The best advice I can give is to do your research very well. And to consider exactly what YOU would like from your holiday/island. Every island is a different experience and it’s well worth investing your time to make sure you are 100% happy that it is perfect for you.

We knew we wanted to take a sea plane to an island rather than speed boat. And we knew we didn’t want to be near the landfill island.

We started with the lonely planet guide and a highlighter! Read it cover to cover (several times) and concluded that we wanted to stay in one of 2 atolls. That decision helped to narrow things down. Our trip was a special anniversary trip for just the 2 of us, so we were not looking for a larger, busier island. We wanted tranquility, but liked the idea of some boat trips and the opportunity to visit a local island that wasn't a resort island.

We ended up choosing Centara Grand in the South Ari atoll. It was absolutely perfect for us. We had spa treatments every day, swam with a wild whale shark, visited a local island, snorkelled every day, chilled, read books, had a banana boat ride and enjoyed the most amazing food ever. Centara Grand is a small island but it has a few different restaurants and we ate at them all. The staff were exceptional and it was truly paradise.

We found that some travel agents didn’t really want us to choose our island and were trying the hard sell for islands that really didn’t fit what we were looking for. One even told us that we didn’t want to take a sea plane. Their reasoning was why would we want 3 flights when we could “get away” with just 2?

The sea plane was a massive part of the experience for us!

Enjoy your planning. It is even more spectacular than the pictures in the brochures. 🥰 xx

[CarolynU]

My son and daughter in law are on their way now as we speak. Vancouver-Singapore-Maldives.
I don’t have a clue which island.
I’ll pick their brains a bit. I know they’ve got an overwater bungalow though.