Maldives - anyone been and got any tips?

[kateh134]

We’ve been a couple of times and have stayed at maayafushi and meedhupparu, both of which were all inclusive.

Our preference was maayafushi as the island was very small and peaceful and we didn’t wear any shoes for the whole of our stay. There wasn’t a pool, but with such a beautiful ocean steps away, we didn’t need one. The snorkelling was good at both and could be done either from the beach. Both involved a sea plane transfer and that was our preference over a speedboat.

We weren’t bothered by a water bungalow but plenty of islands have them.

Decide what’s important to you and how you want to spend your time and as others have said, look at what’s included in all inclusive. We loved our stays, although the last one was 15 years ago. Have fun choosing!

[Lizzim]

Originally Posted by Puddle5

We've been twice to both Diamond resorts Thudufushi and Athruga. Much preferred Athruga we thought it was paradise.

A few things you need to think about:

Do you want a big or small island? Smaller one like the ones we went to you can walk around in ten minutes have limited choice of restaurants, others are big enough to ride a bike around and have multiple eating options.

Do you want to snorkel? We chose the above as we wanted all inclusive but also wanted to snorkel right of the beach. Some resorts you have to get a boat out to the reef.

Be careful looking at all inclusive, some are more inclusive than others!

We found the forums on a well known travel site useful for planning and deciding on an Island.

Just another point if you go to a resort with sea plane transfer make sure you get a flight that arrives in the morning and then not to late in the afternoon evening. Seaplanes only operate during daylight and you really don't want to be stuck spending a night at the airport. We loved the sea planes by the way, great fun with the barefoot pilots!

Hope you find what you are looking for it is a fantastic destination

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Not too worried about snorkeling, and as long as I can get soft drinks I'm happy - I will check what is included though before we book.

I will also check on the arrival and departure times - thanks for the tip on seaplane timings