Maldives Top Tips
Discussion
We want to the Maldives for our honeymoon and I spend ages reading reviews, searching, trawling pages etc. In the end I used a company online but phoned them and spoke to them for some personal feedback. For our budget it seemed we could either get better accomodation on a 4* island or lesser accomodation on a 5* island. Decided on the later. Told them what we wanted and we settled on Atmosphere Kanifushi.
We absolutely loved it (but assume we'd have loved any of the islands) the all inclusive was all premium, nothing not included although there was a couple of paid restaurants which we got tickets for as it was our honeymoon anyways.
All the usual stuff, staff, food, drinks were all excellent
There were no water villas if that's important to you, but we had a basic beach villa, which had our own section of beach and it was outstanding.
We absolutely loved it (but assume we'd have loved any of the islands) the all inclusive was all premium, nothing not included although there was a couple of paid restaurants which we got tickets for as it was our honeymoon anyways.
All the usual stuff, staff, food, drinks were all excellent
There were no water villas if that's important to you, but we had a basic beach villa, which had our own section of beach and it was outstanding.
It is a bit of a slog to find the island that suits your needs, there have been several threads on this here.
Tripadvisor is a good start for finding your perfect island.
The islands are fantastic and the best advice I can give is choose one with a seaplane transfer, good food, not the cheapest but not the most expensive! Choose one that offers a few trips and has good activities.
I liked Veligandu the best of the islands I have visited.
Tripadvisor is a good start for finding your perfect island.
The islands are fantastic and the best advice I can give is choose one with a seaplane transfer, good food, not the cheapest but not the most expensive! Choose one that offers a few trips and has good activities.
I liked Veligandu the best of the islands I have visited.
krunchkin said:
I think our needs would be:
Over water villa ideally
All inclusive
House reef in good condition and not dead
No kids
Not too big
Not insanely expensive Ultra 5 star, decent 4 star fine
We did vilamendhoo a few years back. Was fantastic. House reef the highlight its miles long.Over water villa ideally
All inclusive
House reef in good condition and not dead
No kids
Not too big
Not insanely expensive Ultra 5 star, decent 4 star fine
Water villa was very reasonable it was great.
Cant say I noticed many kids but there may have been some.
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g209576...
krunchkin said:
Anyone like to share the benefits of their Maldives knowledge with me? The wife fancies going next Jan/Feb and I'm mulling over the many, many islands available. All good/bad experiences welcome...
We went to the Maldives in 2011 for our honeymoon. We went to one of the cheapest resorts Thomson resorts (Meru). It was fantastic. The food was exceptionally good, so I can only imagine what some of the better resorts are like. The island was also fairly big and some people I've spoken to didn't like that, but we didn't find it an issue. It was nice to walk round of an evening. We are both qualified divers and we of course did a few dive trips, but the currents were something else and my OH struggled a bit. The diving was incredibly expensive and we didn't see any of the stuff that the Maldives is famous for (Big Rays).
We were in one of the jacuzzi villas and that was worth paying for. Sadly our budget didn't quite stretch to the water jacuzzi villas.
RegMolehusband said:
Kuramathi is worth a look - I've been twice. A larger island, but this provides the opportunity for different themed restaurants of good quality.
We went last year - a week on Kuramathi, a week on Centara Ras Fushi. Kuramathi was great, and I'd happily go back. Centara was too small and full of loud Australians.
OP : I know you say you want a water villa, and if money is no object then go for it. I really did too - which is why we split the holiday, because water villa at Kuramathi added too much to the price, so we got Beach Villa in Kuramathi and Water Villa in Centara. The reality is, the novelty of the water villa wore off about 30 mins after we got there, and overall I preferred the beach villa, and wished we'd spent the full two weeks in Kuramathi.
We went here https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g685495...
Did 5 nights and would loved to have stayed longer if budget allowed
Water villa is thoroughly recommended, food and service was amazing, the staff can't do enough to help
Was the Easter holidays, so there were a few kids around but certainly nothing that impacted our stay
Did 5 nights and would loved to have stayed longer if budget allowed
Water villa is thoroughly recommended, food and service was amazing, the staff can't do enough to help
Was the Easter holidays, so there were a few kids around but certainly nothing that impacted our stay
justin220 said:
For our budget it seemed we could either get better accomodation on a 4* island or lesser accomodation on a 5* island. Decided on the later.
The advice we got was to do the former. With such small islands, there is always a more sheltered side and a more exposed side. The better accommodation is normally on the more sheltered side of each island.BRISTOL86 said:
Sorry to hijack your thread OP, but if anyone has any Kuramathi tips I’m all ears - we are there for two weeks in January for our honeymoon! Doing the ‘premium’ AI but couldn’t spring for the water villa.
We did the premium AI too. I drank far too many "Chocolate pleasures" at the bar that's near reception (can't remember what it's called).
We found the generic restaurant pretty average, even for breakfast (Centara generic restaurant was much better actually) and started having breakfast at the a la carte's which did it. Again, near reception there is a place called coffee something or other - I think that's where we had breakfast a few times.
The snorkelling trips (chargeable) were nice - as was the sunset cruise thing (included for free). There was also a visit to the neighbouring island - which in theory was good but you barely have time to get out of the boat, visit one shop and get back in the boat. It was very disappointing for that reason.
I can't remember the names of the restaurants - but the Japanese one (they cook in front of you) was cool, and that's inside a bigger - mainly fish - restaurant which was also excellent.
justin220 said:
We want to the Maldives for our honeymoon and I spend ages reading reviews, searching, trawling pages etc. In the end I used a company online but phoned them and spoke to them for some personal feedback. For our budget it seemed we could either get better accomodation on a 4* island or lesser accomodation on a 5* island. Decided on the later. Told them what we wanted and we settled on Atmosphere Kanifushi.
+1 for Kanifushi. Went for honeymoon last September and as Justin says it was outstanding. Great villa, fantastic usually deserted beach, great food and drinks, proper wine, tremendous staff.We had previously been to Hudhuranfushi - This is further down the cost scale, but proves the 'you get what you pay for' adage. it was good, but not on the same level. Whilst there we upgraded a couple of nights to a water villa. It was very nice, but to be honest it's a bit like being in a posh shed on stilts over water. just walking into the sea down a little flight of steps is cool, but after a couple of days I was happy to get back to the beach.
OP, as for tips, decide what you basically want:
- A very small island, or one with a little more life? Smaller islands clearly will have fewer options for dining.
- Child free?
- What kind of villa - A typical garden villa will be fine to kip in, but a beach villa is what you really want.
- Lots of resorts offer plunge pool or jacuzzi villas - Will you really use these?
- If you want good snorkeling off the beach, check the resort has a good house reef.
Look for room upgrades while shopping around - they can make a real difference. Also, seaplane transfer is fun but will make an equivalent resort £800 more expensive per couple.
As said, TripAdvisor is a great resource, but there are a few dedicated agents that offer good advice as well.
davek_964 said:
We did the premium AI too.
I drank far too many "Chocolate pleasures" at the bar that's near reception (can't remember what it's called).
We found the generic restaurant pretty average, even for breakfast (Centara generic restaurant was much better actually) and started having breakfast at the a la carte's which did it. Again, near reception there is a place called coffee something or other - I think that's where we had breakfast a few times.
The snorkelling trips (chargeable) were nice - as was the sunset cruise thing (included for free). There was also a visit to the neighbouring island - which in theory was good but you barely have time to get out of the boat, visit one shop and get back in the boat. It was very disappointing for that reason.
I can't remember the names of the restaurants - but the Japanese one (they cook in front of you) was cool, and that's inside a bigger - mainly fish - restaurant which was also excellent.
Thanks I drank far too many "Chocolate pleasures" at the bar that's near reception (can't remember what it's called).
We found the generic restaurant pretty average, even for breakfast (Centara generic restaurant was much better actually) and started having breakfast at the a la carte's which did it. Again, near reception there is a place called coffee something or other - I think that's where we had breakfast a few times.
The snorkelling trips (chargeable) were nice - as was the sunset cruise thing (included for free). There was also a visit to the neighbouring island - which in theory was good but you barely have time to get out of the boat, visit one shop and get back in the boat. It was very disappointing for that reason.
I can't remember the names of the restaurants - but the Japanese one (they cook in front of you) was cool, and that's inside a bigger - mainly fish - restaurant which was also excellent.
I'll go against the grain and say if you're staying in one of the 'better' islands, it's often better (not cheaper) to go bed and breakfast.
My reasoning is that in most islands going AI means mainly buffet meals - very good buffet meals, but buffet all the same! Some offer restrictive a la carte on AI or 'premium' AI.
If you go B&B you can eat a la carte every evening on unrestricted menus in every restaurant. Given you're on a small island, food and drink is, however, eye-wateringly expensive on some islands and I do 'get' that going AI means you can control expenditure to a degree. I usually budget £4-5k for food and drink for two people for two weeks.
As to the island, I've stayed on a few different ones and to be honest you are unlikely to find a 'bad' island; but some are definitely better than others depending on what you want to do. I'm a foodie but I'm not mad on diving, so a house reef is far less important than good restaurants. Some will say the polar opposite and therefore my island preference is probably different from theirs!
I'm not a fan of the water villas, I much prefer a villa on the beach with a private pool. Often less expensive, too!
Off again on Saturday!
My reasoning is that in most islands going AI means mainly buffet meals - very good buffet meals, but buffet all the same! Some offer restrictive a la carte on AI or 'premium' AI.
If you go B&B you can eat a la carte every evening on unrestricted menus in every restaurant. Given you're on a small island, food and drink is, however, eye-wateringly expensive on some islands and I do 'get' that going AI means you can control expenditure to a degree. I usually budget £4-5k for food and drink for two people for two weeks.
As to the island, I've stayed on a few different ones and to be honest you are unlikely to find a 'bad' island; but some are definitely better than others depending on what you want to do. I'm a foodie but I'm not mad on diving, so a house reef is far less important than good restaurants. Some will say the polar opposite and therefore my island preference is probably different from theirs!
I'm not a fan of the water villas, I much prefer a villa on the beach with a private pool. Often less expensive, too!
Off again on Saturday!
alock said:
The advice we got was to do the former. With such small islands, there is always a more sheltered side and a more exposed side. The better accommodation is normally on the more sheltered side of each island.
Fair point, although not valid for Kanifushi. All the accommodation is down the same side of the island (sunset side)God I'd love to go back.
I think the hard part would be picking whether to go back to the same island, or picking somewhere different..
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