Help! 1st time flyer to Maldives (well, to anywhere really)

Best for the Maldives is to book a package in entirety from a tour operator. They will arrange the internal flights and/or transfers for you.

The maldives are a year round destination so prices stay fairly stable - i.e no low season. Plenty of sun cream and cover ups so you don't get burnt.

Destination depends on what you want to do on holiday. The Maldives are fantastic if you want to scuba or snorkel, like lying on a beach and .... not much else. Will this suit you? Why did you choose the Maldives?

As you will have a long flight, my best piece of advice would be to fly with a good airline. I can highly recommend Emirates, and I would avoid Monarch like the plague.

If you fly with Emirates, it is possible to stopover for a few days in Dubai without adding anything to the airfare (obviously you will have to pay for your hotel!). So you could do 7 nights in the Maldives and 3 nights in Dubai if you wanted to?

I have stayed at Laguna Maldives twice, both times booked through Monarch.

Enjoy! x

package hols to the maldives are for 7 or 14 nts. if you want 10nts would need to fly with someone like emirates etc

how much are you looking to spend??

ok.. to get the most of your time there a tailor made package is prob your best bet as the charters (thomas cook, first choice etc) fly on a set day which may not fit into tour dates and as iposted already are for 7 or 14 days. you'll need to fly ideally the day you finish work as you generally fly overnight to arrive the following day.. this means you will get the most of your stay in the maldives as a 14 nt holiday there works out as 16 days..

I'm just back from my honeymoon in the Maldives. I went with Airtours who were the cheapest at the time but I wouldn't recommend (paid £140 for extra legroom seats which we didn't get, and now they are making us jump through hoops to get our money back).

Anyway, the Maldives are fantastic - I learned to dive there, which was an amazing experience, and even the snorking was fantastic. I stayed at Kuramathi Blue Lagoon which is one of the bigger islands, and a good option if you are worried about getting bored (in two weeks I spent about a total of 3 hours sunbathing, I was so busy with diving etc). There is a watersports school for sailing, windsurfing, etc, a good spa and a few different restuarants to try.

No matter which island you pick, don't worry about packing shoes (2 or 3 pairs of flip flops will be enough). Take plenty of sun cream, and a couple of t-shirts to wear when snorkling/swimming. I wish I'd taken a mosquito plug, because I did get bitten quite badly. You won't need anything too dressy to wear in the evening, it is quite casual there. I packed mainly vests with a few skirts and cropped trousers. Also, if I was going back I'd pack a bikini and change of clothes in my hand luggage as depending on transfer type, bags might be taken seperately.

Spending money - everything was charged to our room, and paid by credit card at the end, so we only needed cash for tipping. Some people complain about things being expensive out there, but I found prices to be about the same as the uk, other than water which is dearer.

Any more questions, just ask!

Fay