Has anyone been to the Maldives April/May?

Clara381

We are thinking of doing a safari then a beach holiday for our honeymoon, they guy at Trailfinders says the only place the weather will be any good is Mauritius (within flying distance from the safari) and to be honest I'm not keen on what I'm seeing. Has anyone been to the Maldives at this time and if so what was the weather like? It's the maldives I really wanted to go to!

Other than that we need some suggestions if it's not Mauritius (he said the seychelles would put another 3-4k on the holiday)

joaniemerc

We've been to the Maldives in May (2 years ago). I think people assume that when they hear "rainy season" you are going to have a week of non-stop torrential rain. In the week we were there it rained twice - both times were short sharp showers - the rest of the time it was hot and sunny with cloudless sky. (Someone will probably come along and say they've been there in May and had a week of rain!!)

Have a look on the relevant forum on Trip Advisor it's a great site for researching. Also great for safari research too (we went to Kenya in April and the TA forum is really informative and friendly).

I would go back to the Maldives whatever the time of year, tbh - it's amazing. Good luck, sounds like a great honeymoon!

Clara381

Thanks Joanie- will look on Trip advisor - uusally only use that for hotel reviews. We went to jamaica last year at the start of the monsson season and it was fine- just exaclty as you describe in the Maldives- it was quite nice actually as it brought the temperature down a bit!

My big worry was because the Trailfinders guy insisted it would rain and we really shouldn't go there!

Moonchild

I presume your safari is somewhere is Africa. Have you seen where the Maldives are in comparison? There are no Africa - Maldives flights, so it sounds correct advice. The Seychelles are massively expensive - what puts you off Mauritius out of interest?

How about somewhere else in Africa i.e. Kenya, Tanzania for your beach. Or Madagascar?

Clara381

We were looking at Kenya- Maldives and I believe there are flights it was the weather the guy said would be bad.

Most of the hotels we looked at in Mauritius seemed to encourage kids- we want to avoid kids, it seems to be difficult to get a good all inclusive deal in Mauritius too- to get all inclusive it was proving stupidly expensive. The only one that didn't was Paradise Cove, and I don't like the look of the cove-

The main reason I suppose is I've always wanted to stay in a water bungalow and you don't seem to be able to get the anywhere else-

Am open to more suggestions tho!!

The guy at Trailfinders basically said if we wanted to do any type of safari the only opetion in May was Mauritius. I don't want to pay that amount of money and not have a lot of choice.

Moonchild

Clara381 wrote: »

We were looking at Kenya- Maldives and I believe there are flights it was the weather the guy said would be bad.

Most of the hotels we looked at in Mauritius seemed to encourage kids- we want to avoid kids, it seems to be difficult to get a good all inclusive deal in Mauritius too- to get all inclusive it was proving stupidly expensive. The only one that didn't was Paradise Cove, and I don't like the look of the cove-

The main reason I suppose is I've always wanted to stay in a water bungalow and you don't seem to be able to get the anywhere else-

Am open to more suggestions tho!!

The guy at Trailfinders basically said if we wanted to do any type of safari the only opetion in May was Mauritius. I don't want to pay that amount of money and not have a lot of choice.

Yep - Maldives is the king of over water bungalow. I'm not a fan as often it's a long walk to the beach!!

But to get to Maldives from Kenya i'm sure you have to fly via Dubai or Doha, - which is about 9-10 hours plus the stopover. It's a long shlep.

Must admit I've never been to Kenya, but i've heard some of the beaches there are lovely?

Or if you're determined to stay in the Maldives, why not combine with Sri Lanka? OK, you won't get the big 5, but it's a pretty special country, and you're guaranteed heffalumps.

Incapuppy

I would safari in Tanzania, reports I have read from some people who have been to both recommend it as a superior option to Kenya, followed by Zanzibar or Pemba for the beach stay.

http://www.purezanzibar.com/Home.aspx

Incapuppy

A quick Google advises that this is the only hotel in Mauritius with overwater bungalows:

http://www.mauritiushoneymoons.com/Le-Prince-Maurice-Golf-Spa-Resort-Mauritius.aspx

Clara381

Incapuppy- thank you, I will look at the Zanzibar options.

Le Prince advertises from £1585 each, half board- I dread to think what it would be for all inclusive over water bungalow and a safari. It is in the Trailfinders brochure so will ask about it but i think he said there are no other hotels in mauritius that do all inclusive.

Clara381

Hmn pretty high rainfall in Zanzibar April and May........

Do you get the feeling I'm going to end up in Blackpool? lol