Maldives

Spirit_2

We are considering the Maldives for our 30th wedding anniversary.

We would like:
A beach villa rather than over water.
A sea plane journey
Snorkelling preferably with a house reef.
Motor boat hire.
A choice of eating restaurants.

Travel poss mid to end sept or over christmas & new year


Recommendations needed please.

Archergirl

You might be better asking on the Maldives forum, although they are not travel agents, have you done any research into possible islands?

sjlou

Kurumathi is a lovely island. We stopped there for our honeymoon 3 years ago.
At one time it was 3 seperate resorts on one island, and now one larger resort, there are a number of different restaurants.
We had a lovely beach villa too.
Took a seaplane there (although this should be an option at all resorts)


Not sure what the prices are like currently though.

Whats your budget?

Spirit_2

Archergirl wrote: »

You might be better asking on the Maldives forum, although they are not travel agents, have you done any research into possible islands?

I take it that is not a forum on MSE?

We have looked at a few of the islands - Anantara veli, Filetheyo and and couple of others. It was from this we started to distill what we wanted and are now looking for an island that offers all/most of it.

sjlou wrote: »

Kurumathi is a lovely island. We stopped there for our honeymoon 3 years ago.
At one time it was 3 seperate resorts on one island, and now one larger resort, there are a number of different restaurants.
We had a lovely beach villa too.
Took a seaplane there (although this should be an option at all resorts)


Not sure what the prices are like currently though.

Whats your budget?

We are thinking of a budget of £4000 each, and would want HB or AI if possible. We would spend on additional on more dining options and trips/boat hire.

Archergirl

That would be a Trip Advisor forum for the Maldives, they might be able to help you better than here.

silvercar

Spirit wrote: »

We are considering the Maldives for our 30th wedding anniversary.

We would like:
A beach villa rather than over water.
A sea plane journey
Snorkelling preferably with a house reef.
Motor boat hire.
A choice of eating restaurants.

Travel poss mid to end sept or over christmas & new year


Recommendations needed please.

I echo the trip advisor forum, many experts on there.

Our holiday (December 2011) would have ticked all your boxes except for the seaplane travel. Olhuveli resort.

For cheaper prices try the charter flights, also avoids the need to change flights in Dubai.

InsideInsurance

Almost all the places have beach villas as their entry level accommodation with water villa being an upgrade.

It is worth checking the exact arrangements as some resorts beach villas are not free standing and noise insulation is not always the best. I know with the Conrad resort the basic beach villas are semi-detached and more than a few have complained about neighbour noises.

Are you taking children with you? Again, the beach villas are the family areas and in some cases kids can get a little bored and restless with little to do but the beach.

sjlou

You should be able to get something lovely with that budget.


Heres the map of kurumathi to give you an idea. We stayed in a deluxe

http://www.kuramathi.com/island/map.html

We did the Select AI which included all restaurants, not just the buffets.
We booked through Kuoni, and flew via Dubai with Emirates. You could have a short stay there on the way/way back if you fancy it.