Maldives holiday alternatives?

[Letitbe24]

I hope this post isn’t tone deaf but I’m hitting a bit of a dead end. I’m pregnant with our first and we’re looking to book a holiday for when they’re approx 7 months old (October time). A bit early I know but I love holidays and I need something to look forward too as we’re not doing long haul whilst pregnant.

We’ve been looking at the Maldives as I don’t know how high maintenance baby is going to be and Maldives looks like it could be very chilled, just spending time playing with the baby and then taking it in turns to go diving whilst the other watches baby. We want somewhere with a private pool in case baby is fussy so it’s less hassle to have to get ready to go out.

However the costs are getting ridiculous - We’re looking at £8k AI without flights/activities and then at least another £1.5k on top of that for diving costs, this is for a week which seems crazy!!! Is there anywhere else anyone can recommend that would be similarly suitable?

Some key points:

• want to go in October/November time so would prefer long haul, we can afford business class on points so flight time not much of an issue, but direct from Heathrow a big plus
• preferably all inclusive but absolutely no to self catering!
• must have a private pool as I think this will be much easier with a baby
• good food is a must, absolutely don’t want to be buffet focused so needs to have at least 4 a la carte restaurants
• Maldives is looking at about £9.5k AI so would prefer something more around the £7k mark or cheaper if possible! Note this is not including flights which we’ll buy separately

Thanks for your help kind mumsnetters :)

I actually think Maldives really fits the bill for what you are looking for. I went when pregnant because I didn’t mind being bored and noticed a few families with babies having really chill times.

I was also worried about buffet food so picked somewhere with an alternative restaurant (not sure how many places have a minimum of 4 extra restaurants). The buffet was actually incredible, completely different cuisine each night and we didn’t bother with the other restaurant. I was very pleasantly surprised by this.

Just from my own experience: I found the over water villas to all be quite close together and the beach villas to be much more private and spread around the island. The shared pools were never crowded and private pools were plunge only. The sea was so nice and flat and shallow that I don’t think a pool would be much of a consideration if I go again.

We also booked flights and accommodation separately for much the same reason as you. One thing we did was spend a night in the capital and see the relatively few things to see. It’s not unmissable, but was nice to see a different side to just a resort island. Hotel with roof pool was good.

This was around ten years ago now though and I can’t remember costs or the name of the hotel. But from my experience, you’re possibly overthinking and ruling out good places that are likely a bit cheaper.

Thanks so much. We’d definitely go for a beach villa as they look lovely with pretty much a private bit of beach and a decent size pool. Interesting about the buffets too!

What does his wife’s ethnicity have to do with anything?

I’ve never come across an airline not allowing infants and children in business class so I’m calling BS on that, especially as you then go on to make some dubious moral argument about why it’s not fair to have a baby in business class.

Because it was clearly a “Thai bride” situation which I think is usually vile and exploitative and the fact he booked himself into business and her into economy reinforced my assumption that he’s not a very nice person.

If you want to use points have you checked to see where has flights available? That is where we always start and then go from there… not sure what airline you use but I know getting BA flights to Male on avios is tricky and I imagine other airlines would be similar.

Yes she was early 20s I’d guess and tiny and he was an obnoxious British 50+ man

Why do you want a private pool? A 7mo may be crawling and will be rolling. I may be being paranoid but I'd be more relaxed in a room where I know I can put the baby down and there is no chance of it getting into the pool by itself.
Also, babies can be quite dull. Whilst I like the idea of being able to go diving, it takes a few hours and I wonder whether the non-diving parent is likely to get bored and resentful having to entertaining a, possibly cranky, baby without your home comforts and distractions for that amount of time.
Finally, you must be talking about October 2025 meaning you are due in February. I'm not sure I'd be booking anything just yet. A lot of things will happen in the next 16 months, many of which are out of your control. Why don't you wait until baby is born and you're a few weeks into it to book something? You don't want to end up on an expensive but entirely unsuitable holiday or have to cancel for a reason not covered by insurance and forfeit the cost of the holiday.

A private pool and 7 month old would have been a nightmare for me. At 7 months old Ds could speed crawl everywhere so you wouldn’t be able to ever leave door to villa or apartment open and not put them down outside if there’s a private pool.

Shared pool in Nice hotel is far better imo. It’s either indoor one if cold so completely separate or outside has lifeguards also and you can just sit further away on grass areas for them to play and crawl.

You would be better off booking a bit earlier for September time as you then have better weather chances.

I also wouldn’t go to Maldives with a 7 month old. No local doctors or easy hospital, no towns to walk to if you need anything. No way of just taking day trips away if sitting on beach a chore with baby who might hate sand or eats it so 1hr max is enough and then you have nothing to do.

We loved northern Italy and Slovenia with Ds at that age. But if you have £9k spare and business flights I would 100% take trip to Japan instead. Loads to see and do, child friendly, can choose city or relaxed mix. Easy portable age to pop in sling or pram

Yes all sorted on that front

Contact Trailfinders ... they will have lots of suggestions for you.

Have a look at Sri Lanka - gorgeous beaches, very child orientated, some lovely hotels.

I would be looking to go somewhere where my baby wouldn’t require a raft of vaccinations, be at risk of mozzie bites or food poisoning. Neither would I want to travel for the best part of a day on possibly 3 planes with a baby unless absolutely necessary - business class or not.

Late November is still shoulder season in Thailand but you should get decent weather. Phuket has good flight connections. If you have points you can fly Qatar who are great via Doha.

Hotel standards I think are much higher in Asia than the Caribbean and very family friendly. Look at the Surin or the Amman puri for private pool villas.

The Bahamas. I’m not talking about Nassau or Freeport though. The Abaco islands are stunning.

Im going to caveat this by admitting I found the baby stage boring so part of this was a me problem but…..

we took DS to Bali when he was 7 mo ( so not dissimilar to Maldives in terms of private Villa with pool, lovely restaurants etc). It was v short haul for us at the time. OMG. So boring. Problem is you’re in this villa with them, a really limited amount of toys and books, and nothing to do/ no routine but at the same time you can’t really relax/ read/ sunbathe etc because you need to entertain them/ look after them/ constant eyes on. It was actually quite a challenge to fill the days. We ended up just tag teaming and then being secretly resentful when the other person’s shift included the nap 🤣. I remember actually wishing at one stage that I had some laundry to sort or a dishwasher to unload because he just felt so much easier when I was in my normal routine and he was just fitting in around it.

Appreciate this is just one experience but if you do Maldives I would go to quite a big resort where at least the walk around the island will take a while and there’s somewhere to “go”. Some of them have little playgrounds. Don’t go somewhere super boutique that’s the size of a postage stamp where the villas are all overwater on jetties.

Muscat or - if you really need the private pool - zigghy bay in Oman.
there are a few new hotels along the coast outside Muscat so prices are competitive this year. None that I can think of with private pools though- they’re much more ecologically focused. Zighy Bay is closer to Dubai airport than Muscat though still in Oman and has plenty of private pool villas. You might be lucky with your budget

Any holiday with a young baby is hard work, and I say that as someone who travelled a lot with one !

I would keep to domestic holidays until they are old enough to enjoy the pools, food, and beach. 2 at the earliest.

Crying, colicky babies don’t give a shiny sh*t that they are in a fancy resort. Whereas you will be thinking of the £10k plus you wasted.
Also, I wouldn’t recommend diving solo.

I’d go before the baby is eating food - way easier!

we are going to Thailand in October with 4 month old & 3 year old

we managed to get the flights and accommodation for 4 weeks for just under 8k!

we only staying in nice resorts for 2 weeks and doing beach huts on some islands at the end which kept a costs down

we aren’t going all inclusive as it’s cheap to eat out where we are going to be

even the 5 star resort in ko samui we booked is only 80£ a night and that’s for a family room ! It’s not a private pool though but there are some of the rooms that had this option for a bit more money!

The Datai in Langkawi, Malaysia, is lovely and you can get a private pool villa with a very warm pool that is perfect for a baby. They've also got a kids pool and a few different restaurants (pretty sure it's not AI though). No diving, if that is very important. There's quite a lot of activities to do in Langkawi besides the beach.

You could look at East Coast Malaysia islands (Perhentians, Tioman, Redang) if diving is important. I've never stayed anywhere luxury there but I think there are a few hotels (The Taaras in Redang springs to mind). You'd have to plan for late September/early October though as the monsoon starts in mid October and all the resorts shut down. The diving is easy and fantastic and your money goes a lot farther in Malaysia than somewhere like Maldives or Thailand.

My dream destination is Misool Resort in Indonesia but that's one for when the babies are older so me and DH can enjoy the fabulous diving together.

Malaysia and Thailand are very lovely but taking a baby that you’re trying to get into a sleep routine to somewhere with such an extreme time difference is absolutely crackers. Look at places with as little time difference as possible (Oman is 4 hours, s Africa / Zanzibar are only an hour)

Bit of a curve ball here, but what about Bermuda? It's only about 6 hours direct from Heathrow. If you've got avois points there are plenty of business class seats available. Only thing is that October/November isn't the best time to go, you'd probably be best going between May and September. I've been to the Maldives and Bora Bora but Bermuda surprised me with how beautiful it is. I would go back in a flash.

I go to the Maldives at least once a year. It’s perfect at that time and to be honest, climate change has made it unpredictable anyway.

I’m going to Maldives with a 5 month old in November. We have a private pool sea villa all inc at a resort we go to a fair amount - 5* and beautiful, it’s small too which i prefer in a resort. For AI it’s £4.5k and flights on top we will do Virgin economy they’re currently £500 each, baby is free, but we will be sat at the front of the rows where the bassinet is so plenty of room :)

Another one saying private pool with a mobile baby could be a nightmare! Dc1 would have been relatively slow at that age, dc2 was speedy by 7months (was walking before 1 and running very fast at 14 months). I’d want a private pool to be fenced, or you’d need to keep doors shut etc.

Going to a pool is easier, the thing about “all the baby paraphernalia” is it seems daunting now, but really aren’t you just saying “pick up the baby bag and buggy”? You’d surely have the bag ready to go every day anyway. As you can’t leave the baby for a minute, you’ll still need to pack the bag and buggy to go to the private pool.