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 :)

Some people love travelling with young children but I would wait to see how you feel once they are born before you book. Holidays are just very different with babies. Not bad just different.
Private pool make me rule out hotels as you would have to constantly be alert to it if the baby was mobile by then.

Obvious answer is Mauritius. Think easier to get to a hospital there too if you need it.

Air Mauritius is really family friendly. Eight hours overnight and you are there. Most people speak English. Hotel and Airbnb options- lots of Airbnbs with housekeepers who will also cook for you for a small fee so you can stay on baby's timetable and not all be stuck in a hotel room after bedtime. Lovely aquarium. Easy driving.

I would pay 9.5k not to go on a long haul with a 7 month old.

Could look at The Four Seasons in Sharm. Gorgeous resort, excellent diving and a much shorter flight. Have seen mothers with young babies on flights to the Maldives and honestly looked very stressful. When you get to Male there is always a seaboat or flight to the resort to add on, I wouldn't do it with a 7 month old.

I would not do The Maldives with a 7 mo baby. At that age mine were terrible sleepers and I basically needed to take them for a drive in the car or a long walk in their pushchair to get them to nap, if they didn't nap they would be cranky as hell and then not sleep all night. My recollection of the Maldives was no pavements for pushchairs (just sandy paths) and suffocatingly hot with lots of mozzies.

Also a 7 mo will be eating the sand and possibly crawling and you won't be happily sat on a sun lounger enjoying the views you will be bored out of your brains trying to entertain a hot grumpy baby...or stuck in your air conditioned room.

If you really want to to long haul why not go somewhere with some other things to do as well like Thailand or Singapore. Give yourself some options in case the baby doesn't love sitting still on a sun lounger.

Could you go somewhere in S.E Asia? There's lovely diving in certain areas and lots of 5* hotels too. The weather will vary depending in area. I'm not a diver so don't want to recommend specific areas but it might be an option for you.

If baby is crawling ...BIG difference to a bay who will sit and play
Have you thought about closer to home and go for a really smart 5 * hotel

And yes Ds would never have just slept on a sun bed or napped in a travel cot at that age. He needed walking in pram or sling.

Walking baby in pram through little streets is far easier than on a beach with no promenade

Also if you’re planning on breastfeeding, at 7months they still feed a lot. Like every 2hrs min. The thought of having to get in and out of a diving suit to feed, or even diving for a half day leaving baby alone with hotel childcare wouldn’t be appealing

I’ve a 11 month old child and we did Dubai when he was 6 months old. We did AI in Rixos and it was pretty decent. Palm tree court in Jebel Ali also good. Not as luxurious as Maldives offers.

we did the Maldives pre baby. We flew BA business class via avios, but we were shattered by the time we added in a sea plane transfer to get to resort. We went in early November and had quite a bit of rain, but we did love the Maldives. The buffet was good and in some ways better than the a la carte restaurants. I don’t think a private pool would be of much benefit as the resorts are pretty calm and quiet and sea is shallow too. I don’t think I could face the journey with a baby (we are in Ireland so also have to travel to Heathrow so it’s a trek).

options with BA from Heathrow are limited as Seychelles not an option and Caribbean and Mauritius from Gatwick. That said BA’s older business class seats are definitely easier with a baby than the new club suite.

We are going to Abu Dhabi this November (Rixos) and Mauritius next June (Lux resort).

we did look at Mexico as have been there many times, but the family resorts don’t seem to be anywhere near as nice as adults only we previously did.

IKOS is a good European option, with Kos and Andalusia being options in October.

Some people love to scare you about travelling with babies 🙄

I took mine to Dom Rep at 4 months and again at 6 months, we had swim up rooms both times because you’re right, it is so much easier not having the pack up the pushchair to go down to the pool and you can still enjoy it while baby naps inside.

If you go at 7 months you will need to take some baby food and I do agree that beaches can be a nightmare with LO that age because they do eat the sand and rub it in their eyes, swimming pools are much easier.

I am following with interest as we are looking for our next holiday when baby no.3 arrives and I have the same criteria as you. I would love to take the kids to the Maldives but I was slightly put off by the transfer.

Hi Letitbe24, let me know if you have found something, otherwise I can help to find you something.

Isn't it more like 12 hours from UK to Mauritius?

Mexico? Cape Verde? Caribbean?

I wouldn't go so far away. Long flights with small babies can be a nightmare. If they are ill so you have to stay home or cut the holiday short, it's such a waste. Honestly, I'd choose South of France, Spain or Greece in the first few years

I would speak to an independent travel advisor to help you with this.

I don't know where you are in the country (actually it doesn't matter!) but I'd highly recommend this lady:

www.travelcounsellors.co.uk/sarah.holstead/

Sarah will take your budget and build you an amazing holiday and take all the stress out of it for you. And if anything goes wrong she is at the end of the phone to help sort it.

Good luck!

Years ago we stayed at Merru island which at the time was the biggest resort island
plenty to do but diving was always out on a boat - no house reef as far as I can remember

we had a water villa with a huge deck outside jacuzzi but if I ever went again I would go down onw level and get the beach villa as they were actually much nicer

Thailand - we always go for a private pool. We've been to the Maldives this year and in late 2022, both times it was eyewateringly expensive even with me not drinking alcohol. $35 for a pizza, $8 for a coffee, etc. It's not a place I'd go with a baby, even the resorts that are relatively easy to get to are a pain (most recently we flew to Male and it's a short boat ride to Sheraton Full Moon resort).

We're going to the The Shore at Katathani in Phuket, great for diving, AI available, and we have a private pool. We were in Koh Lanta last year and had a stunning villa but it was a pain to get to and I wouldn't recommend the journey with a baby, even if you fly to Krabe.

Disclaimer - we live in the middle east so Thailand is only 6 hours and Maldives 4 hours.

Hi! Diver here, mum of 2, and been to Maldives a few times so can maybe help a bit.

Personally I would not take a small baby to the Maldives, it's a long journey once you factor in transfer to the island by plane or boat, and it's a very long way to decent medical facilities. I would wait until the kids are old enough to swim and snorkel before you trek that far.

I also think that 5.5-6 months is a sweet spot for holidaying with a baby - no need to worry about weaning and sleep is usually fairly decent as have made it beyond the 4 month regression.

Places we've really enjoyed - Egypt - go for a room with swim up pool so you can swim whilst they nap. Coral sea Sensatori is amazing for babies - great crèche run to British standards, awesome house reef so you can take it in turns to dive - someone posted a video of them with a whale shark on the house reef a couple of weeks ago! Sunrise Tucana and rixos magawish also worth a look as both have excellent diving direct from the hotel.

We are currently in Gozo, staying in a beautiful private farmhouse with pool. Diving here is also great and mainly shore based. Late September or early October would be perfect weather wise. We use baron holiday homes. It's a great place to take a baby, very family friendly.

Another option would be the UAE - any of the rixos hotels would work well. Diving rubbish unless you go to Oman though.

Ours have tagged along on diving holiday with us since they were a few months old. 5 year old now snorkels constantly and my 8 year old is just about to go on his second dive!

Go with Maldives if you can afford it! I can't think of anywhere else that fits all your requirements at that time of year, maybe Seychelles (Six Senses and FS have great private pools) but likely similar prices. I did Mexico, Caribbean (Sugar Beach at St Lucia) and several places in Europe before my baby was 8 months old - no worries about travelling long haul at that age, it's when they are 1 and wanting to walk around that it starts to get tricker in terms of long haul flights.

Totally agree on the private pool, definitely prioritise this- not for baby, they will probably find it way too cold and want out after 5 mins, but it's great for when they are napping and you can finally get 30 mins peace in the sun! At that age they are too young to enjoy the pool or beach for any length of time so just prioritise what you will enjoy.

On the diving, I was also an avid diver pre baby and planned to dive (taking turns with husband as well) on the Mexico and Caribbean trips but in the end I chickened out, worried (probably irrationally) about being underwater and offshore away from DS - and I am otherwise usually very comfortable leaving him, including with sitters etc for a few hours while on holidays, so just be prepared you may feel differently re diving once baby arrives. Anyway, Maldives also has great snorkelling and you may catch the end of Manta season depending on where you stay.

DS is nearly 2 now and we've travelled all over the world with him, he's not the easiest (or hardest) baby but you just make it work. Sure, some days you'll regret paying thousands to be stuck in a hotel room with a sick, screaming baby ordering crappy room service for the third day in a row, but I'll still take that over being stuck at home until the baby is older - just make sure you seriously adjust your expectations compared to the pre-baby days!

Having travelled with a 7 month old (and having travelled a lot pre-baby including in South Asia): (a) I would definitely NOT want a pool attached to my room for safety reasons. You will not ever be able to relax because the risk of your baby getting beyond the pool gate and drowning is always a 10 second slip up to grab a drink from inside away. Your holiday will mostly consist of one of you entertaining baby (probably not in the pool) while the other can relax and enjoy the pool/beach. So much easier if you can actually go to the pool to enjoy this. Babies that age aren’t great at the beach either. Too much sun, sand in mouth and eyes, sand is burning hot, etc.

(b) You will want the option for self catering. 7 month olds don’t happily sit through 3 restaurant meals a day. You will need to be having some/most of your meals in the villa and you will need to prepare some of them because children’s meals offered at restaurants/room service won’t really be suitable. Having the flexibility to do both is really key.

Best thing I did at that age was a city break. Mobile babies don’t happily do pools/beaches, but they do do museums, parks, playgrounds, walks in pushchair. And that was much more enjoyable.

Oman could work as others have said or parts of the Emirates - Fujairah or Ras Al Khamiah. Food, even if an AI buffet will be excellent and I know there are sone decent diving spots around.

Nobody is trying to put op off travelling with baby. Just that if they don’t actually have baby yet they might have slightly unrealistic expectations.

Long haul is fine. But there’s other destinations that don’t have as many changes in journey, or have other options if baby isn’t one that sit happily not moving at 7months.

A "diving suit" is a wet suit (or even just a rash vest if the water is warm) it takes less than a minute to undo the zip and slip your arms out.

@Kinsters - erm you have oxygen tanks, masks, flippers. I personally wouldn’t fancy sitting for 30mins feeding a baby with a tank still on my back. Plus baby will be on shore surely, so it’s not a min. You need the boat to go back to shore. Very few would let baby stay on diving boat in the heat for 4-6 hrs