Maldives Newbie!

[BaconAndAvocado]

We are a family of 4, 2 adults and 2 DC, 15 and 17.

We’ve just decided we’d like to go to the Maldives but have no idea where to start, other than Tui!
We are tied to school holidays and are considering either October half term or Christmas (leaving just after Christmas Day).

We all love snorkelling, swimming, relaxing on the beach, good food. Not too worried about evening entertainment but I’m guessing that’s not a huge deal in the Maldives?

There seem to be soooo many different islands.....I would be interested to,hear about anyone’s experiences.

tia

I stayed here and loved it https://www.sunsiyam.com/sun-siyam-vilu-reef/destination/

In th4 Maldives budget is king, so you need to say your budget.

my personal recommendation is the diamonds resorts, there are two, thudufushi is also excellent, but athruga reef I feel is slightly better,

https://athurugabeach.diamondsresorts.com/

Frasers
I’ve just been looking at those resorts!
They look fantastic but, to be honest, all the resorts look fantastic!

Our budget is £20K tops.

We stayed at Oblu Helengeli (booked through Virgin Holidays). Would recommend if you want a really relaxing holiday. It's very laidback, good food, some live music in the evenings. Really good location for snorkelling with turtles. Not much else to do though so not ideal if you want an action packed holiday.

Snorkelling: if you are into snorkelling, choose an island with house reef. Vilamendhoo is amazing for that and Kuramathi.
decide if you want more than the AI restaurant, Kuramathi has lots of dining options for example.
most islands don’t have much evening entertainment but there is usually at least one bar with music, sometimes acts.
bigger islands usually offer more entertainment, sports etc.

usually AI is cheaper especially if your boys eat a lot, drink lots of soft drinks. But still compare the price to full board, sometimes rhe only difference is alcoholic drinks and as you have only 2 drinkers full board might be cheaper. (But cocktails are expensive! Depends what the difference per day is)

decide if you want an island with sea plane transfer (a lot more expensive but an amazing experience) or one with boar transfer.

lastly:
bring everything- sun cream, flippers, floaties erc will cosr you and arm and leg in local shops
bring small dollar notes to tip waiters, room boy etc
buy rash tops for snorkelling or you will get burned (it’s very very hot)

I also liked Kuredu (good turtles) but Kuramathi has the better house reef.
avoid sun siyam Olhuveli.
kuramathi has lovely evening bars, and lovely family villas.

If the budget stretches, look at Lily Beach. Might be in October, Christmas will be lots more expensive (for all resorts).

If you are tied to school holidays would you consider Easter? As the weather in December/early January can be unpredictable.. as it's the monsoon changeover time. it's a long way to go and ££££'s to then have days of heavy rain and winds. The past few weeks have been pretty stormy for some islands. The trip advisor Maldives forum will give you an idea. April time could give you more sunshine and calmer winds.

Easter would have been great but we have GCSEs this year and A levels next year...

We went to OBLU Helengeli. Small island, north atoll, 40 mins speed boat journey.

It's one of the best islands for snorkelling.

It's a tiny island so if you want snorkelling, fishing, incredible food and some chill time I'd recommend it.

I'd recommend against a water villa. We much preferred our beach villa as we got to sunbathe outside the front of our villa. Water villas are so overrated!

Cross post, that's where we went for honeymoon.

As I said above, small, intimate, incredible.

Look at South Lux

Lux doesn’t have a house reef though does it? Which kind of contradicts the whole point of going.

No. 1 don't go with TUI. Book a package with BA holidays, Emirates Holidays or Qatar holidays as they have a much better selection of hotels.

That said, and I LOVE the Maldives, it's a really boring place for teenagers. You are stuck on a tiny island which you can't leave. It's not like there's a local town you can escape to for nightlife etc.

I kinda disagree. A little, not saying fhey aren’t better but,,,

pick your resort then see who is offering the best price.

id advise the Maldives forum on trip advisor. Pop on there op and ask.

id also maybe recommend a larger island for teens, but even on a small one there is plenty to do.

both diamonds resorts are absolutely tiny, but if you have a house reef, they can go snorkelling (together) , going out on the private catamaran , guided snorkel tours with the marine biologist, boat trip to see a whale shark, beach volley ball etc,

the issue is the op will prob need two villas or a suite, and she’s going at a very expensive time of year.

id also recommend doing an island where she can go by seaplane. It’s an experience everyone should get to do at least once.

Kurumathi has a great house reef and family accommodation and kids club or babysitting. Going to a family friendly island is important as you don't want to feel uncomfortable if it's just honeymooning couples.

Oh, and I would speak to Kuoni, not Tui. They have some Kuoni-only islands too.

You can get two bedroom beachfront villas for example at Vilamendoo or Kuramathi. We also booked through Emirates holidays, booked with Tui once, the room was shit and we paid a fortune to upgrade.

Well the weather was absolutely dire this Christmas in the Maldives so it's not something I'd be considering

@Tailfeather for sure with 15 and 17 they won’t use the kids club! But agree Kuramathi is great and I think Maledives had plenty for teenagers into water sports and snorkelling.
last trip we did I saw plenty of happy teenagers on paddle boards, on kayaks, turtle tours etc.

Oops!! Sorry! Missed the ages! Still more likely to have other teens on the island.

We have been 4 times, all different resorts, I’d argue a large family friendly resort you could be anywhere, you need to buggy round it.

we always took our daughter, so first time at 8, last at 16, and she prefers the smaller islands,but at those ages she didn’t need a kids club. The larger ones were still fab though, We never felt it was all honeymooners, yes there was plenty, but we saw a lot of older couples to be honest and many with little kids, on every island.

I guess it depends, if your kids get on and are happy to go snorkelling together, or pop down the water sports centre, book the canoes, paddle boards, or the catamaran, wander round , do beach volley ball, then pick the island that suits you all.

but I’d do one a seaplane ride away, everyone should get the chance to do it at least once.

Thanks everyone!

Frasers
Yes, I think the seaplane would be awesome!

Sorry if you've already done so, but which resorts would you recommend?

I think we like the sound of a smaller island to get that authentic desert island feel but would like to have kayaks, or some activities available if that's possible.

We all love snorkelling but the kids have only snorkelled at Discovery Cove in Florida which, whilst fantastic, is a manufactured experience. The idea of seeing all that wildlife is amazing!!
Would love to spot a sea turtle!

The DCs don't get on particularly well at home but always seem to do better on holiday!

DD will be just 16 when we go and DD just 18.
Did you always feel safe re letting DCs go off independently on the island?

Did you always feel safe re letting DCs go off independently on the island?

Yes, since the age of about 5. They are tiny islands and very safe.

The islands are all super safe, they can definitely roam alone. The snorkelling is out of this world, bring full face snorkelling masks. Even small islands should offer kayaks and paddle boards. Most of them have a water sports centre where they offer paid excursions, dive trips, boat trips and you can rent kayaks etc.