Winter sun in early April - club med Maldives or somewhere else?

[lemonstolemonade]

Hello!!!

I am looking at a week's holiday for us and two kids - 4 and 8.

For one reason and another, we really need a chance to relax somewhere easy with sunshine and nice things to do and to spend time with the kids. Older one has quite high social needs and would love a kids club, younger one would probably prefer to be with us.

Could spend up to £8k.

Husband has suggested ClubMed Maldives, which looks idyllic and would come in on budget. And would give us interconnecting rooms.

I feel slightly nervous about the flight time and was wondering whether anyone else had any recommendations of things to do that would provide a balance of activities and relaxation in the sunshine!

Sandos Playacar in Mexico is very close the Xcaret parks, and there’s lots of other day trip options nearby too. My DCs were v well looked after at the kids club and there was a lot of variety - it wasn’t all sports. It has a massive choice of restaurants too.

It's a long way to go for a week. If you just want sunshine, nice hotel, kids club, relaxation I'd head to the Canaries.

I'd look at Muscat. Maldives is a long way for a week, I also think the kids might get bored.

The Maldives is fab, would you get a full week there? The resort you mention seems pretty close to Male, so transfers will be on the shorter side. With that kind of timeframe you don't want to be faffing with seaplanes or internal flights. We did 10 days in Thailand one Easter with a 3.5 year old, but there was a lot of travel on top of that. I would do it again though if the opportunity arose. It's definitely do able if you are keen. Friends go to Fujairah (UAE) quite often, not been myself, but they seem to like it for resort based holiday with heat and less flying than the Maldives.

Waste of the Maldives imo. They won't remember much of it and you won't fully get to enjoy its glories!

If you want sun and fun with kids in April you simply do not need to fly that far. Even say Barbados is closer (and cheaper) and just as child friendly/fab.

Crete will be hot in April and you've just halved the flying time. Turkey - go to Kalcan or Bodrum, five hours flight, super lovely family holiday, sun assured.

Save the Maldives for when you want a couples holiday, or a major landmark celebration is what I'd recommend.

This looks super £3318 all inc for two rooms a week in April 

Here.

I've been to the Maldives for a week and it's a lot of travelling but beautiful! We were 2 adults and thought it was worth it but I'm not sure I'd do the trip with young children! There are lovely places which are much easier to travel to and probably more suited to children too!

I agree with @debauchedsloth that The Caribbean would be a better option!

I’ve been to the Maldives without kids and also with (older) kids for 9 days and that is the very minimum time I would consider worth it tbh. For a week, it’s too far and too much jetlag IMO - ok for adults but not with kids. Also a lot of the kids clubs there are small and quite lacklustre, though I expect Club Med is an exception on that. Food is often a bit so-so in the Maldives unless you go super luxury as everything has to be shipped in.

I suggest Mauritius - direct overnight flight, no jetlag, lots of great kids clubs to pick from. Also easier The Beachcomber resorts are good for 2-bedroom accommodation, or Long Beach and its sister resort, or the Attitude resorts. The diving/snorkelling isn’t a patch on the Maldives but if that’s not a factor I would definitely pick Mauritius with young kids.

Or Caribbean as pp suggested although I could never face the risk of kids waking super early!!

I think I am probably inclined to agree with those who would recommend shorter flight times.

Anyone have recommendations for the canaries? Or for the Caribbean?

@lemonstolemonade look at some of the smaller islands in Caribbean like Grenada.

I've been to Club Med Kani in the Maldives twice (although not in April - we went for Christmas in 2020 and 2021). It's unbelievably beautiful - perfect blue sky,
white, powdery sand and crystal clear warm sea. The temperature was always 'just right' at about 28 degrees and not uncomfortably hot.

I booked it in January 2020 as something to look forward to for our first Christmas after DH died. But it also meant we unexpectedly, and very fortunately, escaped the Christmas Covid lockdown!

My DC were 13 and 15 the first time we went and 14 and 16 the second time. We hadn't planned to go two years in a row but we all loved it so much we booked again as soon as we got home. And we escaped the second Christmas lockdown too, which was an unplanned bonus! It was so lovely to have a couple of weeks of of being able to relax in the sun and and socialise normally again before flying home to all the Covid doom and gloom. It makes the memories of those two holidays even more special.

The kids clubs at Club Med are fantastic for all ages. Mine went to the 'teen club' but we met lots of families with DC the same age as yours who had a great time too - the staff are so enthusiastic and welcoming and really encourage the children to join in and make friends. There are so many activities to choose from and a show every evening with amazing entertainers (which the children can also take part in).

Kani is also a proper 'all-inclusive' resort with no hidden extras and the food was delicious. I would highly recommend it for a family holiday and I think it's worth the longer flight.

@MariaMeringue

Wow, what a positive reply. Thank you so much for all the detail, which is very encouraging.

I am so sorry for the loss of your DH.

Tenerife is beautiful and will be warm at that time of year I imagine. We went in late December there's lots to do there and much shorter journey time

This doesn’t make any sense. You do know the Maldives and Mauritius are only 1 hour apart? The time difference from UK is 5 and 4 hours respectively - so I don’t see how you’d be affected by jet lag in one country but not at all in the other. Sure, jet lag for Mauritius may be slightly less but honestly, not that different.

Regarding flight times, all direct flights to Malé are also overnight. The returns are daytime flights, but the flight time is actually less than for Mauritius (10.5h vs 12h).

OP, only you know how easily or not your children travel, but for “guaranteed” warmth and stunning views, a long-haul flight may be needed 😬

You’re absolutely right and I’m shocked! The journey and jet lag felt so much worse to Maldives than to Mauritius.

I think perhaps because we didn’t have direct flights to Male - direct flights to Male were £££ whereas direct flights to Mauritius were much more affordable. Also the Maldives required a seaplane/speedboat transfer (seaplane in our case) which felt more tiring than a taxi transfer in Mauritius.

Anyway, I take your point. Maybe it doesn’t make sense on paper, and it will depend on chosen flight arrangements, but nonetheless, Mauritius felt like a much easier option with kids.

we are going to the maldvies in November and have booked flights with ba. Virgin also fly direct.