Maldives as a single parent with my (just) 18 year old

[Britneyfan]

Hi, as above does anyone have any recommendations for the Maldives this summer? Especially if you’ve been yourself and would recommend a particular resort, I’m finding it confusing and difficult to pick.

I’m thinking of going as a single parent with my son who will have just finished A-levels. I know it’s often seen as a romantic destination and am fine with being there alongside honeymooning couples as long as it’s not ALL honeymooning couples and us sticking out like a sore thumb?!

My son isn’t super sporty but loves swimming and would enjoy snorkelling too, he might try a water sport or two if it’s on offer as might I. We do love a pool as well as a sea option. It would be nice if there was another teen or two for him to hang out with and some sort of games room. Craft type opportunities for both of us (but mainly me!) would be great. And a spa or at least an option to have massages. Something like a beach cinema we would both enjoy and maybe opportunities for low key activities like craft or making cocktails or board/card games. We sometimes enjoy a daily game of waterpolo and a bit of an entertainment team getting people involved as long as it’s not super intrusive/noisy and inescapable. Mostly we both enjoy just going to relaxing beautiful environments where we can spend a lot of time swimming outdoors, enjoying sunshine, good food and reading and just generally chilling.

We are both unkeen on fish/seafood so it’s really important there are other options too! I love a good cocktail on holiday now and again and would be disappointed if there are no or very limited cocktail options and just wine or whatever for alcohol. AI would probably be good for the budget, I’m also fine with half board if there are other local places to eat. Food should be good quality but not overly fancy! A family resort is fine with us as long as most of the money you pay for a holiday isn’t going towards catering to 3 year olds basically, but we are also open to adult hotel options.

Finally in my dreams we have an overwater room of some kind with a little balcony, but I am not a millionaire and appreciate that these sort of amazing rooms can often blow the budget spectacularly. My son would love a separate room but that’s probably going to make it unaffordable realistically! He’s ok to share the room if we have to but a double bed for me with an extra sofa bed or something for him would be good.

Also I think it’s off season there, is it completely mad to go then? It definitely makes it more affordable and I’m ok with intermittent rain if it stays generally warm and there is generally sunshine between the showers. Can cope with a few overcast days but probably would be gutted if it was raining or overcast the whole time considering you go there to enjoy beaches and the sea!

Thanks in advance for responses.

Deliberately not set a budget as am just keen to hear people’s suggestions at this stage but should probably say ideally at least 4 star but also not some crazy uber exclusive resort for the billionaires of this world!

Ok controversial view here…. But I think the Maldives are massively overrated. Plus I think our summer time is the wrong time of year weather wise - risk of tropical storms, churned up water etc.

Went there with DH and we paid the equivalent to going on a luxury safari - c£16k for one week. Very dull, all activities cost an arm and a leg, there were c4 restaurants on our island and they were mediocre and again ridiculously expensive

things I would do instead:

• go on safari!
• Go somewhere with beaches that wasn’t the Maldives (Koh Lanta, Thailand, Zanzibar, Costa Rica)
• Seychelles / Mauritius - won’t be quite as expensive

get your season right for all of these

Mauritius is FANTASTIC for families. So much to sea, absolutely beautiful and very safe. We just came back and can’t wait to go again.

We have been to the Maldives and are going again this July with the kids (2 15 year olds and an 8 year old) but only for 8 nights as I think they’ll get bored. I have personal reasons for wanting to do this with them, or I probably wouldn’t bother taking teenagers.

Kuredu resort is great, lots of aquatic life and little sharks etc plus sea turtles.

In your shoes I’d do Mauritius, but the best time of year to go is October-January. We went end of Feb and it was beautiful but rained most days. Maldives is best December-March but realistically is brilliant all year round if you don’t mind the odd tropical thunderstorm!

@curious79 thanks for your perspective, I’m not totally set on the Maldives by any means so it’s useful to hear that. I absolutely love Thailand and it’s hard to beat actually I agree but I lived there during my gap year and travelled there a lot at the time and for some summers afterwards so would like to go somewhere different. I did have Mauritius in my head as a possibility too, also Costa Rica, Argentina, and Brazil, and madly also thought about Madagascar. Didn’t think about the Seychelles! It doesn’t even have to be beaches, though I do like being by the sea on holiday, I think I’m more drawn to the idea of being on an island than by the beach as such if that makes sense? Caribbean would work too but have already travelled there a lot. Would consider going to Mexico again! I do fancy a safari holiday sometime but am not in the mood for it this year.

@AGreatUsername Thanks for your response, the poster above you also suggested Mauritius and funnily enough it was the main alternative option in my head. Good to know the summer may not be the ideal time of year to go though. Hopefully he’s off to uni so although I won’t be as tied in to school holidays I still have to consider the academic year a bit! But maybe putting off our main holiday til half term sort of time given that I haven’t organised it yet anyway for various reasons is what I should do. Looking up Kuredu resort now!

The Maldives exists for shagging and getting Instagram pictures.Go to Mauritius instead..

@curious79 do you remember which resort in the Maldives you went to that was so uninspiring?! 🤣 And any specific resort recommendations in Mauritius?

@Doseofreality you’re literally the 3rd person to basically say go to Mauritius instead so am rapidly rethinking my travel plans! 🤣 Do you have anywhere in Mauritius you would recommend?

I have a friend who travels to the Maldives a lot - he wouldn't go there on holiday by choice.

I'd go to Turkey or Thailand or Costa Rica. More to do! Unless he loves just being on a beach.

@BigDahliaFan we do both love just being on a beach or hanging out in a nice resort to be honest! I think I used to do a lot of very adventurous sort of travel when I was younger so am happy just to flop and relax these days and my son isn’t a super adventurous type!

@AGreatUsername Kuredu looks amazing! Thanks for the recommendation, it’s a definite consideration. Do you have anywhere you would recommend in Mauritius?

Zanzibar is fabulous! I've been twice, travelled solo. Great beaches, lovely people and a fascinating culture.

@suburberphobe Zanzibar is also on my long list of places I want to see but hadn’t really had it in my shortlist for this year. I may need to rethink! Any particular resort you’d recommend?

No idea which island I went to
We stayed in a beach villa rather than overwater villa too, which we felt was nicest. Able to walk out onto sand and pit little stretch of beach versus these quite high planked boardwalks

if you have the budget go for Alphonse Island, Seychelles (book via bluesafari.com ) - that was real holiday of a lifetime. Low key luxury (billionaires do go there), no cars, minimal people - just limited number of guests and then research staff. It’s basically part of an enormous marine reserve and has the most extraordinary fishing, diving and snorkelling

Our summer is also wrong time of year for Alphonse btw, and Zanzibar, and Costa Rica 😬

Look at :-

Shanti Maurice Resort & Spa (Bolded because this is my personal favourite and first suggestion).

Constance Belle Mare Plage Mauritius

Ambre Mauritius

Heritage Le Telfair Golf & Wellness Resort

Costa Rica is great as there are also lots of activities and I also love Sri Lanka - the scenery, you can go on a bit of a safari and the people are so friendly.

Ive been to the Maldives and whilst I didn’t stay in one of the fancy bungalows, I wasn’t blown away by it. (I live in the Caribbean and we have better beaches here)

Without sounding too pretentious I have been to the Maldives 20 times, usually just with DH, but once with my daughter(around 26 at the time) on our own.
I have also been to Mauritius and Thailand.
Maldives is usually one island one resort. There is no option to go and eat at a non resort restaurant unless you go to a local island for your vacation, but this will have dress code restrictions and no alcohol.

From your needs I would recommend a Robinson resort. I have been twice with my husband and there is water sports and entertainment, but not in your face. DH and I loathe entertainment, so usually pick quieter islands, but we did love Robinson Club.

From what you say AI would probably be best, but you need to check what this covers. Some included everything. And others are very limited. Atmosphere Kanifushi has two bed villas classed as a family room. Which would meet all your requirements, but they do snorkelling trips from a boat as there is no house reef. That island is super AI.

Transfers to islands can add a lot to the holiday. You will have to get transport through the resort. This is either boat, domestic flight or seaplane, ferries only go to local islands.

We visit the Maldives for the snorkelling, and nature. We have never been bored there. And are definitely not into instagram etc. we don’t even have a Facebook account. We have met all ages and nationalities. Singles, families, same sex couples etc.

Weather is best Jan - March. Last year we went in June and had wall to wall sunshine. Stayed at MH collection. One week beach villa and one week water villa which was fab.

Some islands just have one restaurant, one bar, most have spas (I’m not into that personally) and sometimes no pool. You do need to research.

happy holidays!

@Britneyfan

I sent you a PM with the link.

Perfect place for a solo mum and son. I'm the same though he wasn't with me then.

Hi OP.
I went to the Maldives last year and was also confused by the options! There’s a lot to research. I chose Kuramathi on the back of first hand recommendations as well as my own online searches. It’s one of the bigger islands so more to do & many choices for food if you want to avoid seafood. There was no honeymoon vibe as lots of varied families/couples/retirees/friendship groups. They offer the over water villas but you can also split your stay so this reduces the cost so we did 10 nights with 5 over water & 5 on the beach. I would definitely recommend it.

I have also been to Kuramathi and it is a good all rounder, especially for a first time trip.

@curious79 I could well be doing my big summer holiday later in the year at this rate 🤣 Wow, Alphonse Island looks amazing but sadly definitely out of my budget for now. I have always had expensive tastes dammit! Will have to get saving!

@Doseofreality thank you, it’s so helpful to have recommendations from people who have been there. The resort you have in bold looks beautiful.

@iamnotalemon thank you, yes Sri Lanka looks so interesting, in fact it was pretty much top of my places to go to next in 2019 when they had that big terrorist bombing which put me off the idea a bit (though I do know terrorism could happen anywhere etc) then the pandemic hit anyway…

@TheNinjaWife thank you, it’s great to have another take on the Maldives as it is definitely somewhere I have always wanted to go since I was a child. When I was younger I’d deliberately decided it was somewhere I’s want to visit later on in life with a romantic partner. But he has sadly not materialised!!

Yes I’d figured out factoring in transfers as well. I looked at both the resorts you mentioned and both look great but Atmosphere Kanifushi looks particularly appealing to me. And we are totally fine with snorkelling from a boat! How was NH collection?