Maldives - what do we need to look for

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We are currently living in Asia and considering a trip to the Maldives next spring. Normally, front he UK, we would book this sort of trip as a package, but it'll be easier to book as separate bits from here. So my questions are:

• are there particular places that are especially nice/ we should avoid?
• where should be looking for a holiday with tweens? (Not particularly sporty ones)
• how do you typically transfer from Male airport to islands/ resorts?
• is it worth considering splitting our week between two different islands/ resorts?

Sorry, I know these are really basic questions, but googling is my proving overly helpful, and it's always get to get personal recommendations/ advice.

TIA

Hi OP I went in February with DC aged 10 and 8. I have travelled extensively and I would describe it as a place to go for the sea. Any sea activities are done extremely well. Mine tried scuba and did separate dives. As a family we did a lot of snorkeling most days, the marine life is some of the best. I would work backwards, what is it you want to get out of this holiday and why specifically The Maldives. If snorkeling and diving is on your list then a resort island with house reef is ideal because you don't have to go on separate trips.

In terms of accommodation, you have islands with hotels and you can only wear bikinis and 'western' swimwear on some beaches called bikini beaches. It is a Muslim country so you can't just swim anywhere. Then you many smaller islands and then the one we stayed in where the entire island is the resort. Ours was a resort island, Oluhaveli Sun Siyam. I booked everything separately. Your hotel will arrange a transfer from Male. The airport is so small. You come out and on the right hand side are many desks for transfer so you need to ask your hotel which desk to go to e.g. C4, A10 etc etc.

For non sporty tweens, I would recommend you explore what each island has to offer and do a few islands. Some can be very far apart. We spent 2 days in Male and it was very busy for us. Although they do some interesting excursions like sampling lots of local food and cookery classes.

Sorry for the jumbled message, just wanted to share a few tips whilst on the school run!

Oh also our resort did do other activities like art class for kids, mocktail making etc which they enjoyed. But it was mostly about being in the sea!

Hi! We’re staying at Oluhaveli over Easter next year. Was it nice? We love the sea so activities sound good. Can you wear bikinis at Oluhaveli?

Honestly the resorts are all nice and you pay accordingly. They range from expensive to extremely expensive. You get to the resort by boat, sea plane or domestic flights (plus boat). Obviously the more deserted island feels places are generally not the ones with a boat transfer. You need to think about what your priorities are, e.g. are you happy with a buffet every night or do you want the option of a la carte restaurants, not all of them have swimming pools (is that important?), some of them you can snorkel off the beach and others don't have a house reef, you have to go out on a boat to snorkel. That kind of thing, these are my 3 deal breakers but you may have other considerations. We have only ever done a 4 to 6 night stopover, so I like a boat transfer, usually you are out of the airport in around 30 minutes, with seaplane transfers you can be waiting a while but that's not a concern if it's a 2 week holiday. There is a website 'simply Maldives', you can filter on your essential requirements, like boat transfer, and see what comes up. You don't have to book with them, just use it as a guide to options. We stayed at Kurumba last time, it's a bit too near the city but was ideal for 4 nights, it's an excellently run resort and the group that run it have other family friendly resorts, have a looked a Kuramathi. I have it penciled in for future reference!