Maldives

[VacationQueen]

Where would you recommend we stay in the Maldives?

House reef and food are probably our highest priorities.

I have been looking at the Hilton hotels - are any of these any good?

A couple of friends have been to the Sun Siyam World but we don’t have children so not sure if this is right for us?

What's your budget and when are you going?

£10k for a week and we can go any time really. Thinking January to cure the January blues! 😂

If you’re going for a week, pick somewhere with a boat transfer to the resort. With seaplanes, you’ll usually spend (waste) hours waiting for the plane (unless you book a private transfer). You’ll also hear the planes regularly when you’re at the resort, obviously including the 6 am pick ups.

We went to Ozen Reserve Bolifushi, which was around 30 ish minutes transfer by boat. Really loved it there, and would definitely go back.

Not trying to rain on your parade but we considered going to the Maldives this year but read about a big increase in denge fever and it put us off.
Just providing info - it's possible we were over cautious.

We went to Joy Island , although it’s family friendly it was perfect for us ( in our 60s ) Food was fantastic , we had a ( cheap end of the market ) sunrise beach villa and it was just perfect

Having unintentionally spent some time on Male, being spat on and harassed and chased and abused by the men there, I shall never set foot in the Maldives again. I am a well seasoned traveller but I’ve never experienced anything like it.

I will look into this, thank you - knowledge is power!

Ugh, that sounds awful! I had a couple of horrible experiences in Turkey and Egypt and it’s put me off going back so I understand that feeling!

Maldives is a great place, although Siyam world is slightly downmarket and very busy so wouldn’t suggest there. You’ll be absolutely fine with a sea plane transfer, we’ve never found it to be long waits and it’s all part of the experience, plus the nicer resorts tend to be further away so you don’t get the heavy plane traffic in and out of male.

I’d speak with a specialist agent like simply Maldives and they should be able to help you find the right resort.

You won’t experience that on the resort atolls.

We went to Baros on our honeymoon. House reef, short boat trip from Male, no children (under 8), really luxurious, fantastic food and I’m 99% sure they spray the island so no mosquitoes. Enjoy.

You won’t, I agree, I’ve been there too. But, if that is the underlying attitude towards (fully covered) western women? I’ll take my money elsewhere.

Sun siyam isn’t known for its reef - it’s a big island with lots of not very maldivian activities like horse riding, bowling alley, inflatable water park etc.

What type of holiday do you want? Lots of activities, or are you happy with good snorkelling and relaxing?

The best house reefs are mostly in the far southern atolls eg Havodda, Ayada, Robinson Club and others nearby. These are a bit of a pain to get to, need an internal flight (not seaplane) and then a boat.

However there are some great reefs which are more accessible eg Cinnamon Ellaidhoo (but it’s a fairly basic resort) and Angsana Velavaru. Lily Beach is supposed to have a good reef and good food but the rooms are bit dated and they still feed sharks it seems . Centara Grand reef is decent and it has good prices, food is fine nothing amazing. Vilamendhoo and Reethi Beach have good reefs and are recently refurbished (not sure if Vila is reopened yet) - no idea on food. Helengeli has a good reef if you want something a speedboat ride from Male. Kuramathi has a decent reef and is known for having many good restaurants but you’d need to be on their diamond AI to benefit from all the restaurants, which is pricey. It’s a large island too which some don’t like. Hideaway is also worth a look, good reef, in January there is a decent chance to see mantas locally.

at the pricier end Kandolhu is a small island, lots of turtles, good food, favourite with many repeaters. Same for Como Cocoa if budget allows.

My advice is to speak to Purely Maldives or Simply Maldives travel agents. They know a lot and they also often get better prices than others.

PS the Maldives tripadvisor forum is also very helpful especially as you say house reef is important - this is something the posters there are very up on.

We've only ever been with kids and we stayed at Anantara the first time and Kurumba the second. We normally just have 3 or 4 night stopovers, so we pick something close to the airport. There is a website 'simply Maldives' where you can search accommodation for what's important to you, e.g. house reef, swimming pool, boat transfer, ala carte dining etc. I don't work for them but I do like their website for research purposes. Kuramathi resort is owned by the same company as Kurumba, that is on my list for a future trip. Kurumba is a great resort but not a good choice, too near the airport (10 minute transfer), if you have a full week to spend in the Maldives.

We enjoyed Centara Grand for our honeymoon! Same priorities. There’s not a huge amount of restaurants but the buffet was good and you got to chose nights to eat at the Italian and Thai restaurants, both of which were great. The more nights you stay, the more you get. There’s also “club” level with an additional private pool and restaurant. It’s a tiny tiny island with not loads on, but I think less than 100 guests so feels very private. We did a sunset boat tour and day out snorkelling with whale sharks, kayaking, paddle boarding and LOTS of snorkelling- they have a dive centre too. The spa was also amazing! We did 6 nights and felt that was the perfect amount- stopped in Dubai for a few nights on the way home (back in 2022).

Thanks all! Going to look through all of these suggestions shortly!