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Combover
12-05-2009, 09:22 AM
Hello all

the WTB and I have decided (after much discussion) that our honeymoon in Jan 2011 will be in the Maldives.

Has anyone been there? And if so, can they recommend a resort?

thanks all!

Hex69
12-05-2009, 09:34 AM
Hello all

the WTB and I have decided (after much discussion) that our honeymoon in Jan 2011 will be in the Maldives.

Has anyone been there? And if so, can they recommend a resort?

thanks all!

Thanks to 'global warming' you'll have to hurry, they say they're going to disappear shortly....http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3930765.stm

So get there while you can....:D

Combover
12-05-2009, 09:38 AM
Oh thats so the plan!

It concerns me that a place as good as that is going to vanish. It looks like paradise!

Hex69
12-05-2009, 09:41 AM
Oh thats so the plan!

It concerns me that a place as good as that is going to vanish. It looks like paradise!

Agreed, you're lucky to able to go there, my wife and I had to make do with a week in Crete!! :D

Combover
12-05-2009, 09:54 AM
My parents were telling me about their honeymoon.

A week in Rhyl!

Hex69
12-05-2009, 09:58 AM
My parents were telling me about their honeymoon.

A week in Rhyl!

Kids nowadays, they don't know they're born, etc, etc :D

macmillions
12-05-2009, 06:38 PM
I've been to the Maldives 3 times :D
(I'm very lucky I know)

I went to Kuredu Island Resort, which is one of the largest islands in the Maldives... it takes 1 and a half hours to walk round! HUGE!!!
The snorkelling and diving is absolutely fantastic on that island, and if you can, try to get a villa on the lagoon side, as the other side of the island can get quite choppy and there isn't much of a beach. Also the food is very edible, although, when I was there, they served fish curry for breakfast... not pleasant. But that was a few years ago, and I've been informed by my parents who still go every year (flash gits) that the food is remarkable now.

I was lucky enough to swim with Manta rays too, which is an unforgettable experience.

I also went to a smaller island called Vilighandoo (spelling) which was more upmaket (at the time), and again was fantastic. There was only one reef on this island though, compared to Kuredu's 4 or 5, but it was stll a fantasic reef. And due to the island being a bit smaller (20mins to walk round) there were fewer boat trips etc.

Hope this helps :beerchug:
You are making a wise choice going there, as its paradise.

Combover
12-05-2009, 08:00 PM
I've been to the Maldives 3 times :D
(I'm very lucky I know)

I went to Kuredu Island Resort, which is one of the largest islands in the Maldives... it takes 1 and a half hours to walk round! HUGE!!!
The snorkelling and diving is absolutely fantastic on that island, and if you can, try to get a villa on the lagoon side, as the other side of the island can get quite choppy and there isn't much of a beach. Also the food is very edible, although, when I was there, they served fish curry for breakfast... not pleasant. But that was a few years ago, and I've been informed by my parents who still go every year (flash gits) that the food is remarkable now.

I was lucky enough to swim with Manta rays too, which is an unforgettable experience.

I also went to a smaller island called Vilighandoo (spelling) which was more upmaket (at the time), and again was fantastic. There was only one reef on this island though, compared to Kuredu's 4 or 5, but it was stll a fantasic reef. And due to the island being a bit smaller (20mins to walk round) there were fewer boat trips etc.

Hope this helps :beerchug:
You are making a wise choice going there, as its paradise.

My god Mac, this is uncannny.

You have just named our number1 and number2 resort choices!!!!

The issue we have is that Veligandu isnt currently being offered by UK operators for some reason. Hmmm, I'll find out why.

Thanks for the info - that does help as now 2 people have suggested Kuredu too!

macmillions
12-05-2009, 09:02 PM
Wow, that is strange.
I wonder why British tour reps aren't offering Veligandu?

another thing, with Kuredu, its a 4hr boat trip from the airport... which is supposedly very hot and sweaty and generally unpleasant.

OR...

You can pay extra for a sea plane, which is an incredible experience. 40min flight and is great fun. (and the pilots fly it with their feet!)

To be completely honest, I prefered Kuredu, simply as there was a little more to do and there was a variety of reefs to snorkel and the dive centre is the most renound in the maldives.

Combover
13-05-2009, 08:19 AM
I personally fancy the look of Kuredu more - mainly for the reason that there does look like there is more to do.

I get bored of sitting around quite quickly (In the Dominican in November, after a week I was bored!) so I would like to learn to dive / snorkle etc!

kite
13-05-2009, 04:36 PM
We went in Feb/March.
Stayed at Huduraanfushi (used to be called lohifushi).
A small AI Island, great staff, good snorkeling, edible food, my wife is a fussy eater
and she managed to find something everyday.
Its around 40min boat trip from Male, so not too far. I would recommend It for a first trip to Maldives.

Ben
13-05-2009, 05:04 PM
wasn't the maldives badly affected by the boxing day typhoon a couple of years ago.

Could the reason resorts are not being offered have something to do with them being refurbed perhaps.?

macmillions
13-05-2009, 07:48 PM
Fortunately most islands weren't badly affected by the tsunami due to the large reefs surrounding the islands (as they are atolls), they served as a barrier and took the brunt of the waves.

Male itself was badly affected again due to having no reef. My parents went to Kuredu 4 weeks after it (late jan/early feb) and spoke to the staff and they said all that happened that the sea drained back to the reef, then just slowly came back in, but kept coming and coming. Fortunately it just flowed over the top of the island, and nobody was injured, nor was there much damage, other than to the jetti.

I imagine the islands with little or no reef got the full ocean swells which probably caused serious damage (infact the neighbouring island to Kuredu, Komandoo, was badly damaged to to one side not having a reef).

RickT
13-05-2009, 10:11 PM
Hello all

the WTB and I have decided (after much discussion) that our honeymoon in Jan 2011 will be in the Maldives.

Has anyone been there? And if so, can they recommend a resort?

thanks all!

Me and my other half nearly went... but optted for Jamaica instead for a week.. the only reason was due to flights.... (we got back 2 weeks ago..)

Cheers

Rick

Desertfish
04-06-2009, 05:57 PM
wasn't the maldives badly affected by the boxing day typhoon a couple of years ago.

Could the reason resorts are not being offered have something to do with them being refurbed perhaps.?

Yes they were hit properly but remember that it was the southern atolls that took the brunt. The center took some of it while the north was spared (it's about 480 miles from the north to the south of the Maldives so go figure).

Besides the point that macmillions already made (i.e. large reefs around the islands protecting them to some extend) you also have to take into account that about a third of the Maldivian islands are still uninhabited. The rest is split up between resort islands and for islands for locals only. And believe me; the local government is going trough great lengths to keep both of those separate because they don’t want tourists to see under what appalling conditions some of the locals live. Was there barely a few months after the Boxing Day tsunami in order to find out how we were going to get their broadband kit in that they just ordered. I’ve probably been one of the lucky ones (or maybe unlucky) to see how the locals live over there… Never again thankyouverymuch.


Anyway, back to the subject at hand, most of the resort islands got refurbished quite quickly. The government is putting quite a lot of money in them to keep them pristine. After all, tourism is the main source of their income (fishing is second, and again heavily regulated by the government). So I wouldn’t think that tour operators decided not to offer certain islands as part of their package just as a result of the tsunami having hit them.

Not sure what you would want to do in Male as a tourist though. It’s a business centre and only the side facing the airport looks decent. Walk around trough the backstreets and you might feel you’re in some Middle Eastern country where someone just had fun with a rocket launcher or an AK. The only thing worth seeing is the presidential pier and the huge amount of scooters (never seen so many in my life). But the resort islands are nice I guess. Took the boat trip to Huduraanfushi for a day and I’ve been to Royal Island (about an hours flight from Male Int. Airport by TMA water plane). Didn’t see much of RI though… had too much fun playing in the ocean with the dolphins.

Two tips I can give for anyone going on holiday to the Maldives:
1: If you go for more that two weeks, you need to go Island hopping. Staying on the same island for such a long time will make you look forward to going home.
2: If you happen to see dolphins while in a speedboat, shut the engine down, tap the site of the boat a few times and they’ll come and play. They're funny buggers and are not affraid of people in any way.


Have fun.

P.S.: Yes the Maldives might be sinking, but a lot of efforts are being made in building artificial islands or extending the current ones. A lot of the finances for that are coming from China. The Americans got a naval base on Diego Garcia some 400 miles South-Southwest from the Maldives which is practically slap bang in the middle of the Indian Ocean… the perfect spot with easy access to every country in Africa, the middle East and Asia-PAC. The second best spot to have a base is in the Maldives and the Chinese and Indians have been trying for years to establish one there. It’s crazy how far they are willing to go for that. The Chinese are financing the projects that revolve around keeping the Maldives from sinking and all the hardware for the Maldivian navy was donated by the Indians. And so far, neither of them have got their base yet (lol).

Combover
05-06-2009, 09:42 AM
Thanks guys! Well we think we have made our location choice: Chaaya Lagoon Hakuraa Huraa

Now I have 18 months to wait for it now!!