Biggins

Having looked at many and varied worldwide honeymoon destinations, we have finally settled on the Maldives.

We will be Honeymooning in July and have a budget of £4k for 2 or 3 weeks of luxury. My fiancee would like romantic luxury individual accomodation (cabin/hut style) directly on the beach or on stilts in the sea.

Any reccomendations from people who have been would be most welcome along with companies to book with etc.

We have looked at the weather for July in the Maldives and it is certainly not the best month, Jan.-May being best, but also not as wet as late Aug./Sept. onwards. Anyone been there in July?

What's it like for the dreaded Mozzies? I don't mind bugs in general but the mosquito likes my blood.

Cheers for any advice.

Scooby96

Take plenty of $US for tips even if you go luxury all inclusive - they will expect a tip for the most trivial of things so make sure you get 100's of $1 bills

LeeMac

iTrader: (1)

Went to Fun Island in the Maldives in December, I just tipped them at the end of the week, didn't get any hassle of any kind, fantastic place, we was all inclusive but did have to pay for things away from the bar or restaurant, ie mini bar or taking a bottle of water from your table but it wasn't a problem, June is when it rains but would imagine they'd be passing showers, think its worse around Oct Nov, top place tho, excellent for scuba diving and do the Dolphin safari.

As for mossies, we got bit a few times, noticed they sprayed the island a few times a week and kills them instantly

We booked with Tropical places, flew from M/cr via Gatwick but some fly to Bahrain and wait for 2 hours or so before continuing, we was at gatwick for about 1 hour and on returning stopped at M/cr first.
Enjoy




[Edited by LeeMac - 1/20/2004 10:07:40 AM]

Biggins

Thanks guys.

Hoping the US$ stays so strong against the £ as i'd heard that it's very expensive to get there & very very expensive whilst you're thers, £4 can of coke etc.!!!

Any more tips and recommendations?

kend

Depends where you are flying from, but worth considering flying by Emirates, and stopping over at Dubai. They beat the charter airlines ( and BA) hands down, and Dubai is stunning, with lots of shopping for the Mrs. Go all inclusive. As you've been told beers and bottled water will set you back 3-4 $US each, so you don't need to eat/drink much to justify the all inclusive cost.
At most of the resorts you'll have the same waiter for your whole stay, and same room boy who cleans/tidies, generally you tip them once at the end of your stay, if you visit other resorts, or the mainland, then tip as you go along. Preferred currency is $US, but most places will also accept Euros.
We have always booked with Kuoni, and would thoroughly recommend them. Local staff are very good, and will go the extra mile.

SPelham

Me and my fiancee are also going on our honeymoon to the Maldives (Sun Island) at the beginning of July, we were told that you can expect brief spells of rainfall but nothing to worry about
We paid just over 4K which includes staying in water bungerlows and fully inclusive but you better hurry as it was hard trying to find any left!! ( That was through Thomas Cook )

Simon

Dapster

Alternatively fly Sri Lankan airlines directly to Male from Heathrow - owned by Emirates, brand new fleet of A340's and service to shame BA.

I have plenty of friends who have been to the Maldives and you must be absolutely sure that you can fill your time (should be no probs if you're on honey moon....).

Otherwise it may be worth considering a week of shopping in Dubai or adventure in Sri Lanka before vegging in the Maldives. Depends on how "beachy" you and the bread knife are.

One thing that everyone says is that it is jaw droppingly beautiful.

DavidBrown

We're booked into Baros Island this year.. and reports are favourable.. although the resort doesn't offer all-inclusive which is a pity.



Bungalows are around £3K for 14 nights
Water Bungalows are around £4K
Penthouse suite is around £7K

I don't holiday much, so when I do, I do it well.. so I've gone for the Penthouse, because the two of us have our very own private beach, and outdoor jacuzzi..

We've gone for a direct flight, because the journey is long enough as it is, without wanting to faff around in Dubai for a few hours.

Also, get a boat-plane transfer from Male to your island, as the "speedboat" sounds fancy, but it's very rough and the last thing you want after a long journey.

Depending on "what's your bag baby.." you may want to find adult-only resorts because loud kids can ruin the tranquility.

[Edited by DavidBrown - 1/20/2004 12:01:14 PM]

scoobynutta555

Went to Thudufushi in June 2 years ago. Apparently 'rainy' season. but had 2 nights of rain, with blue skies all day. Basically Thudufushi is a small island only 400 yds by 420. There are approx 40 bungalow accomodations which are a stones throw from the waters edge. The shower toilet is an outdoor one, which never posed a problem as its private.

Once out into the water you quickly come across amazing coral and fish, sharks (harmless) and all manner of marine life. Its fantastic to look at and you dont have to be a diver to see everything, most can be seen simply by snorkeling.

If you arent a diver you can get qualified when youre out there, and you get a free assisted dive anyway with an instructor. There are away trips off the island, but we only went on 2.

Nightlife is shows put on by 'animators' (red coats in swimwear) who put on good entertainment and like a bit of audience participation. When we were there the clientel was exclusively English with the animators being all Italian and the staff being a mix of Sri Lankan and Maldivian.

The food was very good and there was free drinks and even cigarettes. From memory we paid £1500 each and that was nearly 3 years ago. Id deffo recomment it to anyone as its a fantastic experience. We even didnt have to wear any footwear of any kind for 2 weeks.

Here is a link http://www.planhotel.ch/thudu/index.htm

Also the island is reached by seaplane from the airport, approx 40 min fly.

princessyin

we went to the maldives in July time. the first day we arrived it was drizzly but cleared up in less than an hour.

Unless you have been before you cannot describe the Maldives with words. Go on as many excursions as you can and do as much as the watersports as you can. We paid for a snorkelling trip, and the guy took us to what can only be descibed as a sandbank- a small strip of sand in the middle of the Indian Ocean- no islands that we could see. The variety of fish were amazing and we even got to see sharks (baby ones of course )!) Another thing- you must take a trip on the seaplane. The views are fantastic!

We had no problems at all with mosquitos. Definitely plannin to go again- in fact i applied for a job out there recently! Have fun and take loadsa pictures!!

[Edited by princessyin - 1/20/2004 1:08:21 PM]

Gordo

We are just back from Kanuhura (first two weeks of December)

www.oneandonlykanuhura.com

Absolutely stunning. Sea plane to a relatively private reef area. We went half board (I dive a lot and it's so hot you only tend to snack at lunch) and it worked well - you don't need any money as all tips are included. 5 star food and they can't do enough for you - including a private dinner on a neighbouring uninhabited island they use. Sea was 30 degrees every day and air temp usually around 32-33. Fabulous - the pics on the website say it all really. We had a beach villa which was lovely with a bit of private beach - I wouldn't pay the extra for the water bungalows. 5 star and not cheap but excellent - they spray regularly for insects and we didn't need the mossy nets. Overall 11/10. Dive if you can - hard to describe how good diving with green turtle in the Indian Ocean feels!

We went to Lohifushi 2 yrs ago in May - rained a fair amount but again as I was diving it didn't matter too much. Downside with Lohifushi is its only 3 star - the quality of the rooms and the school dinner food let it down. In a busy diving area so not as exclusive as Kanuhura with some insect bites.

We booked Kanuhura direct - you get a discount on the card prices. We flew with Emirates via Dubai (Trailfinders flights). As an aside we stayed in Dubai for 3 days and we thought it was dull and overpriced. If you like nice hotels it's fine but there's sod all else there - the shopping is akin to going to the Trafford Centre (same shops) and it's one big building site with hotels strung out along c20km of coast line. Very average so wouldn't advise staying there - spend all the time you can in the Maldives, you won't want to come home.

Have a great time!

Gordo

Biggins

Cheers guys!

Some truly magical recommendations which are just what we're looking for. What are your views on booking direct with accomodation over the net and arranging own flights, will it be much cheaper??

I'm still a little concerned regarding the weather in mid. July as most reports i've read talk of rain and overcast.

Gordo

Our problem was that, once we'd seen the website, the growler was hooked and she wouldn't countenance anywhere else.

So.....rang Kuoni and a specialist travel agent - both came in about £750 dearer (for the two of us) than booking with the island direct and arranging flights ourselves. Emirates are excellent - downside is the flight times are a bit ****e in and out of the Maldives but on the other hand it means they're at sensible times here.

The island was excellent - they sorted the seaplane transfers for us and booked us a room at Male Airport on the way out when we had about 8 hrs to kill, making sure we got there ok and were picked up later on.

Have fun
G

DavidBrown

We managed to save £600 off the Kuoni price by dealing with a specialist agent.. if anyone wants their details, let me know.

Scooby96

£935 for 7 nights B&B + £54 per person per extra night (so £1313 for 14 nights). Sun Island here

Click on Special Offers

[Edited by Scooby96 - 1/20/2004 4:12:16 PM]

Scooby96

Maldives Weather Information

Generally warm and humid. Sun shines all year through. Average temperature around 29 - 32 degrees Celsius. The best time to go is between December and April. The rainy season is from May to August.

princessyin

don't do anything less than all inclusive. everything is imported to the islands and therefore expensive. we went all-inclusive but treats like ice cream etc are expensive. We paid £3-something for a Magnum!

LeeMac

iTrader: (1)

We got a last minute in Dec just gone, £650 all incl for 1 week (nearly 9 days incl travel) off Teletext, in a bungalow about 40ft from sea, its all beach so no need for shoes, its still a fantastic place how ever much you pay so you dont need to pay 1000's, think 2 weeks was going for about 800 but on paradise island which I dont think they do all incl, look on www.villahotels-maldives.com

On the island we went on - fun island - it accommodated about 100 people but where we was we hardly ever seen anyone on the beach so if you want a little privacy get room 153!, and you can keep the air con in your room on all the time, in fact sometimes we left it off and our 'boy' had switched it on for us for when we got back, you just cant fault it




[Edited by LeeMac - 1/20/2004 10:39:51 PM]

Biggins

Fantastic info. guys. Keep it coming.

Many thanks.