Maldives Holiday Advice for various questions!

Hi All

First of all sorry for this post which probably covers questions people have already asked but you all seem to be a knowledgable lot on the Maldives!

I%26#39;m thinking of taking my girlfriend there (even though she wants to go somewhere cheaper!). Never been before and probably a big holiday before we really start saving for a house etc

We can go anytime from April onwards. It looks like there is more rainfall in the ';summer'; but I understand its probably sharp bursts. However, if you can advise a good time to go that%26#39;s be great!

Was thinking of 7-10 days and maybe a budget of 拢2500 max (for both of us). All inclusive would be great as it sounds like drinks/food is rather expensive.

We would like somewhere relaxing but with some activities.

These beach ';houses'; and jacuzzi ';villas'; sound great!

We would prefer to go to a resort with few/no children. Looks like the following resorts may cater for this

Huvafenfushi Hotel

Komandoo

Velassaru

Thank you for any help/advice you can provide and i%26#39;m very responsive to any replies as sadly i%26#39;m nearly always on the net (hence I need a relaxing holiday!)

Dean

Maldives Holiday Advice for various questions!

weatherwise .. the closer to april the better. you can have a lot of bad luck june through october or so .. yes, likely only short showers , but some unlucky folks have hit it poorly and had 2 weeks of almost consistent rain before .

7 days is really , really short .. i would go longer, considering the travel time

komandoo is very nice , if you can get that for your budget , i would jump on that . (i don%26#39;t know if komandoo does AI)

Maldives Holiday Advice for various questions!

Thanks for the reply - will do 10 days then and try to get early.

If anyone has any recommendations of resorts/hotels etc that would be great - will check out Komandoo further tonight

Thanks again

hi dean,

we%26#39;re off to kuramanthi in april/may(1st time) we chose it becauase it has agood AI as it includes all cocktails and bottles of water rather than just glasses at the bar, and snorkling gear, has a house reef you can swim to without the need to get on a boat and is relatively large (about 1 mile long) so nice for a walk etc. there are 3 areas to the island so you can choose which you prefer, have a look at their website.it is also quite reasonable budget wise.

Thanks Lizzie - will check out the website now. Just realised how much all this costs! :o(

Hi Dean

2 of the islands you have picked out are 5* luxury resorts and I doubt your budget will stretch that far. As you surmise, the Maldives can be expensive.

Komandoo gets good reports on TA but again, not sure if it is within your budget. You could have a look at Reethi Beach. This always gets good reports and I think AI is an option.

If high quality accommodation is not a deal breaker, take a look at Biyadhoo. It is very much a budget island but has a great Maldives ';feel';, is very laid back and has an excellent house reef for snorkelling. The only draw back is the accommodation, which is in blocks and is, frankly, rather ';tired'; these days, although everything works.

To give you an idea of cost, you can get Biyadhoo for 2 weeks in June, flying scheduled airline and going AI, for just under 拢2000 for 2.

Hope this helps.

OD

Thanks OD! I will check out Biyadhoo......

I%26#39;d start with what%26#39;s available at your budget and then look at details - that way you are narrowing choice down making it an easier task. A friend went for 拢2.5k AI 2 weeks for 2 people but for that was on larger island staying in room in apartment bloc (1 storey), and it was a special offer (First Choice). Check them out as well as Mark%26#39;s Travel, for deals.

PS We paid over 拢5k for Komandoo last year.

Thanks Karla!

5k - am looking to spend half of that so will dig around reviews of the resorts mentioned above

Thanks to all

Hi Minnelli,

Best thing to do for the buget is to use First Choice site and or Thomas Cooke sites , see what they are offering. The islands near Male will be boat transfers and your looking at the likes of club Faru, as for the weather april / May is the start of the Monsoon Hence the lower prices.

Hope this helps.

Rumps

Thanks Rumps

You say ';Monsoon'; but I still assume you get ';x'; amount of sunshine every day and the rain is in short bursts.

i.e - is it a big risk going April/May?