What I miss most about the Maldives is the sound of the water gently splashing against the steps that led down from the deck of our over the water villa, to the lagoon reef. Normally I was watching the sun set or rise. I miss sitting on the same deck, with my legs dangling over the side, spotting fish as they swam by. I miss the genuinely happy, cheerful Maldivian, Indian, Thai, and a plethora of other nationalities from around the world who worked at our resort. Nothing was too much trouble for them. They seemed to go out of their way to make our stay extremely pleasant.

White sand beaches and crystal clear waters

I miss relaxing. Doing nothing. Forgetting the rest of the world, and focussing on de-stressing and not having a care in the world. Where our biggest decision was where and when we were going to eat next, or when our next massage was going to take place or which bar we would go to for our regular afternoon aperitif.

Relaxing on our deck

Oh and the sunsets! We were lucky enough to have a villa facing directly west so the sunsets were spectacular even when there was a bit of cloud around. Sharing a glass of wine with my new husband while lying on the sunken sun beds on our deck, and watching the sun turn the sky an array of pinks, purples and oranges was a spectacular start to our married life together.

Sunset from our villa

I know, cliché

Ok, I know this all sounds like first world problems, but don’t we all deserve a little bit of decadence once in our lives? We went to the Maldives for our honeymoon. I know, cliché, but funnily enough there didn’t seem to be that many honeymooners. Maybe it was the time of the year or the resort we chose.

Check out our post on Gili Trawangan for another great relaxing honeymoon destination.

Cheers from the Maldives

The Maldives was pure bliss. For those of you who have planned a wedding you know what I’m talking about when I say, you need a good damn rest afterwards. Don’t get me wrong, we loved every minute of planning our wedding in Spain, also known as the best day of our lives. However, we were exhausted afterwards. We didn’t actually realise this until we arrived in the Maldives. Our small resort island, that took seven and a half minutes to walk around, was exactly what we needed.

Chilling at the bar

It is not as out of reach as you may think

I hear what you are saying, “it’s so expensive!”. To some extent you are right. However, once you start looking into it, there are now quite a variety of options for all budgets. I would say we probably stayed at a mid-range all inclusive (as most are) resort, Centara Grand. Now let me start by saying that this is not an advertisement for them and that is the only time I am going to mention their name. However, we were very happy with every aspect of this resort.

Maldives

Secondly, David and I are not normally fans of all-inclusive resorts. We stayed at one once before and didn’t really feel like it was for us. However, all-inclusive is their thing on many of the islands in the Maldives and they do it well. When I say all-inlcusive, I really mean everything you need to relax. All three main meals, plus afternoon tea, plus pre-dinner appetisers, a 30 minute massage every day (of which you could exchange some for diving instead), a sunset boat trip, a snorkelling boat trip and a whale shark spotting boat trip. Unfortunately it wasn’t our turn to see the gentle giants of the sea the day we went but the snorkelling was still fantastic.

Walking to one of the three restaurants

The food was of a very high standard, authentic and varied. As already mentioned, the staff were exceptional, always with a smile on their faces. Also, there were plenty of activities included in our package to keep us occupied when lying by the pool or on our deck or snorkelling or eating and drinking, got too mundane. Actually that never happened ;). If all of that wasn’t enough they also offered other additional activities.

Why Maldives?

We chose the Maldives for our honeymoon as it was somewhere that neither David nor myself had been. And hey, it was our honeymoon, a once in a lifetime chance to experience a little bit of luxury. As much as we would love to return to this piece of paradise again and again, in reality that may never happen. In all honesty, when you break down the cost of staying in this five star hotel and everything that was included, it actually was pretty good value.

Wonderful view from the bed

The Maldives is a country that consists of over a thousand islands in the Indian Ocean, south west of Sri Lanka. The teal blue water is ridiculously surreal. It looks like someone has come along and placed a permanent filter over it. The snorkelling and diving is amongst the best in the world. There are thousands of different coral and reef fish, reef sharks and a variety of rays. It also has a past filled with adventure and played an important role in the trade route in the Indian Ocean. The main religion is Islam but in the past Buddhism has been prominent. The private islands are very liberal but if you visit a local island you should be more conscious of how you dress and behave.

An underwater utopia

These little dudes love a camera

We would highly recommend staying on an island that has its own house reef so that you don’t have to catch a boat to snorkel. We didn’t have to snorkel far from our villa before the teal water turned to a dark azure due to the plunging reef becoming an abyss of unknown underwater darkness . This sudden change in depth of course meant that there was an even bigger variety of sea-life to experience. Having a house reef makes the mysterious, exotic underwater world accessible to all ages and swimming abilities.

Chasing sweet lips

The twenty eight atolls do just consist of small coral islands so if you are seeking action packed adventure, this is perhaps not the best place for you. However, if you truly want to unwind and distance yourself from reality, even for just a short period of time, this is definitely somewhere to consider. David sometimes gets a bit antsy if we lie on a beach for too long so I was a little unsure of how he would cope with a week in the Maldives. Turns out he loved it and wanted to stay longer! That’s what happens when you truly hang loose and allow yourself to escape your “normal” life. We truly believe that everyone should visit this divine piece of heaven on earth at least once in your life.

Have you been to the Maldives? Let us know what you thought in the comments.