Having visited some of the world’s most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean, South America and Asia, the Maldives has never been high on my radar. In addition to being remote, visiting the islands is notoriously expensive and geared towards romantic honeymooners, not solo single budget travelers. However, Male, the capital of the Maldives, is only a 1-hour flight from Colombo, Sri Lanka and it seemed a shame that I would waste the opportunity to see if the islands lived up to their hype.
During my days of relaxation on the beach in Sri Lanka, I played with multiple flight and hotel options for visiting the islands and timing my flight home to the USA. The deciding factor was when I landed upon an incredible business class deal home to San Antonio, TX from Colombo, Sri Lanka and a great partial inclusive rate at the Maldives’ Kandima resort. Luckily, the Maldives had also been experiencing unseasonable rain and there were quite a few last minute cancellations, allowing me the ability to jump on a late open booking.
After departing Tangalle beach, I headed to the capital for an overnight stay at the Courtyard Marriott before my flight to the Maldives. For my USA friends, the Marriott Courtyard is not known to be the most luxurious property; however, as I discovered in my South American travels, sometimes USA hotel chains can actually be 4-5 star properties internationally. This theorem held true for Colombo, as the Courtyard not only had the most incredible service, but an infinity pool, fabulous rooms, and free high tea buffet and breakfast included, my only regret was not being able to stay longer!
The next morning I headed to the airport and bid Sri Lanka farewell courtesy of Sri Lankan Airlines (yes in economy), and a quick 1 hour later I landed in Male. Stepping off the plane and into the airport, I expected a calm island feel but was instead hit with massive throngs of somewhat angry tourists (many of them Russian). The Male airport is currently undergoing a massive expansion construction and their temporary space is nowhere near what the current crowds demand. Getting through immigration and security (they screen all bags upon arrival for alcohol and other contraband) took almost 40 minutes to navigate.
Thankfully, when you book a resort in the Maldives, they take care of your transportation to/from the island as they have to know exactly when guests are coming/going. Each island requires a different mode of transportation to reach it – some require a flight, some a boat ride, and some a combination of the two. My resort required either a 45-minute sea plane ride or a 40- minute commercial flight and 20-minute boat ride. The commercial flight and boat ride were cheaper than the sea plane option, so I opted for for that choice. Of course the transport comes with a required extra fee, but it means that someone has planned for your arrival, understanding the delays and timing and is there to steer you where you need to go. My resort’s host met me outside of the baggage claim madhouse and quickly walked me to the other side of the airport where the local flights depart from. He checked me in and I passed through local security to wait for my flight to Dhaalu Atoll. The flight staging area consisted of one small, crowded room that held passengers for 3 upcoming flights. We boarded our flight directly from the tarmac and while the plane only held 20 passengers, we still had ‘in flight service’ which consisted of a Twix candy bar and a juice box. Once we started nearing the cluster of main islands I began to get excited as the views from the plane were just like what the pictures portray – the colors of the ocean and layout of the islands was truly incredible and breathtaking. Soon we landed on Dhaalu Atoll’s main island, where a van was meeting my group to take us to our boat transfer to the resort.
Prior to booking an all inclusive hotel I toyed with the idea of staying at a local hotel on a main island and then going for day trips to resorts nearby. However, once I saw the atmosphere a main island had to offer, I was glad I stuck with my all inclusive choice as the main populated islands are pretty empty and a bit desolate feeling. The Maldives follow strict Muslim rules and most homes are surrounded by high walls. There are almost no tourists or even locals walking around; definitely not very inviting and nothing like the islands of the Caribbean.
The van ride to the boat took about 10 minutes and the crew quickly us and our luggage and we set off to our resort. Once we cleared the open ocean and turned towards our resort I was simply giddy as it looked just like a dream – paradise in the middle of the ocean! The resort’s ‘port’ was a long dock that led to the sands of the island and we were greeted with cold towels and water and whisked away to the check in area where we received our wristbands that acted as our room keys and ‘credit cards’ for our stay.
I choose the partial inclusive package for my room, which included a full buffet breakfast for $300 USD/night; any other food and drink and activities would be priced a la carte. Even though I knew food and drink would be very expensive (think $20 for a small sandwich), my stay was only for 2 nights and 3 days, so I figured I could fill up on breakfast and limit the rest of my expenses. Once checked in, the resort’s tram took us to our rooms (the island itself is about 4 miles in circumference and has a free electric tram that runs continuously through the resort). My room was located directly on the beach with a full sea view and while big enough only for one couple, it was very modern and comfortable. My bags were already waiting for me in my room and I immediately changed into my swimsuit and set off to explore the island and resort.
I spent the majority of the day sunning, walking to the ends of the island, stopping at different points to watch the baby sharks right off the shore, pop in the water to snorkel and take self-timed photos. After sunset, I stopped at the resort’s café for a takeaway sandwich and some nuts and enjoyed a quiet night on my balcony listening to the ocean.
The next day I got up at sunrise and hit the gym before indulging in a large breakfast at one of the resort’s 6 restaurants. There was everything from Asian to Italian to Indian food and I had no problem filling up, knowing it had to last me until at least mid afternoon. The rest of the day I spent much like the first, enjoying paradise. There were other options for entertainment at the resort, like shows and dance parties and water activities (jet skis, diving, etc.), but I just wanted to enjoy the tranquility alone, especially since I was one of only a handful of solo travelers at the resort.
For my last half day on the island I enjoyed breakfast, the gym, time on the beach and a little snorkeling before heading back to Male, but for my return trip I decided to splurge and booked the direct sea plane ride for my return. I missed out on a sea plane ride in my previous travels to Alaska and figured why not combine an experience with transport. Once I checked out, the resort transported me by boat to a platform dock in the ocean to board the plane. The plane held 8 passengers and the pilot area was not enclosed – they were even wearing flip flops to fly the plane! It was pretty exciting to hear the roar of the engines and then see the ocean splashing next to your window and poof, suddenly you are in the air! The in flight views of the islands were even better than on the way in as we were flying much closer to them. After 45 minutes in the air, our plane touched down at the sea plane docking area in Male – it was surreal to touchdown and taxi in from the ocean – definitely worth the extra cost for the transfer!
A van transported us to the main Male airport for check in, abruptly ending the magical paradise experience as now we had to endure the incredibly long pre-terminal security and immigration lines, the jam packed airport and endless lines at every available food stand. Needless to say it is not the most pleasant flight departure experience, but hopefully the expansion will make it much more pleasant for future travelers.
My trip home then began with my 1 hour flight into Colombo, Sri Lanka and a 3 hour layover before my Qatar Airlines flight to San Antonio, Texas. In total, I would spend 48 hours travelling back to the USA, but the business class Q suite made my journey just a little bit more enjoyable!
I slept decently well on the flight back, however, once I touched ground in Texas, I was immediately overwhelmed with culture shock. The level of civilization, commercialism and pace of life immediately hit me like a ton of bricks and as soon as I got to my hotel in Houston I booked a flight to Mexico the next day for a week of slow immersion back into reality.
I won’t give a final verdict on the Maldives as it was more of a resort destination, but overall it is worth it if you have the time and money to splurge. Instead, I’ll provide the final verdict on my totals and top ratings:
TOTAL HOTELS: 38
TOTAL OCEANS: 8
TOTAL FLIGHTS: 25
TOTAL COUNTRIES: 9 new, 12 total
TOTAL MILES: ~50,000
FAVORITES
- OVERALL COUNTRY: Oman, but would repeat India and Egypt as well with different itineraries
- HOTEL: Four Seasons Amman, but close favorites are Wadi Shab Guesthouse in Oman and Villa Blue in Sri Lanka
- OUTLAW EXPERIENCE: Petra Police Escort
- AIRLINE: Turkish Airlines
- FOOD: Egypt
BEST VALUE: India
MOST MONEY SPENT IN FEWEST DAYS: Maldives
MOST NOTEABLE MEMORIES: Helicopter ride in Guatemala, Petra, Dead Sea, Feeing VIP in the Egyptian Oasis, Delhi Street Food Tour, Cabo Polonio in Uruguay, riding on the back of motorcycle in the beaches of India, and Oman’s mosques
WORST HOTEL: Hosteler in Agra, India
WORST THING I ATE: All inclusive food in Maldives, $25-30 for a tiny, tasteless sandwich
REGRETS: Not many, but a few on my wish list: 1) 3 more months to visit Africa and parts of Indonesia and New Zealand, 2) a few less clothes, not many but 3-4 items less, 3) less time in Sri Lanka, 4) timing that aligned to see Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi & money to sky dive (it’s soo expensive), 5) not being able to visit Lebanon and Israel due to the conflict.
I owe some concluding thoughts on my trip and what I learned along with some of how I did what I did, so stay tuned for more in the next post!