This group of islands in the Indian ocean is a little paradise on earth. Scattered across a large area, the tiny pieces of land are host to some of the most luxurious resorts in the world and some islands also have native people staying there. The land which started being inhabited by Buddhist monks at around 5th century BC got converted to a muslim Sultanate around 12th century AD. The buddhist king got converted to Islam and till today the country is a predominately muslim nation following the conservative islam laws. They are very helpful to tourists and will try their best to make your vacation as comfortable as possible. The best time to visit Maldives will be from November to March. You can escape the cold weather of the north and get nice cool breeze on this island nation. Western tourists are all over the place and there are specific beaches where you can bath in your swimsuits. You should make a trip of at least three nights and four days so that you can properly relax as well a explore the beautiful islands and people.
Reaching there: We were surprised to see the number of airlines present at the main international airport of Maldives in Male. Etihad, Oman Air, BA, Korean Airways, Sri Lankan Airlines, Air India, Go Air, Emirates, Qatar Airways, …. So it will definitely be well connected to your country or its neighbours. There is not much to do in Male and most likely you will directly head off to your resort in one of the islands of Maldives. The islands which are close by can be reached by taking a ferry from Male and can take anywhere between 30 to 90 minutes depending on how far it is. The shared public ferries are cheaper but run at fix times and 2-3 times a day. The hotel arranged ferries can be adjusted to your flight time and will be 3x-4x more expensive. The islands which are further south can be accessed by sea planes and they are very expensive so make sure that you check all these options before booking.
Visa: We read online that you have to fill up a form, put your photographs and give hotel/flight details to cross the immigration point. But it was nothing like that. We filled a very basic form and the officer stamped our passport for 30 days tourist visa. It is free of cost for Indians.
Accommodation: During peak season the resorts are all very expensive. Any good accommodation will cost you at least $100 per night and can go as high as $5000. Initially we had booked a hotel in the southern part and two weeks before our departure we realised that just to reach the hotel from Male we have to spend $1500 for the round trip. We canceled the hotel and booked Araamu Resort in Dhiffushi islands. The rooms were pretty good and its right next to the sunset beach. Each room had a spacious balcony to enjoy the breeze. The island is small one with around 1000 locals residing there. This gives you access to small shops from where you can purchase water etc. (water in the resort will be $2 for 500 ml) and you also have few more options to eat apart from your own resort. We took a complete round of the island multiple times and found many great places to relax for few hours and proceed again.
Things to do:
Some of the points here will be specific to Dhiffushi but I am pretty sure most of the things are equally possible in other islands.
–Sunrise view: The northern part of the island has a very nice beach from where you can have a good view of sun rise. The beach is fairly big with a wider coast line compared to the other beaches in the island. You have to take attempt at multiple days as it could be cloudy on few occasions. Nevertheless the view is lovely with or without the clouds. Taking bath in the beach early morning is a good idea as later the sun rays will be very sharp.
–Relaxing on the swings: You will find all kind of swings around the island. Every day you can pick a different spot to relax. You won’t realise how easily time passes on this island.
-Indoor games at the hotel: We spent couple of hours every day playing some games at the roof top lounge which had a great view of the sea. The windows can open from all sides and fresh air crosses through them. The hotels have pool tables, foosball tables, table tennis etc.
-Sunset view: The southern part of the island has the best view of sunset. Sitting on a swing and watching the sun go down was something that we did every day on the trip.
–Book reading: We finished multiple books during the trip. You can just lie on one of the many hammocks/reciners scattered throughout the island and get engrossed in your favourite book.
–Dinner inside the sea. Many restaurants have long pavements which stretch inside the sea and they have few dinner tables there. Having dinner in such places in utter silence except for the sound of nature was an amazing experience for us. Sand Grill is one such place in the island.
–Wild life watching: If you go to the beach early in the morning then you can watch stingrays coming close to the shores. We also saw many herons, sea gulls and sharks during our strip.
–Star gazing: Without any light or air pollution, you get a very clear view of the night sky. After many years we were looking at so many stars and were able to identify 2-3 constellations. The air was so clear that we saw dozens of satellites quietly orbiting our planet. Scenes like these make you wonder and realise how insignificant we all are in the large universe with billions of other stars like sun silently moving towards their fate.
–Water sports: We had already done our share of water sports in other places so we did not explore it in Maldives. But if you are interested then Scuba, Snorkelling, Speed Boating, etc. are all available on the islands.
–Food: Grilled fish is a very popular dish here and they make it fresh on order. Some good options are Ameera hotel, Bibee hotel and Sand Grill. You an also try out other local Maldivian cuisine here.
Watch outs: The sun can be very harsh during noon. You might be taking bath inside the cold sea water and not realise that you are getting sunburns. So make sure to carry a very good sunscreen (SPF 50) and use it every time you step out of your hotel.
If you are going to Maldives then leave your work and worries behind you. This place is the ultimate definition of relaxation and you never care what time of the day it is. You do what you like to do. So if you want to unwind yourself and do absolutely nothing then this is the place.