The Maldives is comprised of about 1200 islands in the Indian ocean.
The capital island, Malé, is about 400 miles southwest of Sri Lanka and can be reached from a variety of cities around the world. Here’s more info on The Points Guy blog and from Thrifty Traveler!
We got an amazing flight deal alert from Chicago to Doha then Doha to Malé through Thrifty Traveler’s premium subscription that made this dream vacation happen! After a long journey with a few hours in the Doha airport lounge, we arrived in the small Malé airport.
You can get a taxi to the very busy and crowded capital city of Malé or to the artificial island of Hulhumalé from the airport (MLE). If you’re headed to a resort, you will need to take a speedboat or seaplane. Most resorts will arrange this for you (and some charge hefty fees for it!) but if you’re on a budget trip, you can arrange this yourself.
Where to Stay
I searched for Marriott resorts in the Maldives and was drawn to the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa for a few reasons. The resorts all seemed beautiful so convenience was a major factor here; all the resort islands require an extra boat or plane to get there after arriving in Malé. Since the Sheraton is a 20 minute speedboat ride away rather than a seaplane ride, we found that a major plus compared to another flight after a full day of travel.
The Sheraton has villas, private rooms with pools, cottages, overwater bungalows, and overwater suites. We stayed in an overwater bungalow and woke up to beautiful ocean views and the sound of the waves every day. This was incredible and so relaxing!
What to Eat
The hotel has different options for food: full board, half board, or à la carte. We chose breakfast as the welcome gift with my Titanium Elite status, so we opted to buy meals à la carte throughout the days. Breakfast was always wonderful, with multiple cuisines to choose from or sample. For lunch, we loved the ceviche at Kakuni Hut, and for dinner, pizza at Anchorage was our go to.
Experiences
While we were at the resort, we had access to free stand up paddle-boarding (SUP) every day! Paddle-boarding in the ocean is a lot more challenging than paddle-boarding on the calm lakes in Minnesota so this was quite the workout when paddling against the current!
You can also get complimentary snorkeling gear for 30 minutes a day and they have tennis courts you can reserve for free for a certain amount of time!
The resort has a lot of other activities that ranged from about $60-$500 in early 2022: parasailing, jet skiing, fly boarding, wakeboarding, surfing, catamaran sailing, snorkeling, fishing, and more. You can also get certified as a PADI scuba diver or go on diving trips if you’re already certified.
Private Dinner
Now for my favorite, most memorable experience… Have you ever dreamt of having a romantic 5 course dinner on the beach with a private chef & host, followed by an ocean-side breakfast the next morning? I don’t know that I could’ve even dreamt that up but this experience at the resort was a total dream! Not only was the food delicious, but the staff was so lovely and went above and beyond to make this a memorable evening.
Coconuts!
One day when we were lounging on the beach, the staff started gathering guests to see how coconuts are collected off the trees. The guy climbed the tree quickly and collected a lot of coconuts which we then got to enjoy, which was such a fun surprise. These were different from the coconuts I’m typically used to and were so refreshing in the midday sun!
For us, the experience at the Sheraton was what truly made this a magical vacation. I’m sure that every resort has its own charm; ultimately, the warmth, nature, hospitality, and activities made this a memorable vacation that I’d totally recommend.
Visit the cities of Malé & Hulhumalé
In order to get a feel for the local experience, we visited the capital city for a day and stayed at an Airbnb. I liked this restaurant, Seagull Cafe, that’s hidden in the city! We tried a traditional Maldivian breakfast along with a class eggs and beef sausage plate. Service here was great and they had a huge tree growing right in the middle of the restaurant!
On our last day before our evening flight, we tried a bubble tea shop called Victorious on Malé (a little too sweet for me) and visited a hotel on the artificial island of Hulhumalé, the Acacia Beach hotel.
It ended up raining in the afternoon so we had a relaxing last day and didn’t do much else! Overall, this trip was an absolute dream!!
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For more adventures in the US, check out these posts from Arizona!
