So I’ve been a bit quiet lately as we’ve been away on holiday. After a very busy first half of the year for both of us, we had decided that we needed a holiday where we could just relax, unwind and spoil ourselves a little bit. And, with the Maldives only a four hour direct flight away from the UAE, we couldn’t think of anywhere better to go to get what we needed…
After the short four hour flight from Abu Dhabi, because of the location of the resort we had chosen to stay at being located so far north in the Maldives, we had to take a seaplane journey of around an hour to complete our journey to get there. I’d never been on a seaplane before so I was quite excited – watch out for the über relaxed barefoot pilots! (And if you don’t fancy hopping on another plane, there are plenty of resorts a short speed boat ride away from Malé).
We arrived at our location – The Viceroy Hotel Maldives and had booked a water villa with private pool. The weather was warm and sunny, though being July it was pretty windy which made the waves quite choppy. There was also a bit of rain and a couple of storms while we were there, but we had known to expect that for the time of year and it never got in the way of our fun. Being such a tropical location the rain and storms roll in fast and leave just as quickly so they rarely last long enough to be a problem.
We spent our week catching up on sleep, eating, reading and generally relaxing around our water villa and the island. And of course it wouldn’t be right if there wasn’t at least one visit to the spa squeezed in!
If total relaxation is not your thing, then there’s plenty of wildlife on land and below sea level to keep you entertained also. Bringing your own snorkel and fins is always a good idea to save you having to rent them daily from the resort, and allows you much more freedom to just plunge off your balcony whenever you feel so inclined! The underwater world in the Maldives is absolutely something not to be missed.
Seven days in paradise flew by quickly, and before we knew it, sadly it was time to meet the seaplane again to take us back to Malé, this time boarding by boat, via a pontoon on quite choppy waters! Hang on tight while you find your sea legs!
The Maldives is just an absolutely amazing location, and being only four hours away from the UAE it’s practically rude not to visit! It’s also a place that does have a reputation for being expensive, but it doesn’t have to be if you don’t want it to be. Do you research for the best deals and of course going in the low season (as we did) means there are many more offers available. And despite the reputation the Maldives has for high end honeymoon resorts, if you do your research online first, you can find that there are all sorts of resorts around to suit different budgets and for people looking for different types of holidays – some resorts and hotels have more activities available than others and of course there are also many that cater to the entire family too with kids clubs and all sorts to keep the nippers busy. If you haven’t been yet while you are living in the UAE, I recommend you put it on your list – it’s so close you can even make a long weekend of it.